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RFE/RL Newsline, Vol. 5, No. 178, 01-09-19Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty: Newsline Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty <http://www.rferl.org>RFE/RL NEWSLINEVol. 5, No. 178, 19 September 2001CONTENTS[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA
[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[C] END NOTE
[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA[01] ARRESTED ARMENIAN DENIES KNOWLEDGE OF ARMS CACHEAzat Arshakian on 18 September denied any knowledge of the large weapons cache discovered four days earlier in a Yerevan building owned by the former paramilitary Independence Army that he heads, RFE/RL's Yerevan bureau reported (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 18 September 2001). Arshakian was remanded in detention for two months on 18 September pending an investigation into the provenance of the arms cache. The Independence Army was founded in the late 1980s by Arshakian and Armenia's current prime minister, Andranik Markarian, who like Arshakian is a former Soviet dissident. The army ceased to exist as a paramilitary formation in the early 1990s and surrendered the arms it then possessed. Since that time it has engaged in charitable work. LF[02] FORMER AZERBAIJANI KGB OFFICIAL SENTENCED ON MURDER CHARGESAzerbaijan's court for grave military crimes on 18 September sentenced former KGB Colonel Sadykh Aliev to life imprisonment on charges of murder and incitement to murder, Turan reported. One of his accomplices also received a life sentence, while a second was sentenced to 15 years imprisonment. Indirectly implicated in the case is former KGB Chairman Vagif Huseinov, now residing in Moscow, who some observers in Baku believe is aligned with former President Ayaz Mutalibov in a bid to unite opposition forces in Azerbaijan (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 8 August 2001). Huseinov is said to have set up a special squad within the KGB in 1989 tasked with identifying enemy agents. Members of that squad, which Sadykh Aliev headed, are accused of subsequently carrying out, or attempting, a series of contract killings. LF[03] AZERBAIJAN'S FISHING AGENCY LIQUIDATEDAzerbaijani President Heidar Aliev has abolished the state fishing and caviar monopoly Azerbalig and transferred its responsibilities and assets to the Ecology and Natural Resources Ministry, Turan reported on 18 September. LF[04] GEORGIA REJECTS RUSSIAN NOTE OVER CHECHENSIn a note on 18 September, the Russian Foreign Ministry demanded that Georgia extradite 13 members of illegal armed groups suspected of committing crimes in Russia who were detained by the Georgian authorities in June, Interfax and Prime News reported. The men were detained after entering Georgia illegally, and the Georgian authorities are reportedly still trying to determine their identities (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 14 September 2001). The note also demanded that Georgia take measures to stop the activities of Chechen "bandits" in Georgia's Pankisi gorge and close down the unofficial Chechen representation and information center in Tbilisi. Also on 18 September, unnamed Federal Security Service (FSB) officials claimed that two of the organizers of the 1999 apartment building bombings in Moscow and Volgodonsk are currently hiding out in Georgia's Pankisi gorge, ITAR-TASS reported. Georgian Interior Minister Kakha Targamadze responded the same day to the Russian ultimatum, denying that any such Chechen militants are currently on Georgian territory. Georgian Foreign Ministry spokesman Kakha Imnadze similarly denied on 19 September that Georgia is harboring Chechen terrorists, Caucasus Press reported. He said Georgia abides by the terms of the agreement it signed with Russia on jointly combating terrorism, while Moscow protects former Georgian Security Minister Igor Giorgadze, who is wanted in connection with the 1995 car bomb attack on then-Georgian parliament Chairman Eduard Shevardnadze. LF[05] GEORGIAN PRESIDENT PROPOSES ANTITERRORISM COALITION, UN SUMMITIn an address to the UN Secretary General, the UN Security Council, and all UN member states that was circulated on 18 September, Georgian President Shevardnadze advocated creating a coalition of countries willing to participate in a coordinated fight against terrorism, Caucasus Press and ITAR-TASS reported. In what "Nezavisimaya gazeta" on 19 September termed a bid to turn the current international wave of abhorrence against terrorism to Georgia's advantage, Shevardnadze also proposed that the UN convene a summit to debate "the fight against terrorism, genocide, ethnic cleansing, nationalism, and separatism, xenophobia, fanaticism, and hatred." Georgian displaced persons from Abkhazia have failed to date in their attempts to induce the UN to formally condemn Abkhazia for genocide and ethnic cleansing against its Georgian population. LF[06] KAZAKHSTAN AGAIN AFFIRMS READINESS TO COOPERATE IN FIGHT AGAINST TERRORISMKazakh Foreign Minister Yerlan Idrisov said in Almaty on 18 September following talks between visiting Russian Security Council Secretary Vladimir Rushailo and President Nursultan Nazarbaev that Kazakhstan is ready for "the strongest possible cooperation with the U.S. and the world community in combating international terrorism," Interfax reported. Rushailo discussed with Nazarbaev, Idrisov and Defense Minister Lieutenant General Sat Toqpaqbaev the possibility of U.S. retaliatory strikes against targets in Afghanistan, RFE/RL's Kazakh Service reported. Rushailo said he and the Kazakh leaders agreed on the need for a more intensive exchange of information on the situation in Central Asia and Afghanistan. LF[07] KYRGYZSTAN APPEALS FOR HELP AGAINST ISLAMIC TERRORISMSpeaking on 18 September in Vienna in the course of a state visit to Austria, Kyrgyz President Askar Akaev said his country needs help from the international community to cope successfully with the threat posed by Islamic militants who launched raids onto its territory in 1999 and 2000, dpa reported. Meanwhile Kyrgyz Security Council Secretary Misir Ashyrkulov said in Bishkek the same day that Kyrgyzstan is willing to share intelligence on international terrorism with the United States, ITAR-TASS reported. Echoing earlier statements by Kyrgyz officials (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 18 September 2001), he warned that large-scale fighting in Afghanistan triggered by a retaliatory U.S. strike could result in an influx of Afghan refugees that would destabilize Kyrgyzstan. LF[08] HAS UZBEK MILITANT JOINED FORCES WITH TALIBAN?In what may prove to be a classic example of Russian disinformation, Interfax reported on 18 September citing unnamed Afghan military sources that Djuma Namangani, one of the leaders of the banned Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, has been made commander of a Taliban military unit operating in northern Afghanistan. Meanwhile, ethnic Uzbek Afghan General Abdulrashid Dostum told RFE/RL's Turkmen Service on 18 September from a location near Mazar-i-Sharif that the 14 September death of Northern Alliance military commander Ahmed Shah Massoud will not affect the combat ability of the anti- Taliban forces. "Our morale is very high," Dostum said. "We all have a united political and military position." LF[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE[09] MACEDONIAN ALBANIAN GUERRILLAS TO DISARM WITHOUT WAITING FOR PARLIAMENTThe Macedonian parliament's 18 September debate on a possible referendum on constitutional changes degenerated into a "show" amid name-calling and mutual personal recriminations, Deutsche Welle reported. The discussion was scheduled to continue on 19 September (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 18 September 2001). Also on 18 September, the ethnic Albanian guerrillas of the National Liberation Army (UCK) announced that they will continue to disarm regardless of whether the parliament keeps to its schedule for introducing political and constitutional reforms. The UCK nonetheless expects that the parliament will introduce the reforms. NATO is scheduled to begin the last stage in its weapons collection program on 20 September. NATO spokesman Peter Altmannsperger told dpa: "The rebels are willing to hand over the final third as a sign of goodwill. This will happen even before the parliament adopts constitutional changes." Observers note that the Albanians have generally been much more adept than the Macedonians in handling the Westerners (see "RFE/RL Balkan Report," 24 August 2001). PM[10] MACEDONIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH OPPOSES CONSTITUTIONAL CHANGESIn a meeting with the speaker of the Macedonian parliament, Stojan Andov, the head of the Macedonian Orthodox Church, Gospodin Gospodin Stefan, expressed his opposition to changing Article 19 of the current Macedonian Constitution as provided for in the Ohrid peace agreement, the Skopje daily "Nova Makedonija" reported on 18 September. In Article 19, the Orthodox Church is named as the only officially recognized religious institution. In the new article, the Roman Catholic Church as well as the Islamic Religious Community will be mentioned together with the Orthodox Church (see "RFE/RL Balkan Report," 3 August 2001). UB[11] MACEDONIAN PRIME MINISTER WANTS NATO TO CHANGE POLICY TOWARD 'TERRORISM'Speaking in Sofia on 18 September, Macedonian Prime Minister Ljubco Georgievski said that he hopes that the attacks on the U.S. will prompt NATO to change its policy toward "terrorism" in Macedonia, AP reported. (Macedonian politicians refer to the UCK as "terrorists" even though their tactics are those of insurgents, not terrorists.) He said: "The international community was not energetic enough in dealing with terrorism in Macedonia. It flirted with the terrorists but did not always keep in touch with the legitimate institutions of Macedonia. Today, senior international politicians are saying what we kept repeating for eight months: there's no good or bad terrorism. Terrorism may not be justified in one place and condemned in another" (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 12 and 13 September 2001). PM[12] VOICES CRITICAL OF U.S. IN FORMER YUGOSLAVIAThere has generally been much sympathy for the U.S. in the former Yugoslavia since the attacks (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 12, 13, and 14 September 2001). This has been especially true in Croatia and the Albanian- speaking areas. In Serbia, however, reactions have been mixed. A 13 September article in "Politika" sarcastically entitled "We are all Americans" suggested that it is only fair that innocent Americans now know the same feeling of horror and insecurity that innocent Serbs did when they were bombed in 1999. On 19 September, "Danas" ran an article that expressed concern that "the Empire" (meaning the U.S.) might start a major conflict as Austria-Hungary did in 1914. The article identified former Ambassador Richard Holbrooke as a prominent war-monger. The Serbian mass-circulation "Glas javnosti" predicted that America's antagonism toward the Muslim world will be short-lived because "American is the slave of Arab oil. Americans so hate the Orthodox, especially Russians and Serbs, that they are ready to continue cooperation with their own greatest enemies, the Islamists." Meanwhile, in the Zagreb daily "Vjesnik," Croatian Islamic Community leader Sefko Omerbasic argued that American society is given to anti-Muslim prejudice. PM[13] MONTENEGRO BOYCOTTS BELGRADE MEETINGMontenegrin President Milo Djukanovic and other top officials stayed away from a 19 September Belgrade meeting with Serbian leaders because Yugoslav President Vojislav Kostunica included Yugoslav Prime Minister Dragisa Pesic in the talks, AP reported (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 12 September 2001). Pesic is a pro-Belgrade Montenegrin whose election Podgorica does not regard as legitimate. Djukanovic wrote to Kostunica that he favors negotiations on future relations between Serbia and Montenegro, but only between the governments of those two republics. He wants an alliance or union (savez) between Serbia and Montenegro as sovereign and independent states, "Pobjeda" reported on 18 September. His Democratic Party of Socialists has called for a referendum on independence in April 2002, that same daily reported on 19 September. It has widely been speculated that Djukanovic and Serbian Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic might cut a deal behind Kostunica's back, but Djindjic continues to criticize Djukanovic in public, attacking his mercurial "Bedouin politics," "Dan" reported. PM[14] SERBIA EXHUMES 269 FROM MASS GRAVESerbian investigators said on 18 September that they have found the bodies of 269 persons, apparently Kosovar Albanians, in a mass grave in a police compound in the Belgrade suburb of Batajnica, Reuters reported (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 17 September 2001). PM[15] CROATIA DISAPPOINTED WITH EU STABILITY PACTZdravko Tomac, speaker of the Croatian parliament, said in Zagreb on 17 September that his country had high expectations for the EU's Stability Pact but that these hopes have been greatly disappointed, Hina reported. He added, however, that the pact remains the only alternative for regional stability and development. The pact is a clearing house for projects and does not initiate any programs on its own. Supporters argue that many people in the Balkans unrealistically expected it to solve all their problems quickly. Critics charge that it is bogged down in its own bureaucracy and that of the EU. PM[16] ILIESCU CRITICIZES NATO FOR NOT ACCEPTING ROMANIA AS MEMBERRomanian President Ion Iliescu said on 18 September that "it was NATO's mistake" to accept Hungary as a member and delay Romania's acceptance into the Atlantic alliance, Romanian media reported. Iliescu said that in order to ensure the region's stability, NATO should have applied a "both in or both out" principle regarding the two countries. He said accepting only one of the two created "an additional source of tension." Referring to Hungary's recently adopted Status Law, he accused that country of acting with "arrogance." Iliescu said that while the Hungarian minority in Romania enjoys full rights, Hungary has applied a policy of assimilation that discriminates against minorities, including Romanians. He further said other countries should not "give lessons" to Romania, "especially when they have no moral authority." ZsM[17] ROMANIAN RADIO JOURNALIST SUSPENDEDFollowing President Iliescu's protest of a 17 September Romanian public radio interview with extremist Senator Corneliu Vadim Tudor, journalist Paul Grigoriu was suspended from his post, Mediafax reported. During the interview with Grigoriu, Tudor reiterated his charges that in 1995 Iliescu approved the training of Hamas members by the Guard and Protection Service (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 17 and 18 September 2001). Public radio Director Andrei Dimitriu said Grigoriu had permitted transforming the station into an instrument of political fighting. He added the radio "will not tolerate similar mistakes" in the future and will do its best to keep the radio balanced and politically independent. ZsM[18] SMIRNOV CANCELS MEETING WITH MOLDOVAN PRESIDENTTransdniester leader Igor Smirnov on 18 September canceled his meeting with Moldovan President Vladimir Voronin that was scheduled for 19 September, Flux reported. Earlier on 18 September, a Tiraspol press release called on the Russian Federation, Ukraine, and the OSCE to help defuse the situation created after Chisinau on 1 September introduced new customs seals. Smirnov has said Moldova thus created an "economic blockade" over Transdniester. The press release said Transdniester companies lost $9 million as a result of their inability to conduct cross-border trade. OSCE Chisinau mission chief William Hill said Tiraspol and Chisinau leaders should meet and negotiate, otherwise the conflict could deepen. Smirnov previously canceled a 30 August informal meeting with Voronin that was intended to discuss the status of the Transdniester region. ZsM[19] BULGARIAN OFFICIAL OPTIMISTIC ABOUT NEW IMF DEALDeputy Prime Minister and Economy Minister Nikolai Vassilev said on 18 September in Sofia that the government will do "what is necessary" to sign a new agreement with the IMF, BTA reported. Vassilev made his comments after meeting with Jerald Schiff, the IMF's mission head in Bulgaria. Schiff said he expects "we will reach an agreement but [I] cannot say if it will be for one year or for a longer time." He added that the size of the loan will depend on what spending program the government adopts. Vassilev said that Bulgaria and the IMF have the same goals; namely, guaranteeing macroeconomic stability and increasing exports, economic growth, jobs, and living standards. PB[20] BULGARIAN PREMIER UNAWARE OF LANGUAGE AGREEMENT WITH MACEDONIA?Bulgarian dailies on 19 September wrote extensively about what they view as Premier Simeon Saxecoburggotski's lack of knowledge about the country's recent relations with Macedonia, BTA reported. Saxecoburggotski told reporters after meeting with Macedonian Premier Georgievski that he and his culture minister will "do our best" to resolve the "language problem" between the two countries. Bilateral relations between the two countries were stymied for several years over the Macedonian government's claims that Macedonian is a separate language, while Bulgaria insisted it is a Bulgarian dialect. An compromise between the two on the issue was reached in 1999. The daily "Trud" said it appears Saxecoburggotski is unaware of the agreement. PB[C] END NOTE[21] UKRAINE PONDERS LANGUAGE POLICY AND NATIONAL INTEGRATIONBy Paul GobleThe closure of Russian-language schools in Ukraine over the last decade has prompted ethnic Russian groups there to protest what they see as a policy designed to promote the assimilation of ethnic Russians into the Ukrainian nation. Three ethnic Russian groups in Ukraine -- the Russian Movement of Ukraine, the Russian-Ukrainian Union, and For a Single Rus -- picketed the Ukrainian Education Ministry last week because of what they say is Kyiv's policy of "liquidating Russian-language education in Ukraine and [promoting] the assimilation of Russians and Russian-language citizens." According to a press release issued by the Russian Movement of Ukraine earlier this month, the Ukrainian government over the last decade has changed the language of instruction in 1,300 schools from Russian to Ukrainian. As a result, the press release said, only 10 percent of the schools in the country are now conducted in Russian even though "not less than half of the population considers Russian to be its native language." The Russian Movement said that this shift is taking place against the wishes of parents, and that written appeals to the education authorities have not produced any results. The group said that it will now engage in picketing government offices and other forms of protest in order to attract attention to this issue. In most of the post-Soviet countries, questions concerning the language of instruction are among the most sensitive and contentious of all public issues. On the one hand, anything that touches the lives of children and their futures is something adults are likely to take seriously. And on the other hand, the debates taking place now reflect the continuing shadow of Soviet-era policies. But nowhere are these discussions more difficult than in Ukraine. During the Soviet period, Moscow allowed union republics to have schools in their own national languages but promoted the use of Russian as the language of instruction both where there were sizeable numbers of ethnic Russians and where parents could be persuaded that learning the language of what was called "interethnic communication" would give their children a better chance in their future professional lives. In Ukraine, both these groups were numerous. By 1989, the date of the last Soviet census, ethnic Russians constituted more than 20 percent of the population of Ukraine. And many Ukrainians whose language is closely related to Russian accepted happily or not that having their children go to Russian-language schools was career-enhancing. But with the end of the Soviet Union, many Ukrainians, like their counterparts in other post-Soviet republics, decided that they could and should promote their national language as part of their general effort at nation and state building. Indeed, many of them felt that changing over to Ukrainian was almost a patriotic duty. Such attitudes became even more widespread as Ukrainians recognized that the Russian Federation, where millions of Ukrainians live (the exact number is a matter of dispute) did not in the past and has yet to provide any Ukrainian-language schools for its citizens. And many Ukrainians were upset that international bodies that regularly urged Ukraine to keep Russian- language schools never demanded that Russia open Ukrainian-language ones. Kyiv's gradual shift in the language of instruction from Russian to Ukrainian in many schools is widely popular among Ukrainians. But not surprisingly, it is generating a backlash among ethnic Russians and among those Ukrainians who grew up speaking Russian. As a result, Ukraine now finds itself caught between Ukrainians who want their children to speak Ukrainian and ethnic Russians and ethnic Ukrainians who want their children to speak Russian. The picketing is unlikely to change anyone's mind. But it will certainly call attention to a political issue that is far from resolved, one that may ultimately be more important than economics or geopolitics in determining Ukraine's future. 19-09-01 Reprinted with permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
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