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Central Asia / Siberia
NEWSLINE: Central Asia, Transcaucasia and RussiaRadio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
Kazakhstan launches census
Kazakhstan began taking its national census on 25 February, ITAR-TASS and Interfax reported. President Nursultan Nazarbayev's press service quotes him as saying the previous day that in order to institute socioeconomic and democratic change, ''we must rely on our own resources, know how numerous we are, what our educational potential is, the [level] of our living standard, and numerous other things.'' Nazarbayev added, however, that all personal data will be confidential. This is the first census to be conducted in Kazakhstan since 1989. It will continue until 4 March. (Bruce Pannier)
Kazakh Uighurs complain about deportations
Kaharman Hozhamberdi, the president of the Almaty, Kazakhstan based Association of Uighurs, said at a press conference on 24 February that Kazakhstan has undermined its international reputation by sending three ethnic Uighurs back to China (see ''RFE/RL Newsline,'' 17 February 1999), Interfax reported. The three men had been seeking asylum in Kazakhstan ''on ethnic and political grounds.'' Nothing is known of their fate since they were returned to China. (B.P.)
Uzbekistan offers reward for bombers
The Uzbek Interior Ministry has announced a $250,000 reward for information leading to the detention of five people believed responsible for the 16 February bombings in Tashkent. Photographs of the men were shown on national television and have been posted at public places throughout the country. The Interior Ministry guarantees that anyone providing information will remain anonymous and that the reward will be paid regardless of the nationality or citizenship of the recipient. (B.P.)
Chechnya demands proof of Uzbek claims
Chechen President Aslan Maskhadov issued a statement in Grozny on 24 February calling on the Uzbek leadership to provide documentary evidence to substantiate allegations that the people responsible for the 16 February car bombings in Tashkent were trained in Chechnya, Interfax reported. Uzbek President Islam Karimov made those allegations at a press conference in Tashkent on 23 February. (Liz Fuller)
Kyrgyz president comments on CIS Customs Union . . .
Askar Akayev on 24 February said that ''the CIS Customs Union remains on paper only'' but that the 26 February summit in Moscow ''could be a landmark event for the union,'' ITAR-TASS and Interfax reported. Akayev said that trade between his country and the other members of the union - Kazakhstan, Russia, and Belarus - accounts for only 30 percent of its total foreign trade, down from 45 percent three years ago. (B.P.)
. . . And priorities in foreign relations
Akayev also said that expanding ties with Russia and other CIS states is his country's foreign policy priority. He argued that the Central Asian Union could act as ''a united economic intermediary between East and West'' but said that it must first provide ''positive impulses for neighborly cooperation, stability, and democracy.'' Akayev listed Europe, the U.S., Canada and Asian Pacific countries - particularly China, Japan, South Korea, and Malaysia - as countries with which Kyrgyzstan needs to develop better ties. And he commented that his country must improve its image as a ''reliable and stable partner.'' (B.P.)
Armenia embarks on preparations for elections
Central Electoral Commission chairman Khachatur Bezirjian told RFE/RL's Yerevan bureau on 24 February that he doubts President Robert Kocharian will comply with that body's request to postpone by one or two weeks the parliamentary elections scheduled for 30 May. The commission, which will be reconstituted prior to the poll, had argued that as the new election law takes effect only on 28 February, there is barely enough time to complete the necessary preparations. Those preparations include checking voter registers, which under the law should be submitted to the commission 95 days before the poll, and dividing the country into 75 electoral precincts, according to Noyan Tapan. Also on 24 February, representatives of six political parties, both pro-government and opposition, met to discuss possible amendments to the law and measures to ensure the elections are free and fair. (L.F.)
U.S. hints at flexibility on pipelines via Iran
Speaking in Moscow on 25 February, U.S. presidential adviser on Caspian issues Richard Morningstar said that ''should relations with Iran improve, the U.S. side is prepared to study the possibility of building pipelines across Iranian territory for the transportation of Caspian energy resources,'' ITAR-TASS reported. But Morningstar added that he thinks an improvement in bilateral relations with Iran is unlikely in the short term. Until now, the U.S. had ruled out the possibility of routing export pipelines for Caspian oil and gas via Iran, backing alternative routes via Azerbaijan and Georgia to Turkey. Speaking in Ankara on 23 February, Morningstar had said that Turkey should provide the financial incentives needed to persuade oil companies to commit themselves to the Baku-Ceyhan pipeline. (L.F.)
Baku-Ceyhan pipeline delays anticipated
In Tbilisi, David Woodward, president of the Azerbaijan International Operating Company engaged in extracting Caspian oil, told journalists on 24 February that the beginning of construction of the Baku-Ceyhan pipeline may be delayed until the end of 1999 because of the large amount of investment that project will require, Caucasus Press reported. He noted that after a firm decision is made to proceed with that project, the estimated minimum cost of which is $2 billion, investors must be found to finance its construction. Certainty is required, he added, that the volume of oil to be exported is large enough to render the project viable. (L.F.)
OSCE representative reviews Azerbaijani media
Freimut Duve, the OSCE's special representative for freedom of the media, has discussed the media situation in Azerbaijan with President Heidar Aliev, Turan reported on 24 February. Duve subsequently told media representatives that those discussions focused on reforming the legislative framework for the media, the media's role, and the need to improve Azerbaijan's state television. Duve said Aliev concurred with this last point. Duve also said that he had urged Aliev to shelve all ongoing court proceedings against independent media and to pardon journalist Fuad Gakhramanli, who was sentenced to 18 months in prison last November for an unpublished article (see ''RFE/RL Newsline,'' 30 June and 30 November 1998). (L.F.)
Georgian foreign minister in Abkhazia
Irakli Menagharishvili held talks in Sukhumi on 24 February with senior Abkhaz officials, including President Vladislav Arzdinba and Konstantin Ozgan, head of the commission to coordinate the return of ethnic Georgian displaced persons to Abkhazia's southernmost Gali Raion, ITAR-TASS reported. Menagharishvili was less dismissive than some other leading Georgian politicians about Arzdinba's proposal to begin the repatriation process on 1 March. But Menagharishvili, too, insisted that the process must be jointly coordinated by Georgia and Abkhazia. Menagharishvili admitted that disagreements between Tbilisi and Sukhumi remain over how to ensure the repatriates' security. He repeated Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze's 22 February condemnation of guerrilla activities in Gali, which have cost the lives of several dozen people since last May. Menagharishvili also termed the long-discussed meeting between Ardzinba and Shevardnadze ''not only possible but necessary'' once agreement is reached on the documents that the two leaders are to sign. (L.F.)
Georgian, Russian ministers talk on cooperation
Meeting in Moscow on 24 February, Kakha Targamadze and Sergei Stepashin discussed cooperation in arresting and extraditing wanted criminals and combating drug-trafficking and trading in stolen cars, ITAR- TASS reported. Stepashin also undertook to expedite the handing over to Georgia of Valerii Gabelia, whom Russian police arrested on suspicion of involvement in last February's attempt to assassinate President Shevardnadze (see ''RFE/RL Newsline,'' 10 February 1999). Gabelia has begun a hunger-strike to protest his arrest, which he considers illegal, according to Caucasus Press on 13 February. (L.F.)
Communist leader doubts son is in Syria
Panteleimon Giorgadze, head of the United Communist Party of Georgia, expressed doubts on 24 February that his son Igor has been granted asylum in Syria, as claimed by the Sunday Telegraph on 21 February (see ''RFE/RL Newsline,'' 24 February 1999). Giorgadze senior told ITAR-TASS that he is in telephone contact with his son but does not know the latter's whereabouts. (L.F.)
U.S.-Russia relations can be tense, says Albright
U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright told the U.S. Congress on 24 February that relations between the U.S. and Russia have been tense at times recently, adding that rushing forward with a ballistic missile defense system would further strain their relationship. The same day, Communist Party leader Gennadii Zyuganov called Albright ''Madame War'', accusing her of ''bringing shame on the entire female sex'' with her ''rattling of rockets and bombs,'' Reuters reported. The next day, the Foreign Ministry issued a statement that Moscow ''categorically will not accept attempts to talk to Russia in the language of sanctions and pressure'' with regard to proposed U.S. sanctions against Russian entities for their alleged cooperation in the field of missile technology with Iran. A delegation led by U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Strobe Talbott concluded a two-day official visit on 24 February. (Julie A. Corwin)
40 security generals face the sack
Some 40 generals in the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB), holding such posts as chiefs and deputy chiefs of directorates, will be dismissed in March, ''Moskovskii komsomolets'' reported on 24 February, without specifying its sources. According to the newspaper, the ''secret'' list of those who are about to be let go includes the names of the chiefs of the legal contracts directorate, the military counterintelligence directorate, the Voronezh directorate, the Murmansk directorate, and the Krasnodar Directorate. Also included was chief of the FSB Primorskii Krai Directorate General Viktor Kondratov, who was recently dismissed as presidential envoy to the krai. At the time, deputy head of the presidential administration Oleg Sysuev said that Kondratov is being relieved of that post in order to concentrate on his duties as local FSB chief (see ''RFE/RL Newsline,'' 24 February 1999). (J.A.C.)
Russian gold output slips
Russia produced 10 percent less gold in 1998 - 103.7 tons - compared with the previous year, Interfax and ITAR-TASS reported on 24 February. But according to Reuters, citing the State Statistics Committee, gold output in 1997 was 106 tons, which would make this year's drop only 2 percent. Interfax reported that gold output plummeted by two-thirds in the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), by half in Chita Oblast, by one-third in Amur Oblast, and by more than half in Chukotka Autonomous Oblast. Gold producers, who gathered in Khabarovsk for an annual meeting, blamed the drop on the lack of government financing and sinking world gold prices. They called on the Federation Council to pass amendments to the Law on Precious Metals and Gemstones and the Law on the Central Bank of Russia to allow the bank to buy gold directly from prospectors. (J.A.C.)
Arab allies free to buy Russia's MiG-29s
Speaking in Beirut on 24 February, Russian military attache Boris Soldatov said Russia is prepared to sell the latest MiG-29 aircraft to Syria or any other Arab country allied with Russia, Reuters reported. During an official visit to Moscow last week, Syrian Foreign Minister Farouk al-Shara met with Russian Defense Minister Igor Sergeev to discuss expanding military cooperation, including arms purchases. Al-Shara said those purchases, which were discussed during Sergeev's visit to Damascus in November 1998 and are estimated at $2 billion, are intended for purely defensive purposes. (L.F.)
©1998 RFE/RL, Inc. All rights reserved.
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February 27, 1999
