| August 1 |
The Nagorno
Karabagh Union of Journalists meets to approve a new charter, elect
a new president and to formulate the press club's agenda for the next
year. Nikolay Baghdasarian is elected as the new chairman and establishes
a seven-member board of directors to provide operational direction.
The press club has assisted in the development of an independent media
in Karabagh. Its journalist members have written many significant
articles examining the Gukasyan government's policies combating corruption
and its economic reform program. Many of the journalists distinguished
themselves during the worst period of the Nagorno Karabagh conflict
with responsible reporting and accurate coverage. |
| August 2 |
Nagorno Karabagh Foreign
Minister Naira Melkoumian welcomes British businessman David Dole
to Stepanakert. Dole is visiting Karabagh on a humanitarian mission
and brings a consignment of medical equipment, medicine and other
necessary supplies for Karabagh's maternity hospitals. The British
businessman is on his second visit to Karabagh and has previously
donated a significant amount of medical equipment and supplies.
|
| August 4 |
A delegation of officials
from the Armenian Central Bank meet with Nagorno Karabagh government
members during a visit to Stepanakert. The delegation members discuss
issues of monetary policy with President Gukasyan, the minister of
finance and the chairman of the "Artsakh" Bank. The meeting
is an effort to reassure Karabagh officials of the stability of the
Armenian dram in the face of the Russian financial crisis and the
devaluation of the ruble. Nagorno Karabagh relies on the Armenian
dram for most of its financial transactions and expenditures.
An agreement is signed at the conclusion of a meeting in Yerevan between
Armenian Minister of Social Welfare Gagik Yeganian and his Nagorno
Karabagh counterpart, Minister Lenston Ghulian. The agreement covers
new areas of cooperation between Armenia and Karabagh in the fields
of social security, assistance to the elderly and the disabled, refugees
and children's health.
A conference is convened in the Nagorno Karabagh parliament to prepare
for the republic's local elections scheduled for September 27th. Addressing
the conference, President Arkady Gukasyan states that the coming elections
represent an important step in the development of true democracy in
Karabagh and promises his government's commitment to expanding the
scope of economic and political reform. |
| August 5 |
The Armenian Foreign Ministry's
National Security and Conventional Weapons Department releases a statement
citing Azerbaijan's violation of the terms of the 1990 Conventional
Forces in Europe (CFE) Treaty. The department's head, Armen Kharazian,
states that the Azerbaijani government has admitted to exceeding the
CFE limits by holding 270 battle tanks, 557 armored personnel carriers
and 300 artillery pieces. The CFE treaty limits specifically limits
battle tanks to 220, armored personnel carriers to 270 and artillery
pieces to 285. The Armenian official adds that Armenia is conforming
to the CFE Treaty by holding its forces within the proscribed limits.
A recent Turkish-led international inspection confirmed that Armenia's
military possesses 200 tanks, 218 armored personnel carriers and 225
artillery pieces. |
| August 6 |
Armenian Prosecutor-General
Henrik Khachatrian is shot dead in his office by senior prosecutor
Aram Karapetian who then commits suicide. The details of the murder
and the possible motive for the killing remain unclear. Khachatrian,
a former member of the Armenian Constitutional Court, was appointed
prosecutor-general by former President Levon Ter Petrosian in May
1997. |
| August 7 |
In an address to the presidential
human rights commission, President Robert Kocharian calls on the country's
political parties to "overcome their differences over the new
election law." Yerkrapah, the largest group in the parliament,
advocates a system whereby the majority of seats would be allocated
in single-mandate constituencies, while most other political parties
seek a system of proportional representation. The president warns
that if a consensus is not reached by September, the government will
propose an alternative draft of its own.
Media speculation centering on the murder of Prosecutor-General Henrik
Khachatrian by one of his prosecutors suggests that the murderer was
linked to a series of financial scandals and embezzlement in the early
1990s with former railways director Hambartsum Ghandilian whose assassination
in 1994 remains unsolved. Allegedly, the murderer of the prosecutor-general,
Aram Karapetian, was associated with Ghandilian by virtue of his position
of transport prosecutor which would place him as the senior investigator
charged with supervising irregularities and crimes in the railways
department. |
| August 8-9 |
Members of the Executive
Council of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF), presidential
adviser Vahan Hovanessian and Hrant Markarian, meet with President
Gukasyan, other Nagorno Karabagh officials and members of the ARF
Karabagh leadership. The ARF Executive Council members affirm their
commitment to assisting in the economic restructuring of Karabagh
and articulate their view of the importance of democracy building
and free and fair elections in the republic. The ARF leaders also
meet with Karabagh Defense Minister Samvel Babayan. |
| August 10 |
Kocharian appoints Vahram
Nercissiantz, the former head of the World Bank mission to Armenia,
to the post of presidential adviser. Nercissiantz, a U.S. citizen,
completed his tenure with the World Bank in June and is expected to
focus on economic reform in his capacity as presidential adviser.
In a speech broadcast on state television, President Gukasyan welcomes
the recent invitation extended by Azerbaijani President Aliyev to
Armenian President Kocharian to visit Baku next month. Gukasyan says
that the invitation is an important step in establishing a constructive
dialogue between Armenia and Azerbaijan, but adds that Nagorno Karabagh
must not be excluded from the peace process. Additionally, the Karabagh
president discusses the current state of the economy and vows that
his privatization program will lead to greater economic prosperity.
Commenting on the privatization plan, Gukasyan states that his government
will ensure the fairness and efficiency of the privatization procedures.
The president closes by promising that proper steps are being adopted
to guarantee that the local elections slated for next month will be
free and fair. |
| August 12 |
President Kocharian announces
that he will not accept the invitation extended by Azerbaijani President
Aliyev to visit Baku next month, but will instead, send an official
delegation to be headed by Prime Minister Armen Darbinian. Kocharian
states that the delegation will be in Baku from September 7-8 and
notes that all necessary security precautions will be taken.
Speaking at a press conference in Yerevan, a spokeswoman for the Assyrian
community of Armenia calls on the state education ministry to reinstate
an Armenian-Assyrian schoolteacher who was dismissed from a school
in one of the three predominantly Assyrian-populated villages on the
outskirts of Yerevan. The spokeswoman also commends the Armenian government
for introducing an Aramaic-language instruction class in one of the
larger Yerevan schools. The spokeswoman adds that due to emigration
from Armenia during the harsh economic conditions in the country over
the past few years, the Assyrian community has decreased from a population
of nine thousand to roughly over four thousand.
During a visit to Baku to meet with Azerbaijani officials, Iranian
Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi announces that the Iranian government
is prepared to mediate a new peace initiative aimed at resolving the
Nagorno Karabagh conflict. The Iranian foreign minister adds that
the only constructive avenue toward achieving any real progress in
reaching a fair settlement would be to establish a dialogue between
Armenian and Azerbaijani government officials. |
| August 14 |
In a published interview,
President Kocharian states that economic stability and additional
growth is his government's top priority. He cites significant progress
in the country's tax system and notes that improved collection of
tax revenue has enabled the Armenian economy to move from "survival
to active development." The president also mentions foreign investment
in the country by diasporan Armenians as another key factor in the
new economic upswing. |
| August 16 |
In an address to the nation,
Nagorno Karabagh's Bishop Pargev Martirossian condemns the activities
of the various missionary groups and religious sects in Armenia and
Nagorno Karabagh. The bishop specifically criticizes the Jehovah's
Witnesses organization for posing a "most horrible threat to
our people, our state and our faith." The activities of various
international religious movements and missionary groups have led to
criticism throughout the former Soviet Union. |
| August 18 |
According to a statement
issued by Levon Zurabian, press assistant to former president Levon
Ter Petrosian, the former president is prepared to cooperate with
the Kocharian government despite "serious policy differences"
concerning a range of significant issues. Refusing to rule out any
political aspirations of the former president, Zurabian adds that
Ter Petrosian "could have taken tough action" over his differences
with President Kocharian in the days prior to his resignation in February
1998, but refused to do so in order to protect democracy and the rule
of law in Armenia.
The Nagorno Karabagh government announces that it intends to
introduce new passports and state identification documents and will
replace the old Soviet passports over the coming year. The announcement
adds that the passport exchange process will be spread over the year
in order to accommodate all citizens. Nagorno Karabagh citizens have
more commonly used Armenian passports during travel outside of the
republic. |
| August 19 |
Foreign Minister Vardan
Oskanian meets with Georgian Foreign Minister Irakli Menagrashvili
in Tbilisi to formally sign an agreement on bilateral cooperation
in regional economic and political arenas. The foreign ministers also
discuss the recent incident in the mostly Armenian-populated southern
Akhalkalaki district involving a confrontation between local Armenian
residents and Georgian army units. Oskanian also meets with President
Shevardnadze and reviews the Georgian proposal for the bilateral harmonization
of taxation and customs regulations. The Georgian president also extends
a formal invitation to President Kocharian. |
| August 20 |
The chairman of the Yerkrapah
bloc in parliament, Smbat Ayvazian, states that his group remains
committed to pursuing the allocation of the majority of parliamentary
seats based on single-member constituencies, but offers a new compromise
whereby Yerkrapah is willing to concede that forty percent of the
number of seats could be allocated on the basis of party lists. The
group has previously held to a limit of thirty percent of seats determined
by party lists. The Yerkrapah chairman adds that he will introduce
a new draft election law to the proper parliamentary committees for
consideration within the coming weeks. The other three draft election
law proposals each contain strong emphasis on most of the parliament's
seats being allocated on the basis of party lists. |
| August 26 |
Newly-appointed presidential
public relations adviser Gassia Apkarian announces that President
Kocharian has accepted an invitation to visit Turkey extended by Turkish
President Suleiman Demirel. According to the invitation, the Armenian
president will send an official delegation to participate in the ceremonies
marking the 75th anniversary of the founding of the Republic of Turkey
in Ankara and Istanbul in late October. |
| August 28 |
Prime Minister Armen Darbinian,
speaking at the conclusion of a meeting with visiting Finnish parliamentarians,
states that it is misguided to believe that the Armenia economy is
unable to grow until a final solution to the Nagorno Karabagh conflict
is achieved. Darbinian notes that the continuing blockades of Armenia
by Azerbaijan and Turkey must be lifted and will only bring economic
benefits to the entire region.
Kocharian convenes the first session of the recently formed political
council encompassing all political parties and groups. The political
council, according to the president, represents "the first attempt
to consolidate political forces" within the country and will
enhance the development of Armenia's democracy. The meeting's participants
elect the head of the Union of Constitutional Rights, Hrant Khachatrian,
as its first chairman and announce plans to persuade the Communist
Party and the National Democratic Union to each name official representatives
to the political council. |
| August 29 |
Prime Minister Darbinian
states that there is no danger of the Russian financial and economic
crisis adversely affecting the Armenian economy. Darbinian adds that
there is no possibility of any new, unanticipated deficit because
there is a relative balance between revenue and expenditure. The statement
is an attempt by the government to counter claims by former prime
minister Hrant Bagratian warning of serious after-shocks from the
Russian crisis, noting that Russian trade represents one-quarter of
Armenian's foreign trade and that the plummeting value of the ruble
will only lead to a sharp decline in Armenian exports to Russia.
|
| August 29-31 |
A delegation of officials
from the Council of Europe, led by Secretary-General Daniel Tarschys,
meets with Kocharian to review Armenia's Council membership application.
Tarschys states that although progress in the Nagorno Karabagh conflict
is an important condition on Armenia's ascension to the group, there
has been a reversal to the earlier condition stipulating that membership
in the Council must be granted at the same time for all three states
of the Transcaucasus. The Council of Europe delegation holds additional
meetings with Azerbaijani and Georgian government leaders during its
tour of the region. |
| August 30 |
Armenian Foreign Minister
Vardan Oskanian discusses in a published interview the new change
in the United States representation to the Minsk Group of the Organization
for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). The U.S. Special Negotiator
on Nagorno Karabagh is now Donald Kaiser, a career diplomat, who replaced
Lynn Pascoe who left to become the new U.S. ambassador to Malaysia.
According to Oskanian, the change in representation does not hold
any serious implications for OSCE policy, although it may delay any
new diplomatic initiative by the organization. The OSCE is not expected
to resume mediation efforts until November, waiting for the conclusion
of the Azerbaijani presidential elections and the subsequent new government.
|
| August 31 |
Armenian Prime Minister
Armen Darbinian arrives in the capital Stepanakert as part of an official
three-day tour of Nagorno Karabagh. Prime Minister Darbinian meets
with Nagorno Karabagh President Gukasyan, parliamentary speaker Oleg
Yessayan, and other officials and reviews the economic reform being
implemented by the Karabagh government. The officials also discuss
the state of the mediation effort underway by the Organization for
Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). Accompanying the Armenian
prime minister are Minister for Territorial Management David Zadoyan,
Minister of Finance and Economy Eduard Sandoyan, Energy Minister Gagik
Martirossian, Minister of Agriculture Vladmir Movsissian and Minister
of Transport Yervand Zakharian. The Armenian delegation also plans
to tour several districts of Nagorno Karabagh and to visit various
industrial enterprises and factories. |