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| January 11 |
Government officials announce
the full reactivation of the Medzamor nuclear power plant following
a three month shut-down for maintenance and refueling. The 380-megawatt
Medzamor facility, located 32 kilometers outside of Yerevan, is the
country's sole nuclear power plant and produces nearly 40 percent
of the country's electricity. The plant is scheduled to be closed
by the year 2004 in accordance to an agreement with the European Bank
for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) which allocated $57.4 million
in credits to the Armenian government for the construction of a new
natural gas and oil power station. |
| January 12 |
Russian Ambassador to Armenia
Anatolii Dryukov, in response to questions during a press conference
in Yerevan, refutes recent allegations by Azerbaijani officials that
Russia has deployed an S-300 air defense missile system in Armenia.
The Russian ambassador states that although Russia intends to upgrade
the weaponry of Russian forces stationed in Armenia, including new
anti-aircraft defense systems, there are no plans to deploy S-300
missiles. The press conference follows a meeting between Dryukov and
Armenian Prime Minister Armen Darbinian covering bilateral cooperation
in technology, science and the chemical industry. |
| January 13 |
In comments during a press
conference in Yerevan, Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanian calls
on the working group on the Nagorno Karabagh conflict, the so-called
"Minsk Group," of the Organization for Security and Cooperation
in Europe (OSCE) to maintain the draft proposals of their peace plan
first presented to the parties last month. The latest draft peace
plan of the Minsk Group, led by co-chairs from the United States,
France and Russia, calls for the creation of a "common state"
comprising Nagorno Karabagh and Azerbaijan proper. The Armenian foreign
minister also expresses concern over recent suggestions that Azerbaijan
and Turkey will establish a new bilateral military agreement, a development
that would "undermine regional stability" and would threaten
the peace talks with Azerbaijan over the Karabagh conflict. |
| January 14 |
United States Ambassador
to Armenia Michael Lemmon states that Armenia has the potential to
become the "economic engine of the Caucasus" if it continues
its economic and political reform programs and pursues closer ties
with its neighbors. The U.S. ambassador adds a warning that "halting
or reversing the reform process is no solution" to the country's
serious economic problems. Given the criticism of the 1995 parliamentary
elections as "free but not fair" by international observers,
Ambassador Lemmon calls for the coming elections to be "free,
fair, transparent, and acceptable in its conduct to all the parties
and voting public."
Commenting on the latest peace plan presented by the Organization
for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) working group on the
Karabagh conflict, French Ambassador to Armenia Michel Legras states
that there will be no significant revisions or amendments to the draft's
premise of a "common state" approach. This approach would
provide for one unitary state entity, with Stepanakert and Baku having
horizontal relations. The remarks, significant due to France's role
as co-chair of the OSCE working group, follow earlier promises by
the OSCE to continue negotiations based on the common state formula
which was accepted by Armenia and Karabagh, but rejected by Azerbaijan
as a "direct threat to the territorial integrity and national
interests of Azerbaijan." |
| January 16 |
Former Interior Minister
and Yerevan Mayor Vano Siradeghian, the current leader of the former
ruling Armenian National Movement (ANM), states that the ANM party
will gain considerable popularity in the coming months prior to the
parliamentary elections slated for May. Siradeghian predicts gains
of at least ten percent of the vote for his party and believes that
no one party or group will have an absolute majority in the new legislature.
Commenting on the recently restructured Republican Party, strengthened
significantly with the addition of the country's dominant Yerkrapah
Union of Karabagh veterans, Siradeghian predicts that it will receive
only 25 percent of the vote. |
| January 18 |
Armenian President Robert
Kocharian meets with Nagorno Karabagh Prime Minister Poghosyan in
Yerevan to review the Karabagh government's economic reform program
and to coordinate bilateral monetary and trade policies. Plans are
also announced calling for the establishment of some 300 new jobs
in Karabagh with the opening of factories, affiliated with the Yerevan
Jewelry Factory and the Armengold firm, in the Karabagh cities of
Stepanakert and Shushi. Small teams of jewelry designers and artisans
are to train local entrepreneurs in Karabagh in a broader effort at
job creation. The two officials also discuss the current proposal
of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE)
in preparation for a planned February 15th OSCE summit in Vienna. |
| January 19 |
The head of the prime minister's
special governmental oversight agency, Gagik Poghosian, announces
serious shortcomings in the supervision of government ministries and
agencies and warns that the lack of effective financial monitoring
and accountability has led to "criminal indifference, negligence,
abuse of power, and widespread fraud." Poghosian adds that an
official inspection of 38 government agencies have resulted in the
opening of 114 criminal cases, with six having been immediately referred
to the office of the Prosecutor-General. President Kocharian promised
during his campaign to crack-down on state corruption, but has faced
criticism from opposition parties for a lack of action. |
| January 20 |
Opposition National Democratic
Union (NDU) chairman Vazgen Manukian holds a press conference to denounce
the Kocharian government for failing to meet the socio-economic needs
of the population and warns that the government is composed of "disparate
groups" that no individual or leader fully controls. The NDU
leader, a former presidential candidate who lost to Kocharian, adds
that "nationwide mass protest" presents the only means to
prevent authorities from falsifying the results of the coming parliamentary
elections. Former senior officials of the Ter Petrosian government
have recently acknowledged ballot rigging and voter fraud aimed at
securing a first-round victory for President Ter Petrosian over then-challenger
Manukian during the 1996 presidential election. Joining Manukian in
attacks directed against the Kocharian government, former prime minister
Hrant Bagratian focuses on the government's failed economic policies.
The head of the Armenian Bank Association, former Central Bank Chairman
Bagrat Asatrian, announces that representatives of nearly all of the
country's major banks and financial institutions have agreed to form
a new non-governmental "court of mediation" for resolving
commercial disputes. The new body, formally provided for in the Armenian
constitution, is to be chaired by former Justice Minister Vahe Stepanian. |
| January 21 |
Government officials announce
that U.S. automaker General Motors has committed to a project to produce
automobiles in Armenia with the assistance of the Armenian Ministry
of Industry and Trade. General Motors first sent an executive delegation
to Yerevan last October and reports that its Armenian production will
greatly enhance its market penetration into the region with an emphasis
on cars, minibuses, small tractors and trucks.
A leading Azerbaijani opposition party, the Azerbaijani Social Democratic
Party, publishes a report warning that without entering into a direct
dialogue with the government of Nagorno Karabagh, Azerbaijan will
be faced with a renewed conflict. According to the report, renewed
conflict would result in "defeat, given the current state of
the economy, the armed forces and the internal situation (in Azerbaijan)."
The opposition party adds that it also favors "granting Nagorno
Karabagh autonomy on the basis of self-administration, retaining a
corridor between Armenia and Karabagh under international peacekeeping
forces and the Azerbaijani customs authorities, and declaring Nagorno
Karabagh a free economic zone." According to Zardusht Alizade,
the co-chairman of the Azerbaijani Social Democratic Party, his party
has been frustrated by the Aliyev government in its attempts to "bring
the Karabagh problem to the people's attention." |
| January 22-23 |
Nagorno Karabagh presidential
spokeswoman Zhanna Krikorova rejects reports in the Russian media
alleging that the head of the Turkish-based Kurdish Workers' Party
(PKK), Abdullah Ocalan, is in Karabagh after leaving Italy following
his release by the Italian authorities. Karabagh Foreign Minister
Naira Melkoumian also refutes the allegations and criticizes the allegation
as an "evident provocation" against Karabagh. |
| January 25 |
President Kocharian calls
on the Ministry of Post and Telecommunications to reconsider its decision
to introduce higher broadcasting fees for private and independent
radio and television stations. The ministry increased the broadcasting
fees from $40 to $1000 on January 1st, rates that the president termed
"unrealistic."
Turkish President Suleyman Demirel announces that any improvement
in relations with neighboring Armenia is conditional on a solution
to the Nagorno Karabagh conflict. Warning that "those who touch
Azerbaijan will touch Turkey," the Turkish president reiterates
his government's refusal to extend diplomatic recognition to Armenia
and calls on Armenia to "take steps for a positive solution to
the Karabagh problem." Turkey has maintained a long-standing
transport blockade of Armenia in conjunction with Azerbaijan and has
repeatedly denied over-flight permission for shipments of U.S. private
and governmental humanitarian aid destined for Armenia.
Officials of the leadership of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation
(ARF) meet with Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanian and Nagorno
Karabagh Foreign Minister Naira Melkoumian in Yerevan. The ARF delegation
reviews plans for coordination and assistance in foreign policy issues
between the ARF and the two foreign ministries and discusses the upcoming
summit of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe
(OSCE) in mid-February examining the Karabagh conflict.
Two former senior United States diplomats launch a new private initiative
aimed at resuming the stalled peace negotiations over the Nagorno
Karabagh conflict through a series of meetings with government officials
in Armenia, Azerbaijan and Nagorno Karabagh. The two diplomats, Edward
Djerejian and Peter Rosenblatt, report that their attempt is designed
to complement the mediation effort of the Organization for Security
and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). At a meeting in Yerevan, Nagorno
Karabagh President Gukasyan tells the diplomats that the U.S. should
adopt "a decisive role" in mediating the conflict and commends
the visiting former officials on their "new proposals with very
serious prospects." Karabagh Foreign Minister Melkoumian adds
that although the visit to the region by the officials is in itself
significant, the lack of a meeting with Azerbaijani President Aliyev,
who is hospitalized in Turkey, prevents the visit from concluding
any substantial agreements. |
| January 27-28 |
Prominent members of the
Armenian Communist Party and the Union for Constitutional Rights condemn
the parliament's failure to consent to the demand of Prosecutor-General
Aghvan Hovsepian for the removal of parliamentary immunity of former
Interior Minister Vano Siradeghian in order to complete a criminal
investigation into his role in politically-inspired murders. The seven
Communist Party deputies have threatened to boycott the remaining
parliamentary sessions following its decision on January 26th. The
parliament voted 65-56 against lifting Siradeghian's parliamentary
immunity. |
| January 28 |
The Armenian Revolutionary
Federation (ARF) issues a statement calling on President Kocharian
to dissolve the parliament after its failure to remove the immunity
of parliament member Vano Siradeghian, who is the focus of a major
criminal investigation. The ARF statement adds that the 1995 parliamentary
elections, from which it was banned from participating, was neither
free nor fair and that the current parliament is continuing the previous
government's policies "directed against the vital interests of
the Armenian people." |
| January 30 |
Armenian National Movement
(ANM) deputy leader Andranik Hovakimian confirms press reports that
ANM leader Vano Siradeghian has left the country. According to Hovakimian,
Siradeghian has left for "treatment," but will return shortly
and will not forsake his responsibilities as parliamentarian and ANM
leader. Siradeghian's departure, on a flight to Dubai in the United
Arab Emirates, comes in the wake of reports that the prosecutor-general's
office is readying a second appeal for the lifting of Siradeghian's
parliamentary immunity. |
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