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| February 3 |
President Robert Kocharian
formally accepts the resignation of presidential adviser and leader
of the Self- Determination Union, Paruir Hairikian, which was offered
late last month. Upon announcing his resignation to a group of parliamentarians,
Hairikian stressed that he is not withdrawing his support for the
Kocharian government, but vowed to lead his party to victory in the
coming parliamentary elections as a "free citizen."
President Kocharian meets with a visiting fact- finding delegation
of officials from the Council of Europe's Parliamentary Assembly to
discuss the pending Armenian application for full membership. Kocharian
pledges his government's commitment to democracy and freedom of the
press, speech, religious belief and political activity. A spokesman
for the delegation announces that Armenian's membership in the Council
of Europe will largely be determined by the "fairness and transparency"
of the country's coming parliamentary elections. |
| February 4 |
An international seminar,
organized by the Nagorno Karabagh non-governmental organization "Helsinki
Initiative-92," is held in the Karabagh capital Stepanakert bringing
together several international human rights experts and other policy
experts to examine and discuss the Karabagh conflict. In her address
to the seminar, Karabagh Foreign Minister Naira Melkoumian states
that until there is a negotiated solution to the conflict between
Karabagh and Azerbaijan, the "only guarantee of relative peace
between the two parties is a balance of forces, when the cost of military
aggression is incomparably higher than anticipated benefits." |
| February 5 |
The Armenian parliament
adopts a new election law during the legislation's third and final
reading. The opposition had sought to alter the new law's system of
mandates whereby 56 of 131 total seats are to be allocated according
to a proportional methodology, contending that the large number of
single-member constituencies could foster voting irregularities and
manipulation. |
| February 6 |
In a televised address
to the nation, President Kocharian threatens to dissolve the parliament
if the deputies continue their refusal to allow the authorities to
arrest and prosecute former interior minister and current leader of
the former ruling Armenian National Movement (ANM), Vano Siradeghian,
wanted in connection with several politically-related murders. The
parliament rejected an attempt to lift Siradeghian's parliamentary
immunity on January 26th by a vote of 65 to 56.
A Yerevan court ruling supports a lawsuit brought against Interior
and National Security Minister Serge Sarkisian by Nikol Pashinian,
the editor of the Yerevan-based newspaper "Oragir," for
defamation after the minister charged late last month that "everything
published in the Oragir newspaper is slander." The lawsuit, scheduled
for an opening hearing later this month, is the first of its kind
and will mark the first time that a senior government official has
been brought to court.
Armenian Statistics Minister Stepan Mnatsakanyan reports that recent
findings reveal that over 600,000 Armenian citizens have emigrated
from the country during the period from 1992 to 1998. The results
also show that the population of the country has decreased to 3,798,000
as of January first of this year. The minister adds that due to a
reduction in his ministry's budget, the planned national census, originally
slated for later this year, will be postponed until sometime in 2001. |
| February 8-9 |
The Armenian parliament,
meeting in an emergency session, narrowly votes to reject the opposition's
demand for an amendment to the law on telecommunications to allow
for the legal revocation of the fifteen-year monopoly granted to the
ArmenTel firm in its privatization last year. The Armenian Constitutional
Court recently ruled that the relevant section of the telecommunications
law is in violation of the constitutional prohibition of state and
natural monopolies, but added that the violation did not necessitate
an immediate amendment to the law. Reacting to the defeat, opposition
"Hairenik" faction leader Eduard Yegorian states that the
vote means that Armenians will continue to pay exorbitant prices for
mediocre telephone service. |
| February 9-10 |
Law enforcement authorities
announce that they have discovered the body of Deputy Interior and
National Security Minister Major-General Artsrun Markarian on the
outskirts of Yerevan. The murdered official, shot several times in
the chest and head, was also the target of a failed assassination
attempt which left him seriously wounded in January 1998. The next
day, security forces arrest two of the minister's bodyguards. |
| February 13 |
Following a meeting with
leading business executives, Prime Minister Armen Darbinian proposes
a new commercial taxation system based on projected revenue and simplified
auditing procedures. The proposal is criticized given the government's
failure to collect almost fifty percent of outstanding tax revenues.
The government is faced by the challenge of raising some 47 billion
drams ($87 million) in additional tax revenue as reflected in its
1999 budget projections. |
| February 16 |
A group of Kurds residing
in Armenia storm the United Nations mission in Yerevan and seize several
UN personnel to protest the arrest of Abdullah Ocalan, the leader
of the Turkish-based Kurdish Workers Party (PKK). The Kurds release
the hostages and depart the building following negotiations with Armenian
police. |
| February 17 |
Following the recent threat
by the president to dissolve the legislature, the parliament votes
102 to 1 to lift the parliamentary immunity of former interior minister
and head of the Armenian National Movement (ANM) Vano Siradeghian.
The opposition ANM leader fled the country last month and is subject
to an outstanding arrest warrant issued for his part in five political
murders. The Armenian government is reportedly seeking his extradition
from France where he is rumored to be in hiding.
President Kocharian announces that the upcoming parliamentary elections
will be held on May 30th. The day before, the president signed the
newly adopted election legislation into law which will govern the
electoral procedures of the May elections. The opposition has asked
for a presidential veto of the law based on the concern that a disproportionate
amount of the seats, 75 out of 131, will be elected in single-mandate
constituencies, a system which has been conducive to voting irregularities
in previous elections. The pro-government Armenian Revolutionary Federation
(ARF) and the Self-Determination Union (SDU) have also joined in the
criticism, promising to seek amendments to the new law.
A delegation led by Armenian Minister of Justice David Harutiunian
arrives for two days of meeting with Nagorno Karabagh officials to
formalize bilateral cooperation in legal and judicial reform and to
finalize an agreement on cooperation between the two ministries to
be signed later in the year. |
| February 19 |
Opposition deputy and leader
of the newly formed "National Democratic Party- 21st Century,"
Davit Shahnazarian, calls for the formation of an interim parliamentary
commission to consider the impeachment of President Kocharian on grounds
that he violated the constitution. Most of the other opposition political
parties react with cautious statements with only the "Hairenik"
bloc expressing outright support for the proposal.
Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanian holds a press conference
in Yerevan to discuss the status of the mediation effort of the Organization
for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) engaged in seeking a
negotiated resolution to the Nagorno Karabagh conflict. The Armenian
foreign minister states that the only avenue for the resumption of
the stalled OSCE peace talks is the original OSCE proposal submitted
to the Armenian, Azerbaijan and Karabagh governments late last year
which envisioned the formation of a "common state" comprising
Nagorno Karabagh and Azerbaijan proper. The OSCE is reportedly attempting
to revise that peace plan to incorporate a "mutually acceptable
formula" to serve as a basis for restarting the negotiations.
Azerbaijan has adamantly rejected the "common state" approach
as a direct threat to its territorial integrity and national sovereignty.
A delegation of the leaders of several Armenian youth organizations
visits Karabagh and meets with Karabagh President Arkady Gukasyan.
The youth organizations pledge to increase joint activities with Karabagh
youth and athletic organizations. |
| February 21-23 |
A delegation comprising
representatives of the Norwegian foreign ministry meets with senior
officials of the Armenian and Nagorno Karabagh governments during
visits to Yerevan and Stepanakert. The Norwegian delegation is touring
the region to prepare for the planned visit of Norway's Foreign Minister
Knut Vollebaek, the current chairman of the Organization for Security
and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), in April. During the meeting with
the visiting officials, Nagorno Karabagh President Arkady Gukasyan
states that he is optimistic that the coming visit of the Norwegian
foreign minister will bring a renewed urgency to the stalled OSCE
peace talks and adds that the Karabagh population holds a strong desire
for peace based on mutual concessions and fair dialogue. The Norwegian
delegation then meets with Azerbaijani officials the next day in Baku. |
| February 22 |
Former Armenian Health
Minister Emil Gabrielian substantiates earlier claims by Interior
and National Security Minister Serge Sarkisian that Armenian scientists
have developed a proven cure for the AIDS virus. According to Gabrielian,
currently the head of the national agency for pharmaceutical distribution,
the new protocol has undergone clinical tests on fourteen AIDS patients
and significantly improved their conditions. The cure is reportedly
to be patented within the next few days and will be subjected to international
testing and medical scrutiny. The interior and national security minister
adds that he and a group of businessmen have financed the research
program tat produced the new drug.
The presidential Commission for Constitutional Reform rejects the
inclusion of dual citizenship in the commission's proposed constitutional
reforms to be presented to the parliament later this year. Although
the dual citizenship idea has been supported by President Kocharian,
the country's military leaders express concern that it would encourage
cases of avoiding military service. Commission member and head of
the Self-Determination Union (SDU), Paruir Hairikian, criticizes the
vote and threatens to resign his seat unless the decision is overturned.
Opposition deputies strongly criticize Viktor Dallakian, the author
of the new election law, for arbitrarily introducing changes in the
law after it had been adopted, including an increase in the powers
of the Central Electoral Commission. Dallakian admits the changes
were made after the law's passage, but minimizes the significance
of the changes. Kocharian announces that he was unaware of the changes
to the law's text and states that he will, therefore, be open to subsequent
amendments to the law. |
| February 23 |
Parliamentary Chairman
Khosrov Harutiunian sends a letter to his Azerbaijani counterpart
Murtuz Aleskerov calling for his support for a proposal to convene
a special meeting of the parliamentary chairmen of the Transcaucasus
under the auspices of the Council of Europe's Parliamentary Assembly
and to hold periodic seminars on regional cooperation. The Armenian
proposal stresses the fundamental need for establishing a peaceful
dialogue on regional problems.
Azerbaijani President Geidar Aliyev sends a letter to the three nations
co-chairing the "Minsk Group" of the Organization for Security
and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) overseeing the mediation efforts
of the Nagorno Karabagh conflict. The Azerbaijani president's letter,
sent to France, Russia and the United States, calls on the officials
to "act resolutely" in attempting to reach a solution to
the conflict and stresses that although the Azerbaijani position is
"constructive," Baku remains firm in its outright rejection
of the earlier OSCE peace plan advocating the "common state"
approach featuring Nagorno Karabagh and Azerbaijan as one entity.
President Aliyev defines the "common state" plan as a position
that "pushes the peace process back and reduces the chance of
a settlement." The Russian Minsk Group co-chairman, Yurii Yukalov,
responds by affirming the OSCE's insistence in retaining their earlier
"common state" peace plan and adds that there will be no
serious deviations or sudden changes to the proposal. |
| February 25 |
The Armenian foreign ministry
issues a statement criticizing the recent appeal by Azerbaijani President
Geidar Aliyev to the three nations serving as co-chairs of the working
group of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE)
working to resolve the Nagorno Karabagh conflict. The Armenian statement
specifically criticizes the Azerbaijani appeal for demonstrating an
"unconstructive" approach that is the primary obstacle to
settling the conflict. The Armenian foreign ministry adds that Azerbaijan
continues to try to place the Karabagh issue "in the broader
context of Azerbaijani-Turkish relations." |
| February 26 |
A statement released by
the Nagorno Karabagh parliamentary commission on human rights and
national minorities expresses outrage at the Azerbaijani government's
renewed claims that Karabagh forces conducted a massacre of Azerbaijani
civilians during a battle at the village of Khojaly in 1992. The Karabagh
statement explains that the Karabagh forces gave Azerbaijani authorities
adequate advance warning of the attack in order to allow for the evacuation
of the village's civilian population and that the battle was fully
justified by the presence of a large amount of Azerbaijani weaponry
and armaments stored in the village. The Azerbaijani government renewed
its charges of massacres at Khojaly with a commemoration held in Baku
which featured President Geidar Aliyev vowing that the "occupied
territories will be liberated sooner or later" even if Azerbaijan
has to "sacrifice a great many people." |
| February 28 |
Residents of the Karabagh
capital Stepanakert participate in a march commemorating the victims
of the pogroms of 1988 in which a large number of Armenians living
in the Azerbaijani city of Sumgait were attacked and killed by armed
mobs of Azerbaijanis. Karabagh Prime Minister Jirair Poghosyan, Defense
Minister Samvel Babayan, Parliamentary Chairman Oleg Yessayan and
Parliamentary Vice-Speaker Emma Gabrielian comprise the Karabagh government's
special delegation taking part in the commemoration. |
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