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| January 3 |
Armenian television reports that the
editorial offices of "Novoe Vremya" (New Times), a Yerevan-based
Russian language newspaper, was seriously damaged in an arson attack
on New Year's Eve. The newspaper's editor, Ruben Satyan, reveals that
he received threatening telephone calls in recent weeks, but cannot
confirm reports alleging that the attack is related to the newspaper's
reprinting of a Moscow publication's controversial article on the
October 27th attack on parliament. |
| January 7 |
Nagorno Karabagh President Arkady Gukasyan
meets with visiting Armenian President Robert Kocharian in Stepanakert.
Kocharian also meets with Prime Minister Anushevan Danielian and several
Karabagh district administrators. The Armenian president is in Stepanakert
to join with family members in commemorating the first anniversary
of the death of his brother in a plane crash.
President Gukasyan announces that Defense Minister Seyran Ohanian
will also assume the responsibilities of Commander of Karabagh's Armed
forces, a post previously held by the former Karabagh Defense Minister
Samvel Babayan. |
| January 7-8 |
Armenian National Television Deputy
Director, Harutiun Harutiunian, is formally charged by prosecutors
with complicity in the October 27th attack on parliament. The arrest
results from testimony by Nairi Hunanian, the leader of the five gunmen
responsible for the attack and killings in parliament. The Director
of the National Television, Tigran Naghdalian, and his staff issue
a strong condemnation of the arrest, dismissing it as a politically
motivated act and charge that the prosecutors are being subjected
to serious manipulation by supporters of former president Levon Ter
Petrosian. Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF) leader Vahan Hovanessian
adds that the charges against Harutiunian, also an ARF member, are
unfounded and warns that the investigators should see "the danger
of rising tension" as most Armenians fail to "believe in
or submit to the government." |
| January 10 |
The military prosecutor's office announces
that police officer Artur Hakobian has been arrested for "operational
negligence" related to the October 27th attack on parliament.
Hakobian was commanding the police unit responsible for parliamentary
security during the attack and is the third police officer to be detained
for negligence in the incident. This arrest brings the total number
of individuals charged in this case to seventeen.
A small group of Kurds stage a demonstration outside the United Nations
offices in Yerevan to protest the Turkish Supreme Court's refusal
to revoke the death sentence passed on Abdullah Ocalan, the imprisoned
leader of the outlawed Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK). There is a small
Kurdish minority population in Armenia with newspapers, cultural centers
and schools. |
| January 12 |
Chief Military Prosecutor Gagik Jahangirian
announces that investigators are close to concluding that the events
of the October 27th parliament attack and shootings of senior government
leaders were part of a broad attempt to overthrow the Armenian government.
Jahangirian adds that the actual killings in the parliament were only
part of a broader plot that was not fully launched and that he expects
at least one or two senior officials, in addition to the seventeen
currently detained, to be arrested shortly in connection to the conspiracy. |
| January 13 |
Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanian gives
a press briefing to review the previous year's foreign policy which
was focused on regional issues, specifically, improving Armenia's
relations with neighboring states. Oskanian states that bilateral
relations with Iran and Georgia are strengthening, although the state
of relations with Turkey remains unchanged despite the efforts of
the United States to foster better relations. He adds that the upcoming
meeting between the Armenian and Azerbaijani presidents signify a
resumption of the peace talks on Karabagh. Commenting on Russia, the
foreign minister explains that Moscow remains a "strategic"
partner, but says that Armenia is now also attempting to broaden its
relations with the West and with the GUUAM regional grouping, which
consists of Georgia, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan and Moldova. |
| January 12-13 |
A new Karabagh veterans organization
is established in Stepanakert comprised of supporters of President
Gukasyan. The new group, the Union of Artsakh (Karabagh) War Veterans,
is led by Deputy Defense Minister Vitaly Balasanian and includes Interior
Minister Bako Sahakian. The group is planning a founding congress
sometime next month to prepare for the parliamentary elections scheduled
for this coming April. The group issues its first statement which
strongly supports President Gukasyan and criticizes those who seek
to escalate political unrest in Karabagh. Political figures in Stepanakert
critical of the Karabagh president allege that the group was established
with the support of the Armenia-based Yerkrapah movement and enjoys
the personal backing of Yerkrapah leader General Manvel Grigorian. |
| January 14 |
Vahan Harutiunian testifies in court
that former Interior Minister and leader of the former ruling Armenian
National Movement (ANM), Vano Siradeghian, ordered the murder of two
police officers after they failed to assassinate prominent Armenian
businessman Serge Jilavian in Moscow in 1993. Harutiunian, who was
the commander of the Interior Ministry Forces, also testifies that
other senior ANM leaders were actively involved in other acts of politically-related
murder and intimidation, including the killings of the head of the
country's railways and a local government official.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Grigori Berdyannikov discusses the
peace talks on the Nagorno Karabagh conflict with Armenian President
Kocharian and Nagorno Karabagh Foreign Minister Naira Melkoumian during
a meeting in Yerevan. Nikolai Gribkov, Russia's co-chairman of the
OSCE's Minsk Group, also reviews the scheduled meeting between the
Armenian and Azerbaijani presidents during the upcoming Moscow summit
of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). According to the
Russian officials, acting President Vladimir Putin is currently considering
the Russia's role in a post-conflict settlement, including the deployment
peacekeeping troops to the region. |
| January 15 |
In a meeting with journalists, Finance
Minister Levon Barkhudarian announces the general outline of his government's
proposed state budget prior to its formal submission to the parliament.
According to the few details released, the proposed budget reflects
a nearly identical set of targets and projections as last year, with
expenditures set at 254 billion drams ($490 million) and estimated
revenues of 202 billion drams. The budget sets aside roughly a third
of its funds for social programs and allocates another twenty percent
for defense and law enforcement. The budget projects economic growth
of six percent with a five percent level of consumer price inflation.
Barkhudarian states that economic growth for last year was four percent
and inflation was two percent.
The Armenian Communist Party announces the selection of Vladimir Darbinian
as its new first secretary. Darbinian replaces the late Sergei Badalian
who died in Moscow in November, The new Communist Party leader promises
to maintain the party's policies and to work closely with the party's
parliamentary leader, Leonid Akopian. The 68-year old Darbinian served
in the 1970s as Soviet Armenian Interior Minister and currently holds
a post within the Defense Ministry. |
| January 17 |
The new leader of the Armenian Communist
Party, Vladimir Darbinian, calls for early presidential elections
to "help restore political stability." Darbinian also pledges
to work with the dominant Unity bloc to pass several constitutional
amendments seeking to reduce the powers of the president. The constitutional
amendments, set for introduction next month with plans for a national
referendum in May, will attempt to remove the president's power to
dissolve the parliament. |
| January 19 |
Former Prime Minister and the head of
the National Democratic Union (NDU), Vazgen Manukian, calls on President
Kocharian to resign in order to ease the "anarchy" of the
current political situation. The NDU leader, defeated in the 1996
and 1998 presidential elections, adds that his party will work to
ensure that a new presidential election will be free and fair. Manukian
criticizes calls for a referendum on constitutional amendments and
demands for new parliamentary elections as insufficient methods to
correct the country's worsening political and economic crises. |
| January 20 |
Nagorno Karabagh's Yerkrapah Union,
increasingly separate and divided from the Armenia-based Yerkrapah
Union, holds a party congress in Stepanakert and pledges its support
for the former Commander of the Armed Forces Samvel Babayan. The 500-member
party dismisses the recently formed Union of Artsakh War Veterans
and party leader Arkady Karapetian renews its demand for President
Gukasyan to resign, condemning his government as undemocratic. In
turn, the Union of Artsakh War Veterans defends the president's actions
against Babayan as essential for the establishment of democracy in
Karabagh. The two rival groups are each organizing for the parliamentary
elections scheduled for April. |
| January 21-22 |
United States Assistant Secretary of
State Steven Sestanovich and Carey Cavanaugh, the U.S. co-chair of
the OSCE's working group on the Karabagh conflict, the so-called Minsk
Group, hold a series of meetings with Armenian government leaders.
The U.S. delegation reviews measures to accelerate mediation efforts
and announces that the Minsk Group is currently drafting a revised
peace plan. Sestanovich states that the Karabagh conflict needs to
be resolved before there can be any improvement in Turkish-Armenian
relations. |
| January 23 |
Anonymous Armenian officials confirm
that Turkish President Suleyman Demirel has written a letter to President
Kocharian inviting him to endorse the Turkish proposed regional stability
pact recently announced in Tbilisi. The Turkish president writes that
the Caucasus pact, which would be guaranteed by the international
community, would bring "peace, stability and prosperity"
to all states in the region. |
| January 24 |
World Bank officials in Armenia announce
the extension of $85 million in new loans as long as the government
continues its policies of deregulation, liberalization and economic
reform. Approximately $45 million will be used to subsidize nearly
half of the projected state budget deficit, while the rest will fund
social programs and judicial reform. Total Armenian foreign debt is
expected to reach $925 million by the end of the year.
Armenian President Kocharian and Azerbaijani President Aliyev hold
another round of direct peace talks over the Nagorno Karabagh conflict
during the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) summit in Moscow.
Acting Russian President Vladimir Putin affirms Russia's willingness
to act as a "guarantor" of any peace settlement and details
the Russian proposal for deploying Russian peacekeeping troops along
a demilitarized zone. Putin cites Russia's commitment to the Karabagh
peace process, noting that the first direct presidential discussions
were at the January 1999 CIS summit in Moscow. |
| January 26 |
According to new statistics released
by Vladimir Sadayan, the head of the Karabagh Ministry of Social Security's
Department of Population Migration, 192 families have resettled in
Karabagh. The report shows that a total of 757 families, or about
3000 people, have settled in Karabagh since 1993. The Karabagh government
has implemented a program of humanitarian assistance for the returning
population and extends financial credits and land grants to spur agricultural
development.
Armenian President Kocharian contacts President Gukasyan to brief
him on his recent meeting with Azerbaijani President Aliyev. Kocharian's
recent meeting with Aliyev during the CIS summit in Moscow, was the
first direct talks between the two leaders since the Armenian parliament
attack and shooting in late October. |
| January 27 |
Prime Minister Aram Sarkisian and visiting
U.S. State Department official Bill Taylor reach an agreement for
the formation of a special task force to promote bilateral economic
relations between the two nations. This new task force will include
representatives from several major U.S. governmental agencies, including
the U.S. Agency for International Development (AID), the Commerce
Department, and the U.S. Export and Import Bank. After meeting with
President Kocharian, Taylor announces that the World Bank has endorsed
Washington's proposal to hold an international conference on regional
economic reconstruction in the Caucasus. The U.S. conference initiative,
styled after the Balkan model, seeks to foster greater regional cooperation
and relations.
The leadership of the People's Party of Armenia, a partner in the
dominant parliamentary Unity bloc, selects Stepan Demirchian as its
new party leader. Demirchian, the son of slain Parliamentary Chairman
Garen Demirchian, will head the party until the convening of a formal
party congress next year. |
| January 28-29 |
The Armenian and Azerbaijani presidents,
while attending the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, participate
in a round table on the economic situation in the Caucasus and Central
Asia. In a ninety-minute meeting following the round table, the two
leaders enter into detailed negotiations over various aspects of the
Karabagh issue. Kocharian rejects Aliyev's "peace pipeline"
proposal through Armenia, stating that he would not "exchange
land for pipelines." United States Secretary of State Madeleine
Albright also holds two separate meetings with the leaders and pledges
U.S. support for the post-conflict reconstruction of the region once
a settlement is reached.
United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan commends the Armenian
and Azerbaijani presidents for their recent meetings and cites "progress
in the settlement of the Nagorno Karabagh conflict." Annan adds
that he expects that "within the next few months we may see an
important announcement that could make a major impact on the conflict
in Nagorno-Karabagh."
Nagorno Karabagh Foreign Minister Naira Melkoumian reveals that the
Azerbaijani Foreign Affairs Ministry has lodged a formal letter of
protest with the Swiss government over the investment and commercial
activities of several Swiss firms in Nagorno Karabagh. Melkoumian
criticizes Baku's position as contradicting the ongoing peace talks
between the Azerbaijani and Armenian presidents and their stressing
the need for economic reconstruction of the region. |
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