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| May 1 |
Representatives from the
Turkish Ankara Polytechnical University and officials of Armenia's
Yerevan State University sign an agreement calling for cooperation
and the establishment of new joint programs and academic exchanges.
Some Armenian groups, citing the fact that Turkey continues to deny
the 1915 Genocide of 1.5 million Armenians criticize the agreement
as an unwarranted reward to Turkey. Turkey also continues to maintain
a transport and trade blockade of Armenia and has refused to establish
formal diplomatic relations. |
| May 2 |
By presidential decree,
President Robert Kocharian dismisses Prime Minister Aram Sarkisian
and Defense Minister Vagharshak Harutiunian, adding in an official
statement that he was compelled to remove the prime minister to prevent
the escalation of a political threat to the "foundations of our
statehood." The president adds that there has been significant
"political intrigue" among the government ministers and
promises to work closely with the parliament in naming a new premier
to form a new government. The leadership of the Unity bloc, the largest
group in parliament, convenes an emergency meeting to discuss the
situation. The Unity bloc supported the ousted prime minister and
has engaged in a series of political challenges to the president,
fostering a period of increasing tension and confrontation over the
last several months. |
| May 7 |
Amid continuing internal
political tension, President Kocharian and Foreign Minister Vardan
Oskanian meet with visiting U.S. Ambassador to the Organization for
Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Carey Cavanaugh in Yerevan.
The U.S. official, who represents the U.S. as a co-chair of the OSCE's
working group on the Nagorno Karabagh conflict, the so-called Minsk
Group, briefs the Armenian leaders on the current draft OSCE peace
plan on Karabagh. The latest plan is undergoing revision after Azerbaijan
rejected the November 1998 "common state" proposal, which
offered a basic formula for establishing a horizontal relationship
between Stepanakert and Baku and an undefined entity comprising Nagorno
Karabagh and Azerbaijan proper. |
| May 8-9 |
The recently formed Armenia-U.S.
economic task force, created to coordinate and improve the efficiency
of U.S. economic assistance to the country, convenes its first meeting
in Yerevan. Delegations led by Armenian Finance and Economy Minister
Levon Barkhudarian and U.S. State Department coordinator William Taylor
review plans for improving the investment climate in Armenia and discuss
the need for liberalizing the country's tax and customs regulations. |
| May 9 |
A new organization of
military veterans from the Karabagh conflict is formed in Yerevan.
The new group, calling itself the "Veterans of the Liberation
Struggle," is formed as an alternative to the existing Yerkrapah
Union of Karabagh Veterans which has called for Kocharian's resignation.
The new group is headed by General Arkady Ter Tadevossian, who has
criticized the Yerkrapah role in Armenian politics, and draws immediate
criticism from prominent Yerkrapah members. |
| May 10 |
In meetings with a visiting
German parliamentary delegation, Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanian
states that Armenian relations with Turkey remain hampered by the
Turkish refusal to lift its blockade of Armenia and by its continued
denial of the Armenian Genocide of 1915, a precondition to Turkish
ascension to the European Union as stipulated in a 1987 European Parliament
decision.
Talks between Kocharian and the leaders of the Republican and People's
Parties, the two main groups comprising the Unity bloc, end with the
two parties in significant disagreement. The People's Party of Armenia,
founded by slain Parliamentary Speaker Garen Demirchian, objects to
the proposed appointment of Andranik Markarian to the post of prime
minister. Markarian is the head of the Republic Party which was founded
by the late Prime Minister Vazgen Sarkisian. The disagreement leads
to speculation of a split within the Unity bloc, but is publicly refuted
by Parliamentary Speaker Armen Khachatrian. The Yerkrapah group is
also increasingly divided as some members continue to call for Kocharian's
impeachment while Yerkrapah leader and Deputy Defense Minister General
Manvel Gregorian states that he opposes "any drastic steps,"
including impeachment. |
| May 11 |
The Armenian National
Movement (ANM), the former ruling party during the Ter Petrosian government,
elects former Foreign Minister Alexander Arzoumanian as its new party
leader. Arzoumanian replaces former Interior Minister Vano Siradeghian,
who is believed to have fled the country to avoid prosecution for
organizing a series of politically related murders. According to Arzoumanian,
the ANM will attempt to coordinate opposition activities with the
several small right-wing parties that split from the ANM in recent
years. |
| May 12 |
Armenian President Robert
Kocharian appointes Andranik Markarian (Armenia's Republican Party)as
the next Prime Minister.
Officials of the World Bank announce the release of $20 million in
new loans to finance infrastructure projects. The officials add, however,
that the World Bank will continue to withhold an installment of the
$45 million Structural Adjustment Credit package set to meet half
of this year's state budget deficit and another $11 million loan payment
until the Armenian government resumes its privatization of four of
the country's energy distribution firms. The parliament voted to suspend
the privatization of the energy distribution network in late April.
Amid a demonstration of 2500 opposition supporters demanding his resignation,
President Kocharian names the head of the Republican Party of Armenia,
Andranik Markarian, as his new prime minister. A 49-year old computer
scientist, Markarian served a three-year prison term for "anti-state"
nationalist activities during the Soviet era. Meeting with the president
and the outgoing cabinet the next day, Markarian promises to continue
the economic reform program and to overcome the political tension
between the president and the parliament which "undermines the
foundations of statehood." |
| May 14 |
A guard at the home of
General Arkady Ter Tadevossian is injured in an attack on the residence
by a group of unknown gunmen. According to Ter Tadevossian, the attack
is linked to his recent formation of a new organization, the "Veterans
of the Liberation Struggle," a splinter group of the Yerkrapah
group.
A group of 200 refugees from Nagorno Karabagh, mostly women and children,
are denied entry visas to travel to Bulgaria from the Georgian Black
Sea port of Poti and are deported to Armenia by Georgian border guards.
The refugees, who are originally from the Azerbaijani industrial city
of Sumgait, were forced from their temporary shelters in Nagorno Karabagh
during the heaviest fighting and lack any identification documents
beyond their outdated Soviet identity papers. Of the 300,000 Armenian
refugees from Azerbaijan and Karabagh who currently reside in Armenia
proper, only 12,000 have secured Armenian citizenship. |
| May 15 |
In his first action as
prime minister, Andranik Markarian dismisses three senior officials
with ties to the Yerkrapah Union of Karabagh veterans and the opposition
Armenian National Movement (ANM). The dismissed officials include
a former adviser to ousted premier Aram Sarkisian, Chief of Staff
Shahen Karamanukian, and presidential information department head
Tigran Hakobian. That same day, Yerkrapah leaders announce that two
Yerkrapah deputies are resigning from the Stability group, leaving
it with 20 seats, and another ten Yerkrapah deputies are defecting
from the Unity bloc, leaving it with 50 seats in the 131-seat parliament.
The defections are followed by the formal establishment of a new Yerkrapah
12-seat political group within the parliament, calling itself "Hayastan"
(Armenia) led by Miasnik Malkhasian. This development magnifies the
split within the overall Yerkrapah group between the new Malkhasian-led
parliamentary bloc, which seeks Kocharian's resignation and the larger
General Gregorian-led Yerkrapah organization which opposes the removal
of the president. |
| May 17 |
The Russian radio news
program "Mayak" resumes its broadcasts in Armenia and announces
plans to offer 24 hour-a-day programming, two-thirds of which would
be Russian and the remaining Armenian programming. The Moscow-based
Mayak program was banned in Armenia by former President Levon Ter
Petrosian in September 1996 after it ran several broadcasts critical
of the Ter Petrosian government.
Commenting on a recent visit to the United States by a delegation
of parliamentary chairmen, Victor Dallakian, the Chairman of the Committee
on State and Local Government, states that the U.S. State Department
has urged the chairmen to support President Kocharian in the negotiations
with the Azerbaijani president attempting to resolve the Nagorno Karabagh
conflict. Dallakian adds that the U.S. officials have suggested a
territorial exchange with Azerbaijan as part of the resolution, an
element strongly rejected by the parliamentarians.
Baroness Caroline Cox, the Deputy Speaker of the British House of
Lords and a long time human rights activist who has helped secure
and deliver several hundred tons of assistance to Armenia and Nagorno
Karabagh, tells Armenian journalists that the future security of Nagorno
Karabagh is threatened by "Islamism." She adds that although
there can be peaceful relations between Muslim and Christian communities,
the threat to Karabagh lies with Islamic leaders who use Islamic slogans
to hide their political goals. Throughout the course of the Nagorno
Karabagh, there has never been any real religious element to the conflict. |
| May 18 |
Officials of the Organization
for Security and Cooperation's (OSCE) working group on the Nagorno
Karabagh conflict, the "Minsk Group," announce plans to
dispatch a delegation to investigate the socio-economic needs of the
region, with a specific focus on housing. The three nations co-chairing
the Minsk Group, France, Russia and the United States, are currently
seeking experts from the World Bank, the United Nations Development
Program (UNDP) and the International Committee of the Red Cross, to
assist in conducting the planned needs assessment.
Amid growing speculation in the media over the possibility of a potential
territorial exchange with Azerbaijan, Armenian government officials
respond to an inquiry by the Nagorno Karabagh Foreign Ministry. Karabagh
officials seek clarification of a statement by Parliamentarian Victor
Dallakian revealing that during a recent tour of the United States,
U.S. State Department officials raised the issue of a "land for
peace" proposal. Armenian Presidential Spokesman Vahe Gabrielian
refutes press reports charging that President Kocharian has agreed
to such an exchange with the Azerbaijani president. The Armenian parliament
also passes a resolution rejecting any territorial exchange with Azerbaijan
as a threat to "Armenia's territorial integrity." |
| May 20 |
In a set of presidential
decrees, President Kocharian details the makeup of the new cabinet,
which reflects a slight increase in the number of ministries. Although
most ministers retain their positions, former Interior and National
Security Minister and presidential Chief of Staff Serge Sarkisian
is appointed as defense minister. The 20-seat Stability group, the
second-largest faction in parliament, is awarded the transport and
communications, and the environment ministries. |
| May 24 |
General Dro is back home |
| May 23 |
Anonymous Nagorno Karabagh
law enforcement officials state that the investigation of the attempted
assassination of Karabagh President Arkady Gukasyan is now complete.
Prosecutor-General Mavrik Ghukasian adds that the results of the investigation
support the initial charges that former Defense Minister Samvel Babayan
organized the attack on the president's car in an attempt to seize
power in Karabagh. The prosecutor-general confirms that Babayan has
confessed to planning an overthrow of the Gukasyan government, but
continues to deny personal responsibility for the March 22nd armed
attack on the president. |
| May 25 |
Nagorno Karabagh Minister
of Health Dr. Zoya Lazarian begins a two-week tour of the United States,
participating in a special program designed to provide the minister
with a detailed examination of health practices in the U.S.. The minister
hopes to formulate new measures in public health and medical practices
applicable for Nagorno Karabagh.
A delegation of military observers from the Organization for Security
and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) complete a tour of the cease-fire
zone along the Nagorno Karabagh border with Azerbaijan. The OSCE delegation's
tour of the region, part of a regular system of on-site monitoring,
includes meetings with officials of the Karabagh and Azerbaijani defense
ministries to discuss ways of strengthening the cease-fire agreement
in effect in the region since May 1994. |
| May 27 |
A press conference on
the latest developments in the criminal case against former Defense
Minister Samvel Babayan is held by Nagorno Karabagh Prosecutor-General
Mavrik Ghukasian in Stepanakert. The prosecutor-general reports that
the criminal trial is scheduled for sometime next month and promises
an open and fair trial for Babayan and the other 15 defendants in
the case. The defense attorney's allegations that Babayan has been
mistreated during his incarceration and his objection that Babayan
was initially denied proper legal representation are refuted by the
prosecutor-general. He adds that there is new evidence directly linking
Babayan to the illegal contribution of $500,000 to the parliamentary
Rights and Accord bloc in Armenia for their use in the parliamentary
elections last May. |
| May 30 |
Nagorno Karabagh President
Arkady Gukasyan, recovering in an Armenian hospital from wounds suffered
in the March assassination attempt, meets with newly appointed Iranian
Ambassador to Armenia Mohammed Farhad Koleini. The Karabagh president
briefs the Iranian ambassador on the latest developments related to
the mediation effort of the Organization for Security and Cooperation
in Europe (OSCE), an organization to which Iran does not belong.
Speaking at a press conference in Stepanakert, Nagorno Karabagh Foreign
Minister Naira Melkoumian reports on her recent visits to the United
States and France, revealing that the international community has
greatly increased its interest in the Karabagh conflict. The foreign
minister states that the strengthening of the rule of law in Karabagh
and the building of resilient democratic institutions is important
not only for Karabagh, but as a contribution to regional stability.
Adding that the academic conference on Nagorno Karabagh organized
by the American University in Washington was an important advance
in the study of conflict resolution, Melkoumian adds that it was disappointing
that Azerbaijan refused to participate in the conference. |
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