|
|
|
| July 5 |
After several meetings
with Azerbaijani and Nagorno Karabagh officials during a regional
tour, a delegation of officials from the Organization for Security
and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) arrives in Yerevan. They meet with
Armenian government officials to brief them on several new initiatives
they hope will restart the peace talks. The delegation, comprising
the French, Russian and U.S. co-chairmen of the OSCE Minsk Group,
also announces new proposals focusing on regional economic development.
The French OSCE Minsk Group co-chairman, Jean-Jacques Gailard, announces
that there is a new revised peace plan currently under consideration. |
| July 10-11 |
Officials of the Military
Prosecutor's office formally announce that their investigation into
the October 27th attack on the parliament is now concluded. The day
before the announcement, the military prosecutor reported to the Armenian
parliament that his office was dropping charges against five individuals
initially arrested in the case, including former presidential adviser
Aleksan Harutiunian. Military Prosecutor Gagik Jahangirian also states
that the gunmen involved in the attack were acting on their own and
have no ties to any political group. There are presently over a dozen
defendants charged in the attack. |
| July 11 |
Foreign Minister Vardan
Oskanian announces that President Robert Kocharian will meet with
Azerbaijani President Geidar Aliyev on August 15th in Yalta, the latest
in a series of direct presidential meetings seeking to negotiate a
settlement to the Nagorno Karabagh conflict. The two presidents are
to resume their talks along a parallel track with the diplomatic efforts
of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). |
| July 12-14 |
Following a preliminary
tour of the region to meet with Armenian, Azerbaijani and Nagorno
Karabagh leaders, the Organization for Security and Cooperation's
(OSCE) Minsk Group convenes a special session in Vienna to review
the status of the negotiations. The session also seeks to utilize
the recent meeting between the presidents of Armenian and Azerbaijani
as a basis for restarting peace talks. The Minsk Group also considers
new initiatives and measures that may be added to a revised peace
plan for Karabagh. The current peace plan, accepted by all parties
to the conflict except Azerbaijan, proposes a vague "common state"
entity comprising Nagorno Karabagh and Azerbaijan proper within the
parameters of a new horizontal relationship, with its precise arrangements
to be subject to later negotiation. The Minsk Group invites the Foreign
Minister of Nagorno Karabagh to participate in the session. |
| July 13 |
Three Armenian soldiers,
who deserted their unit in the southeastern Vardenis region, go on
a shooting spree, killing eight people, including two police officers
and a child. One of the soldiers is wounded during one of the incidents
and police apprehend and subdue the other two servicemen several days
later. |
| July 14 |
Officials from the European
Union (EU) and Iranian government participate in a meeting hosted
by the Armenian government in Yerevan to discuss a possible EU role
in the planned construction of a new $120 million natural gas pipeline
from Iran to Armenia and a refinery in southern Armenia. The Armenian
government also seeks to advance a complementary economic development
plan for its southern border area with Iran.
A daily newspaper in Yerevan begins publishing the results from a
series of political polls it conducted among a sample of 1000 Yerevan
residents. In response to the question of who runs the country, 20
percent of the respondents believe that President Robert Kocharian
rules the country, while 18 percent state that organized crime or
the "Armenian mafia" actually runs the country. Another
13 percent indicate that the government in general rules the nation,
11 percent opt for the bureaucracy, 9 percent state that the military
rules the country, and another 4 percent believe that the parliament
is the real ruler. |
| July 16-17 |
Visiting Yerevan as part
of a regional tour and to participate in the opening ceremonies of
a new official office, the Chairwoman-in-Office of the Organization
for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), Benita Ferrero-Waldner,
meets with Armenian leaders to discuss the OSCE's mediation effort
seeking a solution to the Nagorno Karabagh conflict. |
| July 17-20 |
A group of parents of
sons who died during their military service stage several days of
protest near the presidential palace in Yerevan, demanding a meeting
with the president to articulate their concerns that the peacetime
deaths point to a larger problem of mistreatment and abuse of recruits
within the Armenian military services. |
| July 18 |
The families of the senior
political figures murdered during the October attack on parliament
protest the military prosecutor office's decision to release four
individuals initially arrested and charged with complicity in the
attack. The relatives specifically question the accuracy and reliability
of the testimony of the leader of the gunmen, which was used in exonerating
the four people released. Despite some suggestions that the relatives
would appeal the decision, many of the relatives state that they do
not want to hinder the progress of bringing the case to trial by reopening
the investigation. |
| July 19 |
Opposition National Democratic
Union (NDU) Parliamentarian Arshak Sadoyan criticizes the government's
explanation of its plan to privatize the country's four national energy
distribution networks. Sadoyan states that the government officials
involved in the energy sector routinely embezzle some $40 million
annually. The opposition deputy adds that according to his calculations,
the value of the four energy networks is actually quite higher than
government estimates and is more realistically priced at between $400
and $500 million. The Armenian government counters that the networks
are in desperate need of foreign investment to modernize and upgrade
their now obsolete systems, citing estimates that $45 million is lost
annually to inefficiency. |
| July 21 |
In accordance with a recent
pledge to visiting Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe
(OSCE) Chairwoman-in-Office Benita Ferrero-Waldner in Yerevan, the
Armenian government releases three Azerbaijani prisoners of war. The
release follows another release of six Azerbaijanis just days earlier.
The prisoners are transported to Baku aboard United Nations aircraft.
With these recent releases, the Azerbaijani government now holds that
there are two Azerbaijani prisoners remaining in Armenian custody. |
| July 24 |
Following a meeting with
U.S. Secretary of Defense William Cohen during a visit to Washington,
Armenian Defense Minister Serge Sarkisian concludes a new agreement
providing Armenia with $300,000 in U.S. military assistance specifically
for modernizing border and customs security. The U.S. assistance,
comprising both equipment and training, includes special techniques
and instruments to detect nuclear, chemical and biological weapons.
U.S. Defense Department officials add that the U.S. seeks to promote
greater bilateral military relations once the Nagorno Karabagh conflict
is settled. |
| July 26 |
The Armenian Constitutional
Court issues a ruling on the challenged July 9th by-election of Kim
Balayan to a parliamentary seat from a Yerevan constituency. The decision
affirms the election of Balayan, a deputy from the Armenian Revolutionary
Federation (ARF) that now holds nine seats with this decision.
Following a second reading of the controversial bill to privatize
the country's four national energy distribution networks, the parliament
votes by 64 to 38 to adopt the measure despite vehement protests by
the opposition. The bill, which was hotly debated for nearly three
days, enables the government to move forward in negotiating four pending
tender offers from international firms competing for the energy networks.
The privatization bill was initially defeated back in April despite
the World Bank's insistence that the privatization would be contingent
on further loan disbursements. The opposition, which opposed the bill,
grouped along party lines comprising the Communists, the Right and
Accord faction and the People's Party (the partner in the dominant
Unity bloc with the Republican Party), was overcome by the pro-government
coalition of the Stability faction, the Armenian Revolutionary Federation
(ARF) and the Republican Party. |
| July 26-27 |
A delegation of senior
officials of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), led by
Deputy Secretary-General for Political Issues Peter Kleiber, concludes
several days of meetings with Armenian officials. The NATO delegation
reviews Armenia's participation in the NATO Partnership for Peace
program and, in meetings with Defense Minister Serge Sarkisian, begins
developing a new plan for selecting elite Armenian military units
for service in international NATO peacekeeping operations. The visit
also serves to finalize the preparations for the Yerevan visit of
NATO Secretary-General Lord Robertson in September. |
| July 27 |
Police officials confirm
reports that they are investigating parliamentarian Ruben Gevorgian
on charges that he coerced and bribed two defendants to falsely admit
their guilt in an armed robbery which was allegedly committed by the
deputy's nephew. Gevorgian, a leading member of the Yerkrapah Union
of Karabagh Veterans organization, dismisses the charges and contends
that the criminal investigation is merely a new tool of political
persecution by the Kocharian government directed against him and the
Yerkrapah group. Gevorgian is a well-known critic of President Kocharian
and has even gone as far as to suggest that the president was involved
in the attack on parliament and subsequent murder of senior officials
last October. |
|
|
|
|
|