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| August 1 |
According to a new report
presented to the parliament by First Deputy Minister for Trade and
Industry Ashot Shahnazarian, there has been a 22 percent increase
in Armenian industrial production for the first half of the year,
compared to the same period of 1999. The report cites an increase
in industrial employment, with 8000 new jobs since last year, bringing
the total number of employed in the industrial sector to 34,000. The
positive statistics are reported to have resulted from the reactivation
of several mining, chemical, and smelting enterprises, including the
expansion of the Nairit chemical plant.
In yet another statement criticizing the performance of parliamentary
speaker Armen Khachatrian, the People's Party of Armenia issues a
strong condemnation of the speaker for remaining on a foreign vacation
during the crucial debate and vote in the parliament of the Kocharian
government's proposals to privatize the national energy distribution
networks. The People's Party strongly opposed the bill, which was
passed a few days earlier.
Sources in Nagorno Karabagh report that the Azerbaijani government
has initiated a new campaign to settle hundreds of Chechen refugees
in the Azerbaijani-held district of Shahumian, just north of the Nagorno
Karabagh border. Russian media reports confirm the plan and add that
Baku is attempting to coerce Chechen forces to assist in a possible
new Azerbaijani military offensive against Karabagh. |
| August 2 |
Prime Minister Andranik
Markarian meets with officials of the Armenian tax office to review
plans for the remainder of the year aimed at meeting the projected
goal of $320 million in tax collection. Although citing the tax inspectorate's
increase in collected taxes for the past month, the prime minister
notes that due to a 45 percent shortfall in expected tax revenue,
the ministry must exceed its current collection rate by 15 percent
for each of the remaining months of the year in order to reach projected
revenue targets. |
| August 3 |
Former Nagorno Karabagh
Defense Minister Samvel Babayan, currently being held in detention
awaiting trial on charges of organizing the failed assassination attempt
against Karabagh President Arkady Gukasyan last March, retracts his
earlier testimony. Babayan states that although he was not responsible
for the attempted assassination, he knew of the preparations and admits
that he failed to notify the Karabagh authorities. Many of Babayan's
supporters and some of the opposition political parties based in Armenia
have called for the case to be transferred from Karabagh to an Armenian
court in order to ensure a fair trial. The Nagorno Karabagh prosecutor-general's
office rejected the appeal for a change in venue last month, promising
that the Babayan trial would be free and fair.
In a televised address, Nagorno Karabagh President Arkady Gukasyan
states that Karabagh must be included in talks with Azerbaijan and
Armenia over the Karabagh conflict. The president stresses that no
mediation effort will achieve any results without the participation
of the Karabagh population. The comments follow a recent effort by
the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and
its working group on the Karabagh conflict, the "Minsk Group."
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| August 5 |
Armenian National Security
Ministry officials release an Azerbaijani prisoner of war recently
captured along the southwestern Armenian border with Nakhichevan.
This follows last month's release of nine Azerbaijani prisoners. Both
Azerbaijan and Armenia continue to accuse each other of holding additional
prisoners, despite claims to the contrary. The Armenian government
calls on Azerbaijan to allow the Red Cross full access to their prisons,
a policy practiced in Armenia. |
| August 7 |
Employees of the Armenpress
state news service stage a one-day strike to demand their salaries,
which have not been paid since March. The employees also protest the
fact that their department has only received 8 million drams of the
overall 36 million drams ($70,000) budgeted for their salaries and
operational expenses.
Nagorno Karabagh government spokesmen announce the first wave in the
repatriation of villagers from the Mardakert district's Maraga village
which was destroyed in fighting with the Azerbaijani military in 1992.
The returning residents, having been temporarily sheltered as refugees
in Armenia and the Russian Federation, resettle in the new village
of Novaya Maraga, recently restored by the Karabagh government. New
facilities and services in the restored village include a refurbished
medical facility and public school as well as electricity supplies
and a basic irrigation system. |
| August 9 |
Minister for Agriculture
Zaven Gevorgian, a member of the People's Party, criticizes his party
leader Stepan Demirchian for seeking a new parliamentary alliance
with the "Right and Accord" bloc led by Artashes Geghamian.
The minister, who was closely associated with the late founder of
the People's Party Garen Demirchian, adds that the prospective alliance
seems directed against the president and threatens to "destabilize
the political situation." The same day, the leadership of the
People's Party expels one of its leading members and the author of
the party's 1998 platform, Hmayak Hovannisian, for "violating
the party line." |
| August 10 |
Several hundred leaflets
are distributed throughout Yerevan by an unknown group calling itself
the "Avengers of October 27," referring to the October 27th
attack on the parliament and resulting killings of several senior
leaders. The flyers criticize the Kocharian government's investigation
of the killings and call on the people to demand a thorough investigation.
The government's preliminary investigation was completed last month.
Defense Minister Serge Sarkisian reports on the condition of the country's
armed forces, citing improvements in the combat readiness and morale
of the military. Sarkisian states that the military is "better
armed, better funded and better organized" compared to his earlier
tenure as defense minister from 1993-1995. The same day, Major General
Arkadii Ter Tadevossian announces his resignation as leader of the
recently formed "Union of Veterans of the Liberation Struggle,"
an organization comprising veterans of the Nagorno Karabagh conflict
and an apparent political counterweight to the Yerkrapah Union of
Karabagh Veterans group. |
| August 11 |
Prime Minister Markarian
meets with senior World Bank officials in Yerevan to discuss the disbursement
of the suspended $46 million structural credit package which was halted
after the parliament failed to approve the government's planned privatization
of the country's four energy distribution networks in May. With the
recent passage of the privatization plan by the parliament, the loans
can now be used to finance the country's expected state budget deficit
for this year.
Nagorno Karabagh Interior Minister Bako Sahakian issues a strong rejection
to recent Azerbaijani allegations that Nagorno Karabagh has become
a major transit point for narcotics trafficking from Central Asia
to Europe. The interior minister also rejects the logic of the Azerbaijan
charge that the recent 100 percent increase in drug addiction within
Azerbaijan is due to a flow of drugs through Karabagh. Sahakian adds
that his ministry is in full control of Karabagh and offers to coordinate
his ministry's anti-narcotics efforts with the Azerbaijani authorities
as part of a major cooperative effort to combat smuggling in the region. |
| August 14 |
Government spokesmen confirm
that the 40 million dram ($76,000) renovation of the parliament building
will be completed by the end of the month and will include the installation
of a new guarded entrance equipped with a modern metal detection system.
Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanian meets with Nagorno Karabagh
President Arkady Gukasyan to review the status of the international
mediation effort seeking a solution to the Karabagh conflict. The
foreign minister also briefs the Karabagh president on the details
of the planned meeting between Armenian President Robert Kocharian
and Azerbaijani President Geidar Aliyev, to be held during the summit
of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) in the Crimea in the
next few days. |
| August 15 |
A defendant in the case
of the attempted assassination of Nagorno Karabagh President Arkady
Gukasyan, Sasun Agadzhanyan, is hospitalized following the Karabagh
Interior Ministry's approval of his defense lawyer's appeal contending
that his defendant is too ill to participate in the upcoming trial.
The defendant, a former bodyguard of former Defense Minister and co-defendant
Samvel Babayan, is reportedly suffering from exhaustion and "psychological
stress." |
| August 17 |
Responding to a serious
drought affecting Armenia and Georgia, the Armenian government issues
an urgent appeal for food assistance from the United Nations. The
drought, said to be the worst in the region in nearly fifty years,
has led to severe shortages and the destruction of significant grain
and sunflower production in both countries. |
| August 18 |
Karabagh Foreign Minister
Naira Melkoumian and Presidential Adviser Janna Galstian meet with
the head of the private "Union of Relatives of Missing Soldiers"
in Stepanakert to discuss the problem of Armenian and Karabagh soldiers
missing and unaccounted for during the hostilities with Azerbaijan
over Nagorno Karabagh. |
| August
18-19 |
Attending a summit meeting
in Crimea of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), President
Kocharian meets with Azerbaijani President Geidar Aliyev, in the latest
of a series of direct talks over the Nagorno Karabagh conflict. The
leaders promise to continue the meetings, but note the difficulty
in forging a settlement, adding that it will require significant concessions
from all sides. |
| August
20-21 |
In published comments
to an Armenian newspaper, Nagorno Karabagh President Arkady Gukasyan
issues an appeal to the Karabagh deputies comprising the Armenian
Revolutionary Federation (ARF) group in the parliament. The president's
appeal calls on the ARF deputies to end their policies of "intolerance,
denial and confrontation" and recommends that the ARF bloc adopt
policies in accordance with "a constructive opposition."
The deepening rift between the president and the ARF in Karabagh began
during the campaigning for the June parliamentary elections and culminated
in a confrontation over the pro-Gukasyan parliamentary majority's
attempt to force the selection of their candidate for parliamentary
speaker. In a statement issued last month, the ARF warned of a growing
trend of authoritarian leadership in Karabagh and criticized President
Gukasyan for "retreating from democratization." The ARF
bloc holds key positions as committee chairmen in the new legislature. |
| August 22 |
A new agreement providing
$1 million in assistance targeting the spread of tuberculosis in Armenian
prisons is concluded between the Armenian Ministries of Health, Justice
and Interior and the International Committee of the Red Cross. Reports
on the conditions in the prisons reveal substandard conditions and
a significant level of infectious disease. Estimates of the number
of prisoners suffering from tuberculosis range from 240 to 350, or
roughly 4-5 percent of the overall prison population.
The leader of the People's Party of Armenia, Stepan Demirchian, refutes
suggestions that he intends to stand as a candidate for new parliamentary
speaker. The People's Party, a partner with the Republican Party in
the dominant Unity Bloc in parliament was led by Demirchian's father,
the late Parliamentary Speaker Garen Demirchian, killed in the October
attack on the parliament. The People's Party has become increasingly
at odds with its partner Republican Party's Prime Minister Andranik
Markarian over the government's economic policies. Adding to the internal
dissent is the recent dismissal of several mid-level government officials
associated with the People's Party by the prime minister. |
| August 28 |
A delegation of military
observers from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe
(OSCE) tours the border region separating Nagorno Karabagh and Azerbaijan
as part of an inspection of the cease-fire agreement in effect in
the region. |
| August 29 |
A bomb explodes in the
basement of the Yerevan home of Gagik Jahangirian, the Armenian military
prosecutor investigating the attack on the Armenian parliament last
October. The explosion, which causes no injuries and only minor property
damage, is under investigation.
Former Prime Minister Aram Sarkisian, announces plans to form a new
political party comprising defecting members of the Yerkrapah Union
of Karabagh Veterans elected to parliament on the party list of the
Republican Party. Having served as prime minister from last November
until mid-May, Sarkisian seeks to attract key elements away from the
Republican Party which was led by his late brother and that now is
a partner to the People's Party of Armenia in the dominant Unity parliamentary
bloc.
In an effort to coordinate humanitarian relief activities in Nagorno
Karabagh by international non-governmental organizations, Karabagh
Prime Minister Anushevan Danielian meets with Robert Adams, the head
of the Stepanakert office of Save the Children, and Loren Willy, of
Catholic Relief Society. Danielian conveys the Karabagh government's
commitment to working closely with the humanitarian organizations
and promises to assist with coordinating any governmental or ministerial
efforts needed for the work to proceed in Karabagh. |
| August 30 |
Foreign Minister Melkoumian
meets in Stepanakert with the head of the Stepanakert office of the
International Committee of the Red Cross. Melkoumian briefs the Red
Cross official on the recent releases of Azerbaijani prisoners by
the Karabagh authorities and offers her assistance in Red Cross plans
to expand humanitarian efforts in the region. |
| August 31 |
Greek military Chief
of Staff General Manousos Paraioudakis concludes four days of meetings
with senior Armenian military and government officials during a visit
to Armenia. The officials conclude an expanded agreement on the training
of Armenian military officers in Greek military academies and sign
an agreement on the formation of a bilateral working group empowered
to review possible joint defense industry projects.
A statement released by Arshak Vartazian, an official of the Interior
Ministry, confirms the death of Norair Yeghiazarian, imprisoned for
complicity in the attack on parliament. Yeghiazarian, found dead in
his prison cell two nights before, was charged with selling weapons
and ammunition to the five gunmen who carried out the attack. An investigation
is launched amid initial evidence suggesting suicide or accidental
electrocution.
The Karabagh Supreme Court announces that it will postpone the trial
of those charged with attempting to assassinate the president to hear
motions by the defense attorney for the jailed former Defense Minister
Samvel Babayan. The court is considering the motion by defense attorney
Zhudeks Shakarian that the trial be moved from Karabagh to an Armenia
court on the grounds that the convening of a trial in Stepanakert
would deny Babayan a free and fair trial. The defense attorney is
also awaiting a formal court-approved medical checkup of his client,
who he contends has been subjected to physical abuse and intimidation.
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