|
|
|
| April
11 |
Failing to secure a quorum of deputies because of an
organized boycott of parliamentary sessions by the opposition, the
Armenian parliament’s consideration of several pending bills
is halted, preventing any official debate or votes on several priority
legislative issues including the draft Criminal Code and a new law
on the media. The delay essentially ends all legislative work for
this parliament and puts off any votes on key bills until after the
May 25th election of a new legislature. By failing to pass the draft
Criminal Code, which would have replaced capital punishment with life
sentences, the Armenian government is in violation of a obligation
stemming from its membership in the Council of Europe. The draft law
on the media, presented by the government after several revisions,
was widely criticized as a threat to press freedom and led to a series
of demonstrations in recent weeks. Although this draft media law would
end a registration requirement for media outlets by the justice ministry,
critics stress that the law would still contain several restrictions,
including measures requiring media to fully disclose all sources of
funding and allowing courts the right to legally demand the complete
disclosure of journalists’ sources of information for the “protection
of public interests.” (Sources:
TransCaucasus: A Chronology, May
2003, Vol XII No 5)
|
| April
11 |
The Armenian government approves a controversial $59 million plan to modernize the Zvartnots international airport. The 8-year airport modernization and expansion project is to be carried out by Argentina’s “Corporacion America” group controlled by Eduardo Eurnekian, an Argentine billionaire of Armenian descent, and includes plans for the construction of two new flight terminals and the modernization of several other airport facilities at the Zvartnots airport in Yerevan. There is significant controversy over the project, mainly stemming from closed negotiations which led to a 30-year management deal in late 2001 that granted the company the right to create a tax-free economic zone inside the airport despite heated criticism from the opposition. The Armenian parliament adopted legislation in May 2002 which granted the company preferential treatment stipulating that a one square-kilometer area inside the airport could house businesses fully exempt from profit tax and other duties. The parliament also amended legislation to allow foreign investors the right to operate casinos inside the airport.
(Sources: TransCaucasus: A Chronology, May 2003, Vol XII No 5) |
| April
12 |
The opposition “Artarutiun” (Justice) bloc announced plans to pursue a new electoral strategy aimed at galvanizing support for defeated opposition presidential candidate Stepan Demirchian in order to win seats in the coming parliamentary elections and to escalate pressure on President Robert Kocharian to resign. Although the opposition continues to protest last month’s election results, the announcement reflects a deeper strategy to leverage the momentum of the opposition’s court challenges and public protests of the recent election as a means to garner a greater number of seats in the Armenian parliament. Justice bloc figure Albert Bazeyan explained that efforts to challenge the reelection of the Armenian president will continue because “the citizens of Armenia have the right to determine other ways of forming a legitimate government.” Reacting to the opposition’s strategy, Gagik Minasian, a senior member of the pro-government Republican Party of Armenia (HHK), dismissed the plan as a political ploy, contending that the opposition would to enter into a “dialogue” with the authorities immediately after the elections. Minasian further dismissed recent reports of a mounting divide between the HHK, led by Prime Minister Andranik Markarian, and other pro-presidential parties that are contesting the May 25th parliamentary elections. The Republican Party (HHK) is widely viewed as the most influential pro-government party, with significantly elevated electoral appeal stemming from the recent addition of Defense Minister Serzh Sarkisian on the party list of candidates contesting the election within the system of proportional representation.
(Sources: TransCaucasus: A Chronology, May 2003, Vol XII No 5) |
| April 12 |
Officials of the Armenian Airlines confirmed reports that the national carrier will be forced to end all flights as it faces bankruptcy. Traditionally the country’s largest air carrier, more than $20 million debt has contributed to the shut down of Armenian Airlines. The Russian Armavia company is now set to emerge as the country’s largest airline, with preparations in place for flights to seventeen foreign cities and plans to increase its transportation volume and modernize its fleet of planes. The Russian airline company is also considering the purchase of the remaining Armenian routes for some $15 million.
(Sources:
TransCaucasus: A Chronology, May 2003, Vol XII No 5) |
| April 13-14 |
According to figures released by the National Statistical Agency, Armenia’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew by 7.5 percent in the first two months of the year. Over the same period last year, Armenian industrial production also rose by nearly 8 percent, although the country’s $83 million foreign trade deficit expanded by more than 49 percent.
(Sources:
TransCaucasus: A Chronology, May 2003, Vol XII No 5) |
| April 14-15 |
Defeated in the 5 March presidential election, opposition leader Stepan Demirchian vowed on 14 April to withhold any recognition of the election results, contending that the reelection of President Robert Kocharian was illegitimate. The statement comes the day before the expected ruling by the Armenian Constitutional Court on Demirchian’s legal motion challenging the election. He added that “even assuming that my lawsuit will be turned down, the current president will not become legitimate in the eyes of the people.” Commenting on the 25 May parliamentary elections, Demirchian predicted that the recently formed opposition Artarutyun (Justice) alliance would win a substantial number of seats.
(Sources:
TransCaucasus: A Chronology, May 2003, Vol XII No 5) |
| April 14-15 |
A number of minibus drivers, well established as convenient transportation in the Armenian capital and cities, launch an organized protest over a recent increase in fuel prices. The more than 30 percent price rise, introduced by the government last week, stems from a decision to double the sales tax with the goal of raising $600,000 in revenue for the already tight state budget. The more than 3000 minibus drivers are particularly vulnerable to the price rise, as more than half of them pay monthly rental payments to state officials in control of the routes and ownership of the fleets of vehicles. Many drivers have also accused the government of waiting until after the president’s reelection before implementing the rise that was adopted last year.
(Sources: TransCaucasus: A Chronology, May 2003, Vol XII No 5) |
| April 15-16 |
Armenian Prosecutor-General Aram Tamrazian and acting U.S. Ambassador to Armenia Vivian Walker formally sign an agreement in Yerevan for more than $730,000 in U.S. assistance for training and technical assistance for Armenian law enforcement personnel. The new assistance is aimed at bolstering the Armenian police force and will include special computer training and classroom projects, domestic violence seminars, and firearms safety training. A special project will also focus on new measures to combat the trafficking of women and children.
(Sources:
TransCaucasus: A Chronology, May 2003, Vol XII No 5) |
| April 16-18 |
Following a ruling by the Constitutional Court that rejected an appeal by defeated presidential candidate Stepan Demirchian contesting the election results, Court Chairman Gagik Harutiunian rejects criticism by the pro-government media over the ruling’s recognition that official returns from more than forty constituencies throughout the country are “not credible” due to ballot-box stuffing and other irregularities. The ruling also recommended holding a “referendum of confidence” in the country's leadership within a year. Harutiunian denied that the proposed referendum of confidence implies doubts that the election was legitimate, explaining that such a referendum is one of several initiatives proposed last year by the Council of Europe to resolve a standoff between the authorities and the public.
(Sources: TransCaucasus: A Chronology, May 2003, Vol XII No 5) |
| April 18 |
The Armenian Parliament votes to adopt a new Criminal Code, overcoming a failed vote on the draft bill the previous week. The new law abolishes capital punishment (except in time of war) but also contains a special provision allowing the death sentence to be imposed on the five men currently on trial for the October 1999 attack on parliament and subsequent killing of several senior government officials.
(Sources: TransCaucasus: A Chronology, May 2003, Vol XII No 5) |
| 18 April |
In a surprise move, the British-registered Ransat group, which had signed a five-year agreement with the Armenian government in 2002 to take over management of the Nairit chemical plant in Yerevan, announces that it will cede control of that plant and of a second chemical complex in the northern town of Vanadzor back to the Armenian government. Armenian officials have criticized the British firm for failing to abide by its pledge to invest $25 million in the plant, the country’s largest such facility, and which has been idled since last fall after electricity supplies were cut off due to nonpayment of bills. Ransat also reportedly owes the plant's staff several months in back wages. Armenian Deputy Industry Minister Ashot Shahnazarian admits that the government is currently engaged in talks with several unnamed Russian companies that have expressed interest in acquiring the Nairit chemical plant.
(Sources: TransCaucasus: A Chronology, May 2003, Vol XII No 5) |
| April 21 |
A small group of staff members of the Armenian Constitutional Court resign in protest over the court's “judicially illiterate” ruling on the disputed presidential ballot.
(Sources: TransCaucasus: A Chronology, May 2003, Vol XII No 5) |
| April 21 |
The official campaign season for the May 25th parliamentary election opens with the Central Election Commission reporting that it has registered 1,084 candidates representing 17 parties and four blocs to compete for the 75 mandates to be distributed under the proportional system. A further 406 candidates are competing for the remaining 56 single-mandate seats. Some 60 prospective candidates were denied registration, including Armen Sarkisian, who is currently in detention under suspicion of involvement in the assassination of State Public Television and Radio head Tigran Naghdalian, Arshak Sadoyan, from the opposition National Democratic bloc, and Hayk
Babukhanian. (Sources: TransCaucasus: A Chronology, May 2003, Vol
XII No 5) |
| April 21 |
Former Foreign Minister Raffi Hovannisian announces that the “Zharangutiun” (Heritage) bloc that he leads will not take part in the parliamentary elections, stating that the election is bound to be undemocratic and does not wish "to take part in a public performance.” Hovannisian was denied registration to contest the February presidential election on the grounds that he failed to meet the minimum ten-year residency requirement.
(Sources: TransCaucasus: A Chronology, May 2003, Vol XII No 5) |
| April 24-25 |
In a statement timed with the anniversary of the Armenian Genocide which left over 1.5 million Armenians killed in Ottoman Turkey in 1915, U.S. President George W. Bush fails to categorize the mass killings as “genocide,” sparking significant criticism by Armenian groups on 25 April. The statement utilized lesser terms of “horrible tragedy” and “appalling events” in reference to the genocide, mainly to avoid angering Turkey. The move follows a statement by Armenian President Robert Kocharian on 24 April promising to pursue international recognition of the Armenian Genocide. Leading Armenian groups in the Armenian Diaspora denounced the statement, with the Armenian National Committee of America
(ANCA) specifically criticizing Bush for breaking a “February 2000 campaign pledge to properly recognize the Armenian Genocide,” and all expressing disappointment with the Bush Administration failure to confront the Turkish denial of the genocide despite Turkey’s recent refusal to allow U.S. troops to use bases in Turkey for the war on Iraq.
(Sources: TransCaucasus: A Chronology, May 2003, Vol XII No 5) |
| April 25 |
A Yerevan district court issues a ruling to dismiss a lawsuit brought by opposition Constitutional Rights Union head Hayk Babukhanian challenging the decision of the regional election commission denying him registration as a candidate in next month’s parliamentary election. Regional Election Commission head Levon Oghanganian defended their decision not to register Babukhanian’s candidacy, explaining that there were a number of discrepancies and omissions in the paperwork required to be filed for the candidate registration process.
(Sources: TransCaucasus: A Chronology, May 2003, Vol XII No 5) |
| April 25 |
A special presidential judicial oversight body rejects the recommendations of Armenia’s highest court to investigate the judicial sanctioning of the mass arrest of opposition activist and supporters of recent months. The Constitutional Court’s recommendations stem from its recent ruling on a court challenge brought by failed opposition presidential candidate Stepan Demirchian, calling on the presidential Justice Council to investigate the mass arrests of opposition supporters, which the court ruled as “contravening the European Convention on Human Rights,” and to “consider punishing judges that handed down rulings denounced as illegal by human rights groups.” The 16-member presidential Justice Council, empowered to both nominate and dismiss the vast majority of judges, rejected the Constitutional Court’s ruling and contended that it is acting outside its constitutionally defined powers. The Justice Council added that it is not subject to any orders or recommendations from the Constitutional Court. The defiance follows a similar incident last week with State prosecutors publicly rejected a Constitutional Court order to investigate reported instances of ballot box stuffing and other voter irregularities.
(Sources: TransCaucasus: A Chronology, May 2003, Vol XII No 5) |
| April 21- 25 |
Armenians and friends
around the world this week marked the anniversary of the beginning
of the Armenian Genocide in the Ottoman Empire. On April 24, 1915
Ottoman Turkish authorities rounded up Armenian community leaders
and subsequently deported the Armenian population from its ancient
homeland, murdering one and half million people in the process.
Armenia’s leaders joined hundreds of thousands of others in the annual
march to the Tsitsernakaberd Genocide Memorial outside Yerevan. In
his public statement President Robert Kocharian affirmed Armenia’s
determination to pursue international affirmation of the Genocide
“with the belief that this crime against humanity must be recognized
and condemned by all mankind, including the people of Turkey.”
The Genocide anniversary was commemorated in dozens of countries around
the world. In France, the unveiling of a monument to one of Armenia’s
greatest composers, Genocide survivor Komitas, marked the anniversary.
Earlier this week, Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan asked visiting
French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin to stop the event, but
was not successful. (Sources: Arminfo 4-24; Noyan Tapan 4-24) |
| April 21 - 25 |
Senior officers from
eight NATO and eleven Partnership for Peace (PfP) countries met in
Yerevan last week to finalize the preparations for joint ten-day military
exercises dubbed “Cooperative Best Effort 2003” this June. Around
600 personnel will practice multinational operations at Armenia’s
Vazgen Sargsian Military Academy’s exercise range. Following the exercises,
Armenia will send its first peacekeeping unit to relieve some of the
Greek forces currently deployed in Serbia’s breakaway province of
Kosovo.
Defense Minister Serge Sargsian underscored the importance that Armenia
places on cooperation with NATO armies, saying that Armenian soldiers
can further improve their military skills during these operations.
Turkey, which does not have diplomatic relations with Armenia, will
send ten staff officers, but no combat troops.
This week, Lithuania’s Defense Minister Linas Linkevicius visited
Armenia to sign a bilateral agreement on training Armenia’s officers
at the Baltic Defense College. Lithuania, along with other Baltic
republics, is expected to join NATO next year. President Robert Kocharian
concluded the first military agreements with Lithuania during his
visit there last June. Linkevicius further offered to share Lithuania’s
experience in winning NATO and European Union membership. (Sources:
Arminfo 6-21-02, 4-15, 21; RFE/RL Armenia Report 4-15; Noyan Tapan
4-21) |
| April 21 - 25 |
Armenian voters will
choose from seventeen parties and four party blocs in the May 25 parliamentary
elections, the Central Election Commission (CEC) reported this week.
Those parties and blocs collecting over five percent of the popular
vote will receive a share of 75 seats set aside for proportional representation.
The CEC did not register one minor political party which failed to
collect the required 30,000 signatures, while the “Raffi Hovannisian
Bloc” withdrew its nomination. Eight of the remaining contenders are
in the opposition and thirteen support President Robert Kocharian.
Leading pro-presidential groups include the right-of-center Republican
Party (HHK), left-of-center Armenian Revolutionary Federation (HHD)
and centrist Country of Law, Strong Fatherland and Democratic Liberal
parties. The opposition is dominated by the centrist Justice Bloc
(People’s Party (HZhK), Party of the Republic, National Democrats
(AZh) and smaller parties) and leftist National Unity Party. Observers
do not expect the former ruling Armenian Pan-National Movement (HHSh)
and the Communists (HKK) to overcome the five percent threshold.
More than 400 candidates will compete for 56 electoral district seats.
In three of the districts incumbent non-partisan (N/P) parliamentarians
Samvel Aleksanian (Yerevan), Hrant Grigorian (Echmiadzin) and Karen
Karapetian (Tashir) are running unopposed. The highest number of candidates
per district, nineteen, are registered in Vardenis. Tight races are
expected in several Yerevan districts. Four incumbent parliamentarians
are running in the capital’s Kanaker-Zeytun district: Armen Rustamian
(HHD), Frunze Kharatian (HKK), Manuk Gasparian (N/P) and Vahagn Grigorian
(N/P); in Kentron community Arshak Sadoyan (AZh) will face Khachatur
Sukiasian (N/P), while Shavarsh Kocharian (AZh) will defend his seat
against former Kentron mayor Ararat Zurabian (HHSh). In Ayntap, south
of Yerevan, Aramayis Barseghian (HZhK) is running against Henrik Abrahamian
(HHK). In the southern-most Kapan/Meghri district former Sunik governor
Roman Navasardian (N/P) is challenging incumbent Grigor Harutiunian
(HZhK). (Sources: Arm. This Week 3-21, 28; Noyan Tapan 4-21, 23) |
| April 21 - 25 |
Armenia’s economy continued
to grow at a brisk pace in spite of the long presidential election
campaign in February and March of this year. The main economic indicator,
the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), was up more than 11 percent in the
first quarter (January-March) of 2003, the National Statistics Service
reported this week. Last year, Armenia registered a record high GDP
growth of almost 13 percent, with Nagorno Karabakh’s GDP growing at
more than 11 percent. Statistics for the first quarter of this year
showed growth in all branches, including industrial, agricultural
and energy output, as well as foreign and retail trade turnover. Export-oriented
diamond cutting and the mining sectors continued to drive much of
the growth, at 48 and 13 percent respectively.
According to the two-year forecast by the country’s leading economic
consultancy Sed Marsed published this week, GDP growth is expected
to slow down somewhat in 2003-2004 to below nine percent a year. The
trade deficit is expected to narrow with exports growing faster than
imports, while growth in foreign direct investment will continue.
At the same time, the study predicts that the Armenian market will
become saturated with goods and expansion of existing export capacities
would reach its limits, necessitating new technology imports to create
new export opportunities. (Sources: Noyan Tapan 2-6, 3-3; Arminfo
4-18, 19, 21, 24) |
| April 21 - 25 |
Azerbaijani President
Heydar Aliyev collapsed twice and then recovered while delivering
a live televised speech this week leading to emergency troop deployments
in Baku and worries around the world. Although Azerbaijani officials
deny it, Aliyev, who will turn 80 next month, is known to have serious
health problems and has undergone four surgeries in as many years.
Observers expressed concern that Aliyev’s sudden death might leave
his son Ilham, widely believed to be the designated successor, vulnerable
to challenges from political opponents.
Following Aliyev’s collapse on Monday, Azerbaijan’s 68-year old Prime
Minister Artur Rasizade made an unscheduled trip to the United States,
officially for a medical operation. In the event of Aliyev’s death,
the Prime Minister would become the acting President for three months
until new elections take place. But Rasizade is known to have little
influence or political ambition and news reports indicate that his
trip sought to enlist U.S. support for the handover of power to Ilham
Aliyev.
The Heritage Foundation scholar Ariel Cohen suggested this week that
the 42-year-old Aliyev, Jr. would be acceptable to the United States,
as long as the transition of power is more or less orderly. Cohen
said, the United States would not favor the candidacies of Aliyev’s
chief of staff, 65-year-old Ramiz Mekhtiyev or the security chief,
63-year-old Namik Abbasov. Without significant financial and organizational
resources, opposition candidates have only a slight chance to affect
the outcome of a possible succession struggle. One of them, former
Parliament Speaker (1992-93) and head of the nationalist Musavat Party
Isa Gamberov, apparently has Turkish backing. Gamberov’s advisor Murshud
Mamedov and over 100 other sympathizers, including former senior military
officers, issued a public statement on Tuesday calling on Aliyev to
resign in a “timely and bloodless” manner. Azerbaijani police began
to arrest the signatories the following day.
Aliyev first came to power in Soviet Azerbaijan in 1969, after three
decades in the KGB. In 1982 he was elevated to the Soviet Politbureau,
but was sacked in 1987 as then Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev launched
his democratization policies. Since his return to power in Azerbaijan
in 1993, Aliyev has ruled with an iron hand sending thousands of his
political opponents to death, prison or exile, but he also stabilized
the country and maintained a relative peace following the 1994 cease-fire
with Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh. As one of Azerbaijan’s leading
independent journalists Elmar Husseinov pointed out, “People think
they cannot live without him… He came into their lives at the same
time as television. He is the only leader they have ever known.” (Sources:
Agence France Presse 4-21; BBC 4-21, 22; Turan 4-21, 24; Associated
Press 4-22; New York Times 4-22; Ekho 4-23, 24; Eurasia.net 4-24;
Turkish Daily News 4-24) |
| April
27 |
Russian President Vladimir Putin meets with Armenian President Robert Kocharian to review plans for the implementation of several bilateral accords reached during a visit by the Armenian president to Moscow early this year. The leaders discussed issues of bilateral trade and economic cooperation, with a specific focus on nuclear energy. The meeting follows a decision earlier in the day granting Armenia “observer status” in the Eurasian Economic Community. The Eurasian Economic Community
(EurAsEc) consists of Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. Armenia has become the third country after Moldavia and Ukraine to receive the EurAsEc observer status.
(Sources: TransCaucasus: A Chronology, May 2003, Vol XII No 5)
|
| April 28 |
Officials of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) announce that they have begun preparations for comprehensive monitoring of the Armenian parliamentary election scheduled for 25 May. The American head of the OSCE monitoring team, Ambassador Robert Barry, urged the Armenian government to ensure “greater transparency” in the election’s vote count and “more balanced” media coverage of the campaign, especially after the voting irregularities reported by the OSCE in the February presidential elections. The OSCE has deployed a preliminary team of 28 experts to monitor the election campaign and media coverage, with another 250 observers to be dispatched to Armenia as the 25 May election approaches.
(Sources: TransCaucasus: A Chronology, May 2003, Vol XII No 5)
|
| April 28 |
Armenia joins Russia and four other former Soviet states in agreeing to form a new joint military command for a rapid reaction force to manage security threats in Central Asia. The agreement, reached during a summit meeting of delegations from Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, expands the security role of the Collective Security Treaty Organization, a strategic grouping first formed in 1992 to combat shared threats of terrorism, drug trafficking and organized crime. The planned creation of a new military rapid reaction force was welcomed by NATO officials as a supplementary effort to bolster regional security.
(Sources: TransCaucasus: A Chronology, May 2003, Vol XII No 5)
|
| April 29 |
Armenian state Commission to Protect Economic Competition releases its annual report on revealing the extent of several firms’ monopolistic hold over several sectors of the economy, many with strong ties to government officials. The report detailed several cases of corporate monopoly, most notably with the offshore Mika Limited company which accounts for 78 percent of all gasoline imported to Armenia for 2002. The firm’s owner, Russian-Armenian businessman Mikhail Baghdasarov, is widely held to be a close associate of Defense Minister Serge Sarkisian. The report also expressed concern over possible unfair business practices, noting that the number of firms engaged in importing gasoline has fallen sharply form 25 firms to 12 over the past three years. Another firm identified in the report, the Astghatsuyts group owned by Samvel Aleksanian, is also shown to hold a 96 percent share of all imports of sugar and a 78 percent hold over all alcohol and spirits imports for 2002. Aleksanian is currently running unopposed for a seat in the Armenian parliament.
(Sources: TransCaucasus: A Chronology, May 2003, Vol XII No 5)
|
| April 29 |
Arriving in Yerevan, NATO’s Deputy Supreme Allied Commander in Europe, German Admiral Rainer Feist met with Armenian President Robert Kocharian and Defense Minister Serge Sarkisian to review final preparations for NATO military exercises scheduled to be held next month in Armenia. The NATO exercises, codenamed Cooperative Best Effort 2003, will involve units from 17 nations in a ten-day military exercise held within the NATO Partnership for Peace program. Armenian Army Chief of Staff General Mikael Harutiunian confirmed that a detachment of Turkish troops will also be participating in the NATO exercises, although they will be limited to observer status.
(Sources: TransCaucasus: A Chronology, May 2003, Vol XII No 5)
|
| April 29 |
The head of the Armenian office of the anti-corruption group Transparency International, Arevik Saribekian, announces that a new anti-corruption campaign will be launched in Armenia. The anti-corruption campaign is to include a nationwide public education effort, to be launched once a central information office is opened in Yerevan in June. The information campaign is also to focus on providing information to the public on measures to combat instances of petty corruption as well as assisting in the formulation of legislative measures designed to combat corruption.
(Sources: TransCaucasus: A Chronology, May 2003, Vol XII No 5)
|
| April 30 |
Deputy Social Security Minister Karine Hakobian announces that the ministry is preparing a package of new legislation to address several issues related to the state of women in Armenia. The new program will focus on developing an improved data collection system on incidents of domestic abuse of women and plans on forming a network of centers to provide social support to female victims of physical or sexual abuse. The deputy minister also announced that a related effort to tighten laws against the trafficking and sexual exploitation of women and minors will be introduced shortly.
(Sources: TransCaucasus: A Chronology, May 2003, Vol XII No 5)
|
|
|
|
|
|