From: trh@jack.sns.com (Al Trh)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.turkish
Subject: Tajikistan, Crimean Tatars, Gagauz ...
Date: 7 Oct 1992 09:59:25 -0500
Organization: UTexas Mail-to-News Gateway
Reply-To: Turkish Cultural Program List <TRKNWS-L%USCVM.BitNet@pucc.PRINCETON.EDU>
NNTP-Posting-Host: cs.utexas.edu

                        RFE/RL Daily Report

                                    No. 192, 6 October, 1992

                   SUCCESSOR STATES TO THE USSR

GEORGIAN MILITIA CHIEF ISSUES ULTIMATUM TO RUSSIAN TROOPS.
Georgian State Council deputy chairman Dzhaba Ioseliani, the
commander of the Mkhedrioni militia, issued an ultimatum to Russian
troops and volunteers from the North Caucasus fighting in Abkhazia
to leave by 15 October or be driven out by force, Western agencies
reported.  Meanwhile a Georgian counter-offensive aimed at retaking
Gagra was repulsed by the Abkhaz.  A Georgian military helicopter
was shot down near Gagra.  The Georgian State Council press office
claimed that it was shot down by two Russian jets, while the
Russian Defense Ministry denied any involvement and suggested that
it was brought down by a ground-to-air missile launched by Abkhaz
separatists.  Following a meeting with the leadership of the
Transcaucasus Military District, Georgian State Council chairman
Eduard Shevardnadze claimed in a radio address that Russian troops
in Abkhazia have formed a military government there and are no
longer obeying commands. Shevardnadze further charged that
"reactionary forces" in Russia are supporting Abkhaz separatism,
but warned that Georgia should not break off relations with Moscow
given the presence of "healthy democratic forces" there. (Liz
Fuller, RFE/RL, Inc.)

WHILE FOREIGN MINISTER TRIES CONCILIATORY APPROACH.  Addressing a
news conference in Moscow on 5 October, Georgian Foreign Minister
Aleksandre Chikvaidze said that his top policy priority was saving
Georgian-Russian relations, which date back centuries and must not
be allowed suddenly to collapse, ITAR-TASS reported. Chikvaidze
also stated that nothing can prevent the holding of the
parliamentary elections scheduled for 11 October, "even if they
take place against a background of artillery fire." (Liz Fuller,
RFE/RL, Inc.)

SITUATION IN TAJIKISTAN.  More than 1,000 refugees from southern
Tajikistan gathered in front of the parliament building in Dushanbe
to demand the removal of Russian troops from the region, Interfax
reported on 5 October.  Acting president Akbarsho Iskandarov told
the refugees that the status of the troops will be determined when
agreements are signed with the Russian Federation; the same day he
told Interfax that the Tajik government is not strong enough to
disarm the armed bands that have been fighting each other in the
southern part of the country, and Deputy Chairman of Tajikistan's
National Security Committee Jurabek Aminov commented that the
government is getting weaker while the armed groups are getting
stronger. (Bess Brown, RFE/RL, Inc.)

RUSSIAN TROOPS IN TAJIKISTAN CONFINED TO BASES.  All Russian forces
in Tajikistan were confined to their bases as of 5 October,
Svyatoslav Nabzdorov, Chief of Staff of the Russian troops in
Tajikistan, told Interfax the same day. Nabzdorov said that an
agreement to this effect had been reached with the various Tajik
factions the previous day.  The only exception is the Russian
troops guarding the Nurek dam and hydroelectric station. National
Security Deputy Chairman Aminov told a Reuter correspondent on 5
October that Leninabad Oblast in the north, which has stayed out of
the fighting so far, has created its own defense force, as has the
self-proclaimed Autonomous Republic of Gorno-Badakhshan in the
Pamirs.  (Bess Brown, RFE/RL, Inc.)

MOLDOVA NEGOTIATES WITH GAGAUZ ON TERRITORIAL AUTONOMY.  Moldovan
President Mircea Snegur and a Gagauz delegation headed by "Gagauz
republic Supreme Soviet Chairman" Mikhail Kendigelyan conferred in
Chisinau on 1 October, Moldovapres reported.  It was Snegur's
second meeting with Gagauz leaders in the space of less than two
weeks to discuss a draft law on Gagauz territorial autonomy,
prepared by a joint commission of the Moldovan parliament and
government. In an apparent attempt to facilitate a deal, the Gagauz
leaders on 28 September dismissed their most intransigent
colleague, Ivan Burgudji, from his posts of "director of internal
affairs" and commander of the "Gagauz defense forces." The
dismissal followed a riot in Comrat against Burgudji and his guards
who have long made themselves unpopular among ordinary Gagauz.
(Vladimir Socor, RFE/RL, Inc.)

NAZARBAEV PROPOSES ASIAN SECURITY CONFERENCE. Kazakhstan's
President Nursultan Nazarbaev took his proposal for an Asian
counterpart to the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe
to the United Nations General Assembly on 5 October, an RFE/RL
correspondent reported. Nazarbaev has been raising the idea of an
Asian security organization since 1991; on 2 October his press
secretary announced that the presidents of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan,
Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Turkey, Pakistan and Iran will meet in
Alma-Ata at the end of October or beginning of November to begin
the process of creating an Asian security system patterned on the
CSCE. Nazarbaev said that talks with China and Russia about
membership are already underway.  (Bess Brown, RFE/RL, Inc.)
CRIMEAN TATARS DEMONSTRATE. Crimean Tatars blocked roads leading to
Simferopol, the capital, and demonstrated in front of the offices
of the procurator general on October 5, a spokeswoman reported to
RFE/RL.  The main demand of the protestors is the release of
Crimean Tatars taken into custody after a clash with the
authorities several days ago.  About 50 people were hurt in the
incident when authorities tried to remove homes built by the
Crimean Tatars on the property of state farms.  A special session
of the Mejlis, the Crimean Tatar parliament, is scheduled to meet
on 6 October to discuss the situation.  (Roman Solchanyk, RFE/RL,
Inc.)

Copyright 1992, RFE/RL, Inc. All rights reserved.