From: Guven.Guzeldere%STANFORD.BitNet@pucc.PRINCETON.EDU (hq.ggg)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.turkish
Subject: CIS/Bosna etc... News
Date: 9 Nov 1992 00:49:07 -0600
Organization: UTexas Mail-to-News Gateway
Reply-To: Turkish Cultural Program List <TRKNWS-L%USCVM.BitNet@pucc.PRINCETON.EDU>

                        RFE/RL Daily Report

                                            No.215, 6 November 1992

                   SUCCESSOR STATES TO THE USSR

SHAKHRAI RETURNED TO CABINET IN CHARGE OF NATIONALITIES AFFAIRS.
Sergei Shakhrai has been returned to the Russian cabinet as
chairman of the State Committee on Nationalities Policy with the
rank of deputy premier, ITAR-TASS reported on 5 November.
Shakhrai, who is currently representing Yeltsin in the Russian
Constitutional Court in the CPSU case, will take up his new post on
25 November. His appointment with the rank of deputy premier, which
his predecessor did not enjoy, is an indication of the increased
importance of the nationalities question. Valerii Tishkov, Director
of the Russian Academy of Sciences' Institute of Ethnography, who
resigned as chairman of the state committee at the end of September
complaining that he was not consulted. Tishkov suggested that
Shakhrai would be an ideal successor as he had more political
clout. (Ann Sheehy, RFE/RL, Inc.)

STAROVOITOVA DISMISSED AS YELTSIN'S NATIONALITIES ADVISER. A decree
dismissing Galina Starovoitova as Yeltsin's adviser on
nationalities issues was issued on 4 November, Interfax and
ITAR-TASS reported.  No reason was given for her dismissal, which
came as a complete surprise to Starovoitova, although she told
Interfax that she had lately had difficulty in arranging meetings
with Yeltsin.  Starovoitova has been one of the most prominent
reformers, but has run into criticism for her liberal stand on
nationalities issues. She has frequently been criticized by both
Yeltsin's right-wing opponents and by "centrists" for advocating
the right of the Armenian majority to secede while denying the same
right to the Russian-speaking majority in the self-proclaimed
Dniester republic.  (Ann Sheehy, RFE/RL, Inc.)

RUSSIAN CASUALTIES IN TRANSCAUCASUS. The press center of the
Transcaucasian military district announced on 5 November that 59
Russian servicemen or military dependents had been killed since the
beginning of the year and 100 wounded as a results of attacks on
military facilities within the district, Interfax reported.  The
highest number of deaths were reported in Georgia, where 42 were
killed and 35 wounded.  Six people lost their lives in Armenia and
12 were wounded while 11 servicemen were killed in Azerbaijan and
53 wounded.  Also in that republic 3,217 artillery pieces were
seized.  Another 634 pieces were lost in Georgia.  The press center
also reported that 1,306 military cars had been hijacked with only
119 recovered. (Doug Clarke, RFE/RL, Inc.)

SITUATION NORMALIZING IN NORTH OSSETIA. The Press Service of the
North Ossetian Security Council said on 5 November that the
cease-fire was generally being observed in the Prigorodnyi raion of
North Ossetia and that Ingush armed formations had been expelled
from all settlements, ITAR-TASS reported.  An active exchange of
hostages was also taking place. The North Ossetian Ministry of
Health reported that since the night o 30 October 115 people had
been killed and 272 wounded.  Yusup Soslambekov, the Chechen
chairman of the parliament of the Confederation of Peoples of the
Caucasus, told ITAR-TASS that the confederation did not favor
either side, and its armed units had not been asked by either side
to intervene.  (Ann Sheehy, RFE/RL, Inc.)

GRACHEV AND BARANNIKOV TO NORTH OSSETIA. Russian Defense Minister
Pavel Grachev (an Afghan veteran) flew to North Ossetia on 5
November to oversee the efforts of Russian troops as they sought to
disarm Ossetian and Ingush militants, Interfax reported on 5
November.  Grachev was accompanied by Interior Minister Viktor
Barannikov.  According to Interfax, the two are expected to draw up
proposals on the conflict for an upcoming meeting of the Russian
Security Council. They were expected back in Moscow on 6 November.
(Stephen Foye, RFE/RL, Inc.)

AFGHAN VET TO HEAD RUSSIAN INGUSH COMMITTEE.  Ruslan Aushev, an
ethnic Ingush and a much decorated veteran of the Soviet war in
Afghanistan, was named on 5 November as the chief Russian
administrator in Ingushetia, AFP and Interfax reported. The 38
year-old Aushev has long been involved in Afghan veteran affairs
and was most recently serving as an advisor to Russian Vice
President Aleksandr Rutskoi. AFP also reported that the Russian
government had created a new executive headquarters under the
leadership of Interior Minister Viktor Yerin that is tasked with
establishing order and guaranteeing "the security of Russian
citizens in the conflict zone." Boris Gromov, a Russian Deputy
Defense Minister and also an Afghan veteran, was among those named
to that body. (Stephen Foye, RFE/RL, Inc.)

DUSHANBE FEARS RENEWED ATTACK. According to agency reports on 5
November the streets of Tajikistan's capital were deserted and the
city was paralyzed because the inhabitants feared anti-government
forces will attack again. Supporters of deposed President Rakhmon
Nabiev invaded the city and seized government buildings on 24
November, retreating two days later after considerable loss of life
in battles with government supporters.  The fears of Dushanbe
residents were given some substance by the refusal of
anti-government forces to accept a proposal from Central Asian
leaders for the formation of a state council in Tajikistan that
would include all factions.  (Bess Brown, RFE/RL, Inc.)

NABIEV REJECTED STATE COUNCIL.  In an interview issued by Interfax
on 5 November, deposed Tajik President Rakhmon Nabiev said that his
supporters would reject the plan for a state council of all
factions proposed by Central Asian leaders at a summit in Alma-Ata
on 4 November, because such a council would perpetuate the
influence of Supreme Soviet Chairman Akbarsho Iskandarov, who has
been acting president since Nabiev was forced to resign at
gunpoint. Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbaev told journalists
after the summit that in his opinion Nabiev should not try to
reclaim the presidency of Tajikistan because not enough of the
country's citizens back him. (Bess Brown, RFE/RL, Inc.)

                    CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPE

SERBS BLOCK UN AID CONVOY. Western agencies reported on 5 November
that Serbian civilians in Bratunac had blocked a UN convoy heading
from Serbia into Bosnia to the mainly Muslim town of Srebrenica,
whose 30,000 inhabitants have been under siege for about six
months. Both towns are just inside Bosnia's border with Serbia.
This is not the first incident in which apparently well-organized
Serb civilians have prevented UN convoys from reaching besieged
Muslims.  Milan Panic, the prime minister of Serbia-Montenegro, has
repeatedly promised that UN convoys could use Serbia and
Serbian-held territory in Bosnia to transport relief supplies, and
has also promised to provide the trucks. (Patrick Moore, RFE/RL,
Inc.)

UN HAS SERIOUS PROBLEMS IN PEACE-KEEPING. Cedric Thornberry, the
deputy chief of the UN mission in former Yugoslavia, said on 5
November that Sarajevo faced famine and that the nominally
UN-controlled areas of Croatia were submerged in chaos thanks to
armed and uniformed Serbian gangs.  The 6 November Washington Post
quoted him as saying that the "armed criminals...  usually target
Croats and other minorities, usually old people." Thornberry added
that Serbian aircraft had apparently violated the UN no-fly zone in
Bosnia 18 to 20 times, but it was not clear whether they had
actually engaged in military operations against Muslims and Croats,
the New York Times reported.  He blamed both Serbs and Croats for
hindering relief shipments bound for Sarajevo, and said that Serb
forces in Croatia had refused to tell the UN where they had placed
mines in the giant Peruca hydro-electric dam.  (Patrick Moore,
RFE/RL, Inc.)

RUSSIAN GENERAL VISITS HERZEGOVINA. Radio Serbia reported on 5
November that Russian General Viktor Filatov paid an official visit
to Serb-controlled areas of Herzegovina to observe the situation
there and to see for himself "who is defending himself and who is
the aggressor." Filatov, a member of the General Staff of the
Russian Army, said that aggression was being waged against Serbs
and promised to recommend to the Russian General Staff that Russia
support the Serbs. The Russian Defense Ministry's newspaper
Krasnaya zvezda has generally taken a pro-Serb line, which suggests
that Filatov may have support within the Russian high command.
(Milan Andrejevich, RFE/RL, Inc.)

IRAN PLEDGES TO SUPPORT BOSNIA. Sarajevo Radio reported on 5
November that the general headquarters of Iran's armed forces
issued a statement pledging their readiness to provide "any kind of
material or moral assistance" to the Muslims of Bosnia-Herzegovina
if ordered to do so by Iran's leaders. In an interview broadcast by
Tehran TV on 5 November Alija Izetbegovic, President of
Bosnia-Herzegovina, said Bosnia's Muslims and government were
grateful to Ayatollah Khamene'i, President Hashemi-Rafsanjani, and
the government and people of Iran, for declaring their support for
the Muslims of Bosnia-Herzegovina. Last week Izetbegovic paid an
official visit to Teheran.  (Milan Andrejevich, RFE/RL, Inc.)

BULGARIAN PARLIAMENT PRESIDENT NAMED. Alexander Yordanov, a Union
of Democratic Forces (UDF) MP, was elected president of the
Sobranie or parliament on 5 November, according to BTA.  He
replaced Stefan Savov who was forced out of office by opposition
from the predominantly Turkish Movement for Rights and Freedoms
(MRF), the lynchpin in contemporary Bulgarian politics.  MRF
deputies withdrew their support for the minority UDF government of
Filip Dimitrov, voting no confidence on 28 October, thus causing
the prime minister to resign.  While relations between the UDF and
the MRF are strained, Yordanov's appointment, which received a
clear endorsement from the MRF, may signal willingness by both
sides to resume cooperation.  Neither wishes to work closely with
the Bulgarian Socialist Party, the only other party with seats in
the parliament.  (Duncan Perry, RFE/RL, Inc.)

[As of 1200 CET]
Compiled  by  Keith  Bush & Anna Swidlicka
The RFE/RL Daily Report is produced by the RFE/RL Research
Institute (a division of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Inc.)
with the assistance of the RFE/RL News and Current Affairs
Division (NCA). The report is available by electronic mail
via LISTSERV (RFERL-L@UBVM.CC.BUFFALO.EDU), on the
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