Moscow says Tbilisi unwilling to settle conflicts peacefully
1 November
The Russian Foreign Ministry has declared that Georgia's actions against peacekeepers in the Georgian- Abkhaz conflict zone on October 30 were a provocation. "The new action of Georgia, with the involvement of top-ranking officials, confirmed that the CIS collective peacekeeping force is being provoked, the unwillingness to resolve problems through peaceful negotiations and the threat to use force, including military force," says a report posted by the ministry's information and press department on Thursday. (Interfax)

Abkhaz leader warns against changing peacekeeping operation format
1 November
Changing the format of the peacekeeping operation in the Georgian-Abkhaz conflict zone would lead to a new conflict between Georgia and Abkhazia, Sergei Bagapsh the president of Abkhazia has said. "The bringing of Russian peacekeepers to the conflict zone has guaranteed the non-resumption of the armed conflict and helped dozens of thousands of Georgian refugees to return to the Gali district of Abkhazia," Bagapsh told Interfax on Thursday. "In case the format of the peacekeeping operation is changed or the Russian peacekeepers are pulled out of the conflict zone, the Abkhaz army will have to come up to the border with Georgia and assume the positions currently occupied by the peacekeepers. And this inevitably means a new war," he said. (Interfax)

 

Former defense minister Okruashvili forced to leave Georgia - lawyer
1 November
The police put former defense minister Irakly Okruashvili on a plane to France last night, lawyer Eka Beselia told a press briefing on Thursday. Beselia said she met with Okruashvili on Wednesday evening and he told her he would take part in the November 2 protest in Tbilisi. "Later in the evening he called me from the airport and said he was being forced to leave Georgia," Beselia said. Meanwhile, the Okruashvili family "is a hostage" of Georgian law enforcement, she said. (Interfax)

 

KAZAKH CONSTRUCTION WORKERS PROTEST UNPAID WAGES
2 November
A group of some 300 construction workers protested on November 1 in front of the Kazakh presidential palace in Astana, Kazakh television reported. The workers were protesting a three-month delay in wages and blocked a street leading to the residence of President Nazarbaev before police eventually dispersed the demonstrators. A senior executive from the Kuatgradstroi construction company, Aleksandr Krylov, met with the protesters and pledged to pay the workers the more than 100 million tenges ($830,000) in unpaid wages. Deputy Astana Mayor Sergei Khoroshin also met with the demonstrating workers and promised to resolve the situation. The protest was one of the first such demonstrations held near the presidential palace. (RFE/RL)

 

ARMENIAN EX-PRESIDENT HOLDS TALKS WITH OPPOSITION PARTY

2 November

Levon Ter-Petrossian, who on October 26 confirmed his plans to run in the presidential election due in

early 2008, has met with People's Party of Armenia (HZhK) Chairman Stepan Demirchian and HZhK activists in Yerevan, RFE/RL's Armenian Service reported on November 1. According to official returns, Demirchian lost to incumbent President Robert Kocharian in the second round of the 2003 presidential ballot, but Demirchian rejected those returns that showed him winning 32.5 percent of the vote compared with 67.5 percent for Kocharian. The HZhK's popularity has since plummeted and it failed to win a single parliament mandate in the May 2007 elections. Demirchian said after the hourlong meeting with Ter-Petrossian that the HZhK has not yet decided whether to back Ter-Petrossian's presidential bid. He said Ter-Petrossian undertook to provide answers "very soon" to specific questions about his past and future political activities. (RFE/RL)

Abkhaz, Transdniestrian, S. Ossetian ministers urge intl community to recognize independence
3 November
Foreign Ministers Sergei Shamba of Abkhazia, Valeri Litskay of Transdniestria, and Murad Dzhioyev of South Ossetia signed a joint declaration at a meeting in Sukhumi on Saturday, in which they reaffirmed the self-proclaimed republics' resolve "to follow the norms and principles stipulated by the UN Charter and other international legal acts determining the contemporary world arrangement." "The people's right to self-determination is a sovereign and unalienable right of the peoples of Abkhazia, Transdniestria, and South Ossetia, and ignoring the people's will should be viewed as a violation of human rights guaranteed by international legal documents," the declaration says. The ministers also called for "settling all disputable issues exclusively through peaceful methods and without using military, political, economic, or informational pressure." "Over the time of Abkhazia's, Transdniestria's, and South Ossetia's independent existence, they have set up efficient governance systems guaranteeing free exercise of human rights and stability of democratic government institutions," it says. The foreign ministers "have called on the international community to respect sovereign rights of the peoples of these republics and support Abkhazia's, Transdniestria's, and South Ossetia's recognition as sovereign states." (Interfax)

 

GEORGIAN OPPOSITION LAUNCHES CONTINUOUS PROTESTS

5 November

The National Council comprising 10 Georgian opposition parties staged a mass demonstration in Tbilisi on November 2 that was attended by some 40,000-50,000 people, Georgian and international media reported. The organizers and participants originally focused on four demands to the Georgian authorities: holding parliamentary elections in the spring of 2008 in accordance with the constitution; changes to the election law; parity representation on election commissions; and the release of those persons the opposition considers political prisoners. Georgian oligarch Badri Patarkatsishvili, who on October 28 offered financing for opposition parties, returned on Tbilisi on November 2 saying he did not plan to address the planned demonstration, but then changed his mind. He urged participants to pressure the government to embark on a dialogue that would pave the way for elections that would result in a "people's government," and left Tbilisi for London again later that day. Five opposition leaders met on the evening of November 2 with parliament speaker Nino Burjanadze, who rejected categorically the demand for elections in spring 2008 but said talks on the other three demands would continue. In response to that refusal, a smaller number of demonstrators – some 10,000 -- convened in rainy and cold weather on November 3 and began demanding the resignation of President Mikheil Saakashvili. Between 20,000-30,000 people congregated again outside parliament on November 4; as of November 5, the protesters plan to picket unspecified government buildings in Tbilisi. In a live broadcast on the pro-government television channel Rustavi-2 on the evening of November 4, Saakashvili dismissed the protests as a "pale imitation" of those in November 2003 preceding the so-called Rose Revolution that culminated in the peaceful ouster of President Eduard Shevardnadze and Saakashvili's advent to power. He implied that the protests are being orchestrated from Moscow, but at the same time stressed that such protests "are part of the democracy we fought for." Opposition leaders rejected as insulting Saakashvili's allegation that they are acting at Moscow's behest. (RFE/RL)

TURKMEN PRESIDENT VISITS BRUSSELS
6 November
Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov arrived on November 5 in Brussels at the start of a two-day official visit for talks with senior EU and NATO officials, RFE/RL's Turkmen Service reported. Although Berdymukhammedov is eager to focus on cooperation in the energy, agriculture, and education sectors during his first visit to Brussels, EU External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner stressed during their meeting on November 6 that "greater openness" on human rights is necessary to speed up a planned trade agreement, and would help to expand cooperation with the EU. A draft EU-Turkmenistan trade agreement was virtually suspended in 2006 after the European Parliament imposed new preconditions for human rights progress in Turkmenistan before the agreement could be ratified. Ferrero-Waldner welcomed the recent Turkmen decision to establish a special human rights commission, but said "more needs to be done" in Turkmenistan. Berdymukhammedov also met on November 5 with European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, Energy Commissioner Andris Piebalgs, and EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson. He is also scheduled to meet with NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer and EU foreign-policy chief Javier Solana during his visit. (RFE/RL)

ARMENIAN PARLIAMENT MOVES TO AMEND ELECTION LAW

6 November

The National Assembly passed on November 5 in the first reading a bill amending 47 of the total 141 articles of the election law. The bill, drafted by the majority Republican Party of Armenia and its partner in the coalition government, Bargavach Hayastan, abolishes the provision under which presidential candidates may be nominated by a bloc of political parties or by civic initiative, and doubles, from 5 million drams ($15,000) to 10 million drams, the fee for registering as a presidential candidate, RFE/RL's Armenian Service reported. It also doubles the maximum amount a candidate may spend on election campaigning, from 70 million to 140 million drams. Independent parliamentarian Viktor Dallakian, who authored Armenia's 1999 election law, said the restrictions have "political and psychological implications." On November 2, the opposition newspaper "Haykakan zhamanak" suggested that the abolition of the provision allowing the nomination of a presidential candidate by a civic initiative or a group of parties was aimed expressly against former President Levon Ter-Petrossian, whom up to two dozen parties plan to nominate for the presidential election due in early 2008. Speaking at an October 26 briefing, Hrayr Karapetian said the parliamentary faction of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation-Dashnaktsutiun he heads opposes the proposed amendments and has put forward alternatives. Also on November 5, Council of Europe Secretary-General Terry Davis told journalists in Yerevan after talks with Prime Minister Serzh Sarkisian, Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian, and parliament speaker Tigran Torosian that his organization hopes, and is prepared to help ensure, that the presidential ballot proves free and fair, RFE/RL's Armenian Service reported. Davis met separately for half an hour with Ter-Petrossian, Noyan Tapan reported on November 6. (RFE/RL)

 

RIVAL BRANDS GEORGIAN PRESIDENT 'A LATTER-DAY HITLER'

6 November

In a live broadcast late on November 5 on the independent Imedi television channel, former Defense Minister Irakli Okruashvili branded President Saakashvili a "latter-day Adolf Hitler" whose days "are numbered," and argued that "we should jointly get rid of this plague." Okruashvili affirmed that the accusations of corruption and other crimes that he made against Saakashvili in late September but subsequently retracted are true, but they he would not be able to prove that in a Georgian court. He apologized for "disappointing" his supporters by that retraction. Okruashvili further said he is in contact with the opposition National Council and plans to return to Georgia from Munich, having been "forcibly" taken to Tbilisi airport and forced to leave the country late last month. (Caucasus Press)

 

GEORGIAN POLICE USE FORCE TO DISPERSE, ARREST PROTESTERS

7 November

Hundreds of police armed with shields, batons, and guns used tear gas and water cannons early on November 7 to disperse the protesters gathered outside the parliament building in Tbilisi and took into custody at least three of the protest organizers, including former Minister for Conflict Resolution Giorgi Khaindrava, whose whereabouts remain unknown. Police also confiscated or destroyed the cameras of television journalists who tried to film the police intervention. Several dozen protest participants sought shelter either in the parliament building or the nearby Koshueti Church. Tbilisi Mayor Gigi Ugulava, a close associate of President Mikheil Saakashvili, said police intervened "at the request of the population" who did not wish to see the opposition set up tents on the city's main thoroughfare and obstruct traffic. Ugulava added that the protesters have had ample time to make known their demands on the Georgian leadership, and so there was no need for them to continue their protest. Opposition leaders condemned the police intervention as unjustified, as did ombudsman Sozar Subar, who told Caucasus Press that the plans to erect tents were not unlawful. Police prevented several hundred protesters from returning to the parliament building after the initial intervention. (Caucasus Press)

Azerbaijan detains anti-U.S. plot suspects
10 November
Azerbaijan detained two Azeri citizens suspected of preparing an armed attack near the U.S. embassy last month, the security ministry said on Saturday. Azeri security forces have already detained two groups of Islamist militants, including an alleged al Qaeda fighter, in connection with the foiled plot, which prompted the brief closure of the U.S. and British embassies in Baku. "As a result of a special operation on November 9, the state security and the defense ministries  detained Kyamran Asadov and Farid Dzhabbarov, suspected of planning attacks near the U.S. embassy in Baku on October 29," the ministry said in a statement. It said Asadov, a former Azeri army officer, had deserted from a military unit with stolen grenades, automatic rifles and other ammunition to prepare the attack. Azeri state TV channels showed the detained men confessing to the plot which they said was an attempt to take revenge on the United States. "Our aim was to kill U.S. citizens because they kill Muslims," a TV broadcast showed Asadov as saying. Azerbaijan is an oil-producing, mainly Muslim republic of 8 million people on the western shore of the Caspian Sea, wedged between Iran, Turkey and Russia. In recent years, authorities in the former Soviet state have arrested dozens of people suspected of links to Islamist militants, but the country has no history of militant violence. (Reuters)

Group Alleges Police Abuse in Georgia
11 November
Amnesty International is calling on the government of Georgia [1] to detail what security forces did to demonstrators in Tbilisi earlier this month. The group issued a release in London [2] Sunday saying it received reports police used truncheons, rubber bullets, tear gas and water cannons to break up three rallies in the capital. Citing a principle of the U.N. Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms by Law Enforcement Officials, the group urged "a thorough, impartial and independent investigation into allegations that special police forces used excessive force when dispersing anti-government demonstrations." As many as 500 people required hospital treatment for injuries, the release said. The protesters were calling for the resignation of President Mikhail Saakashvilli because he moved spring elections [3] back to the autumn next year for what he said was a cost-cutting measure. Saakashvilli imposed a state of emergency Wednesday, and in a televised address to the nation blamed Russian special forces for stirring unrest and supporting anti-government protests. (UPI)

Russian diplomats, declared persona non grata, leave Tbilisi
12 November
The three Russian diplomats, whom the Georgian authorities had declared as persona non grata, left Tbilisi for Yerevan by car on Monday morning (a distance of 300 kilometres). They will fly to Moscow from the Armenian capital because aerial communication between Georgia and Russia was suspended in October 2007. A parting ceremony was held for the three diplomats at the Russian embassy on Monday morning. They include Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Minister-Counsellor of Russia in Georgia Ivan Volynkin. “I am leaving Georgia with a mingled feeling,” he said. “On the one hand, I am leaving behind many friends with whom I had worked to normalise the Russo-Georgian relations. On the other hand, I am offended by the groundless accusations levelled at me and at several of my colleagues,” he stated. Volynkin noted that he “had worked at the Russian embassy in Georgia for 2.5 years and was happy to contribute to the process of normalising the relations between the two countries”. Volynkin also stressed a few days ago that he had worked “honestly and in keeping with all the international norms on the status of diplomats”. Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili claimed in his November 7 TV address to the population that several members of the Russian embassy were “engaged in subversive activities and were spying on Georgia”. On the same day, the Georgian Foreign Ministry addressed a note “to the Russian Embassy in Georgia, which was to be forwarded to the Russian Foreign Ministry”. The note said that “Russian Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Minister-Counsellor Ivan Volynkin, Embassy Counsellor Pyotr Solomatin, and Embassy Third Secretary Alexander Korenkov are declared persona non grata in Georgia in accordance with Paragraph 1 of Article 9 of the Vienna Convention on International Diplomatic Relations.

On November 8 the Russian Foreign Ministry declared as persona non grata “three senior diplomats of the Georgian Embassy in the Russian Federation”. Spokesman for the Russian Foreign Ministry Mikhail Kamynin noted that this decision was made “in reply to the unfriendly step of the Georgian side”. Kamynin also stated that the Russian Foreign Ministry had also called the attention of the Georgian embassy to the fact that the Tbilisi-claimed “interference of the Russian Federation in the domestic affairs of Georgia held no water and was an attempt of the Georgian authorities to cover up their incapability to cope with domestic problems”. Kamynin also expressed the hope of the Russian side that “common sense will prevail and the Russo-Georgian relations will shortly return to the normal rut of development”. (Itar-Tass)

 

LUFTHANSA SAYS IT WON'T SHIFT KAZAKH FREIGHT HUB TO SIBERIA
13 November
Deutsche Lufthansa AG has rejected a report that it had entered into an agreement with Russian authorities to shift its freight hub from Kazakhstan to Siberia. 'That is wrong. Different locations are subject to routine controls. In this context we have spoken about Krasnoyarsk, but we have not signed any contracts or entered into any binding agreements that would oblige us to move,' a spokesman for Lufthansa Cargo told German news agency DPA.  Daily Frankfurter Rundschau said in its Saturday edition that Lufthansa had entered into an agreement with Russian authorities earlier this year under which it is to shift its refuelling and freight distribution centre from Kazakh capital Astana to Russian territory. A pre-condition for the agreed move to Siberia -- either to Krasnoyarsk or to Nowosibirsk -- was that Lufthansa would be granted similar conditions as in Kazakhstan, the report said.  Russia temporarily withdrew overflight rights for Lufthansa's freight division on Oct 28, saying a temporary agreement permitting the cargo flights to use Russian airspace to reach Central Asia had elapsed. But the move was widely seen as a Russian bid to persuade Lufthansa to use an airport in Krasnoyarsk, Siberia, on Russian territory. According to Germany's ministry of transport, official negotiations between the German and Russian transport ministers about a possible move of Lufthansa Cargo to Krasnoyarsk are expected to take place in December. (Asia Pulse)

 

U.S. speaks for Azerbaijan’s press
13 November
The US has expressed concern about treatment of the media in Azerbaijan, saying recent actions point to an alarming trend. US State Department spokesman Sean McCormack urged Azerbaijan in a statement "to comply with its stated commitments to respect freedom of speech and rule of law and to support the development of an independent media." The US has been cautious about criticising Azerbaijan because of its strategic value in an oil-rich region. The State Department statement mentioned Eynulla Fatullayev, the founder and editor of two independent newspapers that stopped publication this spring under government pressure. He was sentenced recently to 8 1/2 years in prison because of an article that alleged the former Soviet republic could support a US attack on neighboring Iran. The US also said it was "deeply concerned" by the recent conviction of Ganimat Zahid, chief editor of a pro-opposition newspaper actively critical of the government. President Ilham Aliev took over from his father in a 2003 election denounced by opponents as a sham. He has faced persistent criticism over the heavy-handed treatment of independent media and opposition parties. (Dow Jones Newswires)

 

Kazakh banks stable despite withdrawals – national bank
14 November
Kazakhstan's central bank said on Wednesday customer deposits at the country's banks fell by 3 percent in October, but that posed no threat to the stability of the financial sector. A small reduction on corporate and individual deposits is taking place in the banking system. Overall, I think the situation is stabilising," National Bank Chairman Anvar Saidenov told a news conference. Deposits fell in October at a slightly faster rate than in September, when they dropped by 2.2 percent, after a slide in the exchange rate of the Kazakh tenge in August shook the confidence of savers. Kazakhstan's banks, which have borrowed heavily abroad to fund aggressive lending growth, have also been hit by a global sell-off in risky assets in the wake of the U.S. subprime mortgage crisis. The tenge has recovered from its August low of 126 to the U.S. dollar to around 120 now, and Saidenov saw no reason for further exchange rate volatility during the rest of 2007.

"We can look relatively calmly at the exchange rate tendency through to the end of the year. We do not foresee any sharp fluctuations," Saidenov said. He added that the central bank had been a net buyer of $300 million in foreign exchange in the first two weeks of November, after selling $1 billion in the month of October to support the tenge. The Central Asian state, which is ramping up oil production from its Caspian Sea fields, has just lowered its economic growth forecasts to reflect the fallout from the credit crunch.

Premier Karim Masimov on Tuesday projected GDP would grow by 5-7 percent next year, down from an earlier forecast of 9 percent. GDP grew by 9.7 percent in January to September of this year. (Reporting by Olzhas Auyezov; Writing by Douglas Busvine, editing by Mike Peacock). (Reuters)

Georgia set to end emergency rule
14 November
Georgia will lift a state of emergency on Friday, nine days after it was imposed amid opposition protests, the country's speaker has said. "Georgian life will return to normal on 16 November," Nino Burjanadze said. President Mikhail Saakashvili initially announced a two-week emergency on the sixth day of protests in Tbilisi. He said a week ago he would hold early polls, meeting a key opposition demand as international criticism grew of a police crackdown on protesters. Following a meeting with Georgian officials on Tuesday, US Assistant Secretary of State Matthew Bryza said he had been assured the state of emergency would soon be lifted. The pro-Western Mr Saakashvili has accused Russia of stoking the street protests - a charge both Moscow and the opposition in Georgia have denied. He earlier said the announcement of emergency rule was needed to prevent a "coup" against his government. Last Wednesday, soldiers and riot police used tear gas and water cannon to disperse protesters who had gathered outside the parliament in Tbilisi for a sixth consecutive day. Television pictures showed security forces chasing and beating the protesters. Opposition supporters had called on Mr Saakashvili to resign and hold early elections, accusing him of corruption and authoritarianism. The president announced last Friday that the country would now go to the polls early, on 5 January. Mr Saakashvili, who remains popular with many Georgians, is hoping to be re-elected. The country's opposition parties this week announced they would field a single candidate to challenge the president - Levan Gachechiladze, an MP who led last week's rallies against Mr Saakashvili. (BBC)

 

BP Makes New Discovery at Shah Deniz Field
14 November
Oil and energy company BP PLC made "a potentially significant" gas discovery in the Caspian Sea south of Azerbaijan, the company said Wednesday. Test results show sufficient gas at the Shah Deniz field for a second stage of development, BP -- which is leading the development of the field -- said in a statement. Although further work is required to define this second phase it will likely be similar or larger than stage 1 -- 8.6 (billion cubic meters a year)," the company said. The reservoir lies beneath an existing source at the Shah Deniz field, which lies in water depths between 50 meters and 600 meters (164 feet and 1,968 feet), some 70 kilometers (44 miles) south east of Baku. Azerbaijan's state oil company announced in September that natural gas reserves at the Shah Deniz field are believed to be nearly twice as large as previously estimated. Drilling at the field showed that total gas reserves could be as much as 1.2 trillion cubic meters of natural gas and 240 million tons of gas condensate, the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan said then. That was nearly double the recent reserve estimate by BP -- about 640 billion cubic meters. BP shares gained 2.7 percent to 598.5 pence (US$12.36; euro8.47) on the London Stock Exchange. The consortium it leads developing Shah Deniz also includes Norway's Statoil ASA, France's Total SA and Russia's OAO Lukoil. (AP)

 

NATO to offer superhigh-speed Internet to South Caucasus
14 November
NATO will allocate 1.9 mln. euro to Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia for leasing an optic fibrous cable providing a superhigh-speed Internet for educational and scientific institutions, said Jacek Gajewski, Secretary General of the Central and Eastern European Networking Association, NATO adviser on South Caucasus.The decision was made upon the outcomes of “Research and educational networks of Armenia: achievements, tasks, solutions” conference held in Yerevan 12-14.The project will be co-financed by the three republics, which will add 20% (some 150 thousand euro) to the sum assigned by NATO. The projects will be implemented in two stages, Gajewski said. The first stage is meant for 2 years and supposes cable lease, the second stage supposes own cable laying and will cost some 20 mln. euro. “It means that Armenia will have to accumulate some 3 mln. euro by that time,” he said, Novosti Armenia reports. (PanArmenian.net)