Unknown attackers desecrated Jewish graves in the Ukrainian port of Sevastopol, Segodnya reported June 22. Ukrainian groups promptly denounced the crime; Russian groups in the region said it was a provocation designed to make Russians look bad. Pro-Government Armenians Attack Demonstrators.

Armed with sticks and clubs and shooting into the air, 40 nonuniformed men attacked demonstrators in Yerevan June 21, Noyan Tapan news agency reported. Many of the demonstrators, who were protesting the Armenian government's restrictions on opposition parties in the July 5 election, were hospitalized,... MORE

Travelers returning from Iran have told the Monitor that ethnic Azerbaijanis living in Iran are furious about a questionnaire recently distributed by Iranian state radio and television. Among the questions asked were "Would you rent your home to an Azerbaijani?" and "Would you live in... MORE

Writing in Moskovskie novosti (no. 42) Snobar Shermatova suggests that Moscow can rely only on Tajikistan among the Central Asian countries. Gas-rich Turkmenistan is pursuing an independent line, the three other countries in the region are trying to form their own economic grouping even as... MORE

During Turkish President Suleyman Demirel's recent visit to Alma-Aty, Kazakhstan's President Nursultan Nazarbayev pressed him to help block Russian efforts to control all oil exports from Central Asia and the Caucasus, Turkish radio said June 22. Nazarbayev also asked Demirel for credits to pay for... MORE

German investors are supplying the funds to re-equip Kazakhstan's telecommunications system and to reconstruct Tashkent's international airport, Kazakh radio reported June 22. German government funds will also be used to develop cattle breeding in the Central Asian state. Eat Less But Drink More.

That is apparently the prescription for Russians this year: During the first five months of 1995, Russian food production fell 25 percent but production of champagne and cognac rose 14 percent, Russian radio reported June 22. The Monitor is a publication of the Jamestown Foundation.... MORE

The National Independence Union of Lithuania, a group that combines nazi and nationalist symbols in its publicity, has been unable to recruit enough members in the military or elsewhere to be able to register with the government, Lietuvos Rytas reported June 16. The paper said... MORE

Chinese Prime Minister Li Peng stopped in Minsk June 21 on the first leg of his tour of CIS states, Minsk radio reported June 21. In greeting the Chinese leader, Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko said that "we have similar ideologies so it is simple to... MORE

During a brief visit to Saint Petersburg June 20, Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko called for the establishment of a confederation embracing all former Soviet republics which would like to join. He said such an arrangement would improve the standard of living in Russia as well... MORE