Latest Monitor Articles

AZERBAIJAN SENTENCES TALYSH SECESSIONIST LEADER.

An Azerbaijani military court has sentenced Lt. Col. Avaz Ramazanov to 14 years in prison for leading the 1993 military rebellion in the ethnic Talysh area of southeastern Azerbaijan. (Avrazia [Baku], April 24) The rebels proclaimed a separate "Talysh-Mugan republic" in conjunction with a pro-Moscow... MORE

CENTRAL ASIAN MILITARY COOPERATION, NATO EXERCISE ON TRACK.

The Defense Ministers of Uzbekistan, Kazakstan, and Kyrgyzstan have conferred in Tashkent on establishing a permanent committee of the Chiefs of Staff of the three countries, which comprise the Central Asian Union. The ministers also reviewed the development of the joint CentrasBat and preparations for... MORE

TENSIONS HIGH IN WAKE OF PYATIGORSK BOMBING.

The border between Russia proper and Chechnya has been opened again but tensions remain high in the wake of the fatal April 28 bombing in Pyatigorsk and of the shoot-out that occurred later that night between Russian border police and a band of twenty Chechens... MORE

TELECOM PRIVATIZATION IS ON, AGAIN.

Russian president Boris Yeltsin signed a decree on April 28 ordering the privatization of 49 percent of the telecom holding company Svyazinvest, to be carried out "under the personal control of the president." (Kommersant-daily, April 29) The plan mandates the sale in the next month... MORE

LATEST PUSH FOR NATO-RUSSIAN AGREEMENT BEGINS.

U.S. deputy secretary of state Strobe Talbott arrived in Moscow last night amid suggestions in the Russian media that negotiations between NATO and the Kremlin on a proposed political agreement have reached a dead-end. Observers in the Russian capital are said to be interpreting Talbott's... MORE

EXPLODING AMMO DUMP STOPS TRANS-SIBERIAN RAIL TRAFFIC.

An artillery ammunition depot near the Siberian town of Bira caught fire on April 27, forcing the evacuation of nearly one-half of the town's 4,500 inhabitants -- but not the inmates and guards of a nearby labor colony. The explosions blocked traffic on the Trans-Siberian... MORE

ELITES DIVIDED OVER PROPOSED RUSSIA-BELARUS UNION.

The joint commission charged with summing up the results of the nationwide discussion of union between Russia and Belarus met in Moscow for the first time yesterday. Reporting on the proceedings, ORT said the proposed union has split politicians in both countries into two hostile... MORE

RUSSIAN EXCLAVE’S GOVERNOR CLAIMS AREA FROM LITHUANIA.

The governor of Russia's Kaliningrad region, Leonid Gorbenko, spoke out yesterday in favor of claiming the neighboring Lithuanian city and district of Klaipeda for Russia. Using Klaipeda's original German name, Memel, Gorbenko argued that the area "should not have been turned over to Lithuania after... MORE

ARMENIA LEGALIZES RUSSIAN MILITARY BASES.

The Armenian parliament yesterday voted overwhelmingly to ratify the treaty on Russian military basing rights in Armenia, which Russia's Duma had ratified on April 18. (See Monitor, April 21) Signed by Presidents Boris Yeltsin and Levon Ter-Petrosian, the treaty runs for a 25-year term, with... MORE

ATTEMPT ON TAJIK PRESIDENT’S LIFE REFLECTS REGIONAL TENSIONS.

Tajik president Imomali Rahmonov was wounded today in a grenade attack during a visit to Leninabad region's capital, Hojent. Two were killed and some 20 people, including top regional officials, were wounded in the incident. The authorities described the attack as an "openly political act."... MORE