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    <P ALIGN="center"><FONT COLOR="#000000"><FONT SIZE="7">Events of October
      1996 </FONT></FONT></P>
    <HR SIZE="1">
    
    <P ALIGN="center"><FONT COLOR="#000000"><FONT SIZE="5">Anne D. Baylon
      </FONT></FONT></P>
    <DIV ALIGN="center">
    <CENTER></CENTER></DIV>
    <DIV ALIGN="center">
    <CENTER><ADDRESS>


      
      <FONT COLOR="#000000"><FONT SIZE="4"><B><I>CENTRAL EUROPE

      
      </I></B></FONT></FONT></ADDRESS></CENTER></DIV>
    
    <P ALIGN="center"><FONT COLOR="#000000"><FONT SIZE="4"><B><I>Albania
      </I></B></FONT></FONT></P>
    
    <P ALIGN="left"><FONT COLOR="#000000"><FONT SIZE="3"><B>Oct. 20</B>
      Voting for local elections goes relatively smoothly despite parliamentary
      elections marred by fraud and violence last May for which President Sali
      Berisha&#151;a former Communist&#151;was heavily criticized. </FONT></FONT></P>
    
    <P ALIGN="left"><FONT COLOR="#000000"><FONT SIZE="3"><B>Oct. 21</B> As
      the Council of Europe, which is in charge of monitoring the local
      elections, reports no serious incidents of fraud, the Democratic Party of
      President Sali Berisha claims a &#147;landslide victory.&#148; </FONT></FONT></P>
    
    <P ALIGN="left"><FONT COLOR="#000000"><FONT SIZE="3"><B>NY Times, Oct.
      25</B> Fatos Lubonja, a writer who spent 17 years in jail during the
      Communist era, criticizes President Berisha for keeping Albania in the
      past. For example, Albania is the only ex-Communist country where the
      government totally controls the radio and television. </FONT></FONT></P>
    
    <P ALIGN="left"><FONT COLOR="#000000"><FONT SIZE="3"><B>NY Times, Oct.
      27</B> More than half of the Albanian population is involved in collecting
      interest from pyramid schemes that use the cash from new investors to pay
      shareholders. But while the schemes survive as long as higher returns can
      lure new investors, they always collapse over time. </FONT></FONT></P>
    
    <P ALIGN="center"><FONT COLOR="#000000"><FONT SIZE="4"><B><I>Bulgaria
      </I></B></FONT></FONT></P>
    
    <P ALIGN="left"><FONT COLOR="#000000"><FONT SIZE="3"><B>Oct. 2</B> In
      Sofia, former Prime Minister Andrei Lukanov is slain outside his house.
      One of Bulgaria's most influential political figures, Mr. Lukanov helped
      oust in 1989 Communist leader Todor Zhivkov (who ruled Bulgaria for 33
      years) and was a strong critic of current Socialist Prime Minister Zhan
      Videnov. President Zhelyu Zhelev denounces the killing and parliament
      adopts a declaration condemning terrorism. </FONT></FONT></P>
    
    <P ALIGN="left"><FONT COLOR="#000000"><FONT SIZE="3"><B>NY Times, Oct.
      28</B> Successive Bulgarian governments have balked at market reform,
      refusing to privatize or dismantle inefficient state-owned industries and
      discouraging Western investment while allowing former Communist
      businessmen to strip state industries from their assets and send the money
      (between $3 billion and $5 billion) abroad. In early presidential election
      returns, voters register disapproval of the government, composed of former
      Communists, by giving a strong lead to Petar Stoyanov, the candidate of
      the anti-Communist Union of Democratic Forces. The function of president
      is mostly ceremonial, however, and carries little power. </FONT></FONT></P>
    
    <P ALIGN="center"><FONT COLOR="#000000"><FONT SIZE="4"><B><I>Czech
      Republic </I></B></FONT></FONT></P>
    
    <P ALIGN="left"><FONT COLOR="#000000"><FONT SIZE="3"><B>Oct. 25</B> The
      Czech Defense Ministry announces that the estimated 150 Czech soldiers who
      served in the 1991 Persian Gulf war will receive medical examinations
      starting next month. The announcement follows recent reports that many
      Czech veterans suffer from ailments comparable to those reported by U.S.
      soldiers who also served in the Gulf war. These ailments have been
      attributed to exposure to Iraqi chemical weapons. </FONT></FONT></P>
    
    <P ALIGN="center"><FONT COLOR="#000000"><FONT SIZE="4"><B><I>Poland
      </I></B></FONT></FONT></P>
    
    <P ALIGN="left"><FONT COLOR="#000000"><FONT SIZE="3"><B>Oct. 23</B>
      Parliament votes not to try Gen. Wojciech Jaruzelski and other former
      Communist leaders for the deaths and imprisonment of opposition activists
      who campaigned for democracy during martial law 15 years ago. </FONT></FONT></P>
    
    <P ALIGN="center">


        
        <FONT COLOR="#000000"><FONT SIZE="4"><B><I>EASTERN EUROPE


        
        </I></B></FONT></FONT>

       </P>
    
    <P ALIGN="center"><FONT COLOR="#000000"><FONT SIZE="4"><B><I>Belarus
      </I></B></FONT></FONT></P>
    
    <P ALIGN="left"><FONT COLOR="#000000"><FONT SIZE="3"><B>Oct. 11</B> &#160;President
      Aleksandr Lukashenko, an openly anti-Western leader who seeks to reunite
      with Russia and stall market reform, has been trying to gain unlimited
      power by forcing through a new constitution to be decided by referendum on
      Nov. 7. </FONT></FONT></P>
    
    <P ALIGN="left"><FONT COLOR="#000000"><FONT SIZE="3"><B>Oct. 19</B>
      Demonstrators march through the streets of Minsk to protest President
      Lukashenko's bid to &#147;gain near absolute power.&#148; Elected on an
      anti-corruption platform after Belarus&#151;a country of 10 million&#151;became
      independent in 1991, Mr. Lukashenko went along with economic reform
      initially, only to reverse course in 1995. Privatization has come to a
      halt and the country appears to be going back to the old Communist order.
      Mr. Lukashenko has offered to delay to Nov. 24&#151;but not drop&#151;the
      referendum planned for Nov. 7. </FONT></FONT></P>
    
    <P ALIGN="center"><FONT COLOR="#000000"><FONT SIZE="4"><B><I>Russia
      </I></B></FONT></FONT></P>
    
    <P ALIGN="left"><FONT COLOR="#000000"><FONT SIZE="3"><B>Oct. 1</B> With
      troops now owed three months of back wages, Defense Minister Gen. Igor
      Rodionov warns that the military may simply fail to respond to the
      Kremlin's orders, &#147;that is, people will just stop going to work.&#148;
      </FONT></FONT></P>
    
    <P ALIGN="left"><FONT COLOR="#000000"><FONT SIZE="3"><B>Oct. 3</B> On
      television, President Boris Yeltsin says that he urged Gen. Aleksandr
      Lebed, his security adviser, to remain on the job although Mr. Lebed had
      threatened to resign because of his &#147;dwindling authority.&#148; Mr.
      Yeltsin also backs, and takes credit for, the accord Gen. Lebed concluded
      with Chechen rebels. </FONT></FONT></P>
    
    <P ALIGN="left"><FONT COLOR="#000000"><FONT SIZE="3"><B>Oct. 14</B>
      Moscow has started to deport thousands of homeless people by train to
      distant villages where they grew up or were last registered as permanent
      residents. Although President Yeltsin and Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov say
      the deportations are part of the war on crime, the deportees have not been
      charged with wrongdoing, a hint that the move is to clear Moscow's streets
      of poor Russians and immigrants from the former Soviet republics. </FONT></FONT></P>
    
    <P ALIGN="left"><FONT COLOR="#000000"><FONT SIZE="3"><B>Oct. 16</B>
      Anatoly Chubais, President Yeltsin's chief of staff, has emerged in a few
      months as a powerful force in the Russian government. A pro-capitalist
      economist who led Russia's privatization campaign, Mr. Chubais has the
      support of many free-market reformers. Asserting that an efficient state
      is needed for achieving economic growth, Mr. Chubais is hoping to turn
      Russia's &#147;sometimes rudderless Government&#148; into a disciplined
      state. </FONT></FONT></P>
    
    <P ALIGN="left"><FONT COLOR="#000000"><FONT SIZE="3">Interior Minister
      Anatoly Kulikov accuses his rival, national security adviser Alekskandr
      Lebed, of preparing a &#147;mutiny&#148; but Mr. Lebed dismisses the
      accusation as &#147;nonsense.&#148; </FONT></FONT></P>
    
    <P ALIGN="left"><FONT COLOR="#000000"><FONT SIZE="3"><B>Oct. 17</B>
      Saying that &#147;there has to be a united team,&#148; President Boris
      Yeltsin dismisses Aleksandr Lebed for trying to split the Kremlin
      governing team. Now free to campaign to replace President Yeltsin, whom he
      calls &#147;aged and sick,&#148; Mr. Lebed immediately announces his
      presidential ambitions. </FONT></FONT></P>
    
    <P ALIGN="left"><FONT COLOR="#000000"><FONT SIZE="3"><B>Oct. 18</B> All
      Russian leaders&#151;Communists or free-market proponents&#151;back
      President Yeltsin's dismissal of their rival, Aleksandr Lebed. But in
      Chechnya, rebel leaders say that they cannot count on Russia without Gen.
      Lebed and announce plans to hold elections on Jan. 27 without consulting
      the Kremlin. </FONT></FONT></P>
    
    <P ALIGN="left"><FONT COLOR="#000000"><FONT SIZE="3"><B>Oct. 19</B>
      President Yeltsin chooses Ivan Rybkin, a 50-year-old moderate politician
      loyal to the Yeltsin administration, to replace Mr. Lebed. Unlike Mr.
      Lebed, Mr. Rybkin is not named national security adviser, but he combines
      the functions of secretary of the National Security Council and
      presidential envoy to Chechnya. </FONT></FONT></P>
    
    <P ALIGN="left"><FONT COLOR="#000000"><FONT SIZE="3"><B>Oct. 24</B>
      Chronic tax evasion is the most pressing problem facing President
      Yeltsin's administration, forcing the government to delay the payment of
      wages and pensions and causing public unrest among workers. There is no
      single reason for the tax evasion: some companies delay tax payments until
      they are paid by their creditors while others simply use political
      connections to reduce or ignore their tax obligations. </FONT></FONT></P>
    
    <P ALIGN="left"><FONT COLOR="#000000"><FONT SIZE="3"><B>Oct. 27</B> New
      security chief Ivan Rybkin promises Chechen rebel leaders that Russia will
      hold to the peace agreement signed by his predecessor, Aleksandr Lebed.
      </FONT></FONT></P>
    
    <P ALIGN="left"><FONT COLOR="#000000"><FONT SIZE="3"><B>Oct. 31</B>
      Vladimir Nechai, the head of Chelyabinsk-70&#151;a top nuclear research
      center which played an important role in the design and development of the
      Soviet nuclear arsenal&#151;commits suicide, heightening the plight of
      Russian scientists who are owed back wages and demanding sorely needed
      funds. </FONT></FONT></P>
    
    <P ALIGN="center"><FONT COLOR="#000000"><FONT SIZE="4"><B><I>Ukraine
      </I></B></FONT></FONT></P>
    
    <P ALIGN="left"><FONT COLOR="#000000"><FONT SIZE="3"><B>NY Times, Oct.
      18</B> Since President Kuchma's election victory in 1994, a new elite of
      politicians from the city of Dnepropetrovsk (including the President;
      Prime Minister; the ministers of national security, agriculture, and
      industry; and a host of former Soviet-era politicians) has been ruling
      Ukraine. The powerful &#147;clan from Dnepropetrovsk&#148; is being
      accused of corruption and of systematically looting national assets.
      </FONT></FONT></P>
    
    <P ALIGN="left"><FONT COLOR="#000000"><FONT SIZE="3"><B>NY Times, Oct.
      24</B> After five years as an independent country, Ukraine finds itself
      caught between a &#147;beckoning West&#148; and a &#147;volatile Russia&#148;
      that supplies the natural gas Ukraine needs for its industrial and home
      energy consumption. Russia, however, has not agreed yet on the demarcation
      lines of the border between the two countries. Ukraine, which is seen by
      Washington as a &#147;critical buffer&#148; between Russia and Europe, has
      been trying to achieve both a special understanding with NATO and a solid
      relationship between Russia and NATO. </FONT></FONT></P>
    
    <P ALIGN="center"><FONT COLOR="#000000"><FONT SIZE="4"><B><I>Ukraine/Russia
      </I></B></FONT></FONT></P>
    
    <P ALIGN="left"><FONT COLOR="#000000"><FONT SIZE="3"><B>Oct. 24</B>
      President Kuchma of Ukraine and President Yeltsin meet to discuss a 1995
      agreement Russia and Ukraine made in the Crimean resort of Sochi to split
      the former Soviet Black Sea fleet (Russia would &#147;purchase&#148; most
      of the Ukrainian share and end up with 82% of the fleet). Both agree that
      Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin will go to Kiev in November to sign
      agreements that could lead to a cooperation treaty. But they postpone
      deciding the status of Sevastopol, the fleet's home town that is located
      in Ukrainian Crimea and coveted by both sides. </FONT></FONT></P>
    
    <P ALIGN="center">

        
        <FONT COLOR="#000000"><FONT SIZE="4"><B><I>THE FORMER YUGOSLAVIA

        </I></B></FONT></FONT>


      
       </P>
    
    <P ALIGN="center"><FONT COLOR="#000000"><FONT SIZE="4"><B><I>Bosnia
      </I></B></FONT></FONT></P>
    
    <P ALIGN="left"><FONT COLOR="#000000"><FONT SIZE="3"><B>Oct. 1</B> The
      U.N. Security Council ends the sanctions it imposed in 1992 on Yugoslavia
      (Serbia and Montenegro). </FONT></FONT></P>
    
    <P ALIGN="left"><FONT COLOR="#000000"><FONT SIZE="3"><B>Oct. 3</B> U.S.
      Defense Secretary William Perry tells a U.S. Senate panel that up to 7,500
      American troops will remain in Bosnia until next March. Five thousand
      troops will leave soon for a six-month tour in Bosnia in order to assist
      with the withdrawal of the U.S. peacekeeping force of 15,000 men scheduled
      to pull out by Dec. 20. </FONT></FONT></P>
    
    <P ALIGN="left"><FONT COLOR="#000000"><FONT SIZE="3">In Paris, Serbian
      President Slobodan Milosevic and Alija Izetbegovic, the chairman of the
      new three-member Bosnian Presidency, sign an accord brokered by French
      President Jacques Chirac in which they agree to establish full diplomatic
      relations and to move &#147;from confrontation to cooperation.&#148;
      </FONT></FONT></P>
    
    <P ALIGN="left"><FONT COLOR="#000000"><FONT SIZE="3"><B>Oct. 5</B>
      Objecting to the wording of the oath of office and the security
      arrangements for the ceremony to swear in the three-member presidency and
      legislators, Bosnian Serb leaders refuse to attend. </FONT></FONT></P>
    
    <P ALIGN="left"><FONT COLOR="#000000"><FONT SIZE="3"><B>Oct. 6</B>
      Political chaos, combined with porous borders, widespread poverty, and
      violence, has caused a thriving criminal underworld to flourish in Bosnia.
      Well-organized gangs of ethnic Serbs, Croats, and Muslims (the &#147;only
      genuinely multi-ethnic organizations in Bosnia) have developed drug routes
      and prostitution rings with the complicity of local officials to whom they
      give bribes. </FONT></FONT></P>
    
    <P ALIGN="left"><FONT COLOR="#000000"><FONT SIZE="3"><B>Oct. 10</B> As
      the official in charge of the civilian part of the Bosnian peace
      agreement, Carl Bildt asks that peacekeeping troops remain in Bosnia until
      1998 in order to give Bosnia a chance to recover from the war. </FONT></FONT></P>
    
    <P ALIGN="left"><FONT COLOR="#000000"><FONT SIZE="3"><B>NY Times, Oct.
      17</B> The Arizona market, an improvised market located near the strategic
      town of Brcko in northern Bosnia, is one of the few places in Bosnia where
      ethnic Serbs, Croats, and Muslims can mix and work together. Cited by NATO
      commanders as a sign that the three groups can get along, the market is
      also criticized for perpetuating the lawlessness and black marketeering
      now common in Bosnia. </FONT></FONT></P>
    
    <P ALIGN="left"><FONT COLOR="#000000"><FONT SIZE="3"><B>Oct. 18</B>
      Intelligence officials in Bosnia find the Bosnian Serbs in violation of
      the Balkans arms reduction agreement with many more heavy weapons (about
      2,500 pieces) than they declared (about 1,350 pieces). The arms control
      agreement set limits on the number of heavy weapons the parties to the
      agreement can have and requires them to destroy excessive stocks. </FONT></FONT></P>
    
    <P ALIGN="left"><FONT COLOR="#000000"><FONT SIZE="3"><B>Oct. 19</B> One
      month after the elections, the new presidency and parliament that were to
      unify Bosnia are being boycotted by Bosnian Serbs who are pushing ahead
      with plans to secede and merge with Serbia; and refugees trying to return
      to villages in enemy hands have been forced back. </FONT></FONT></P>
    
    <P ALIGN="left"><FONT COLOR="#000000"><FONT SIZE="3"><B>Oct. 22</B> The
      OSCE, which is supervising elections in Bosnia, announces that municipal
      elections will be postponed for the second time (elections were first
      postponed from September to November due to irregularities in voter
      registration) because the Bosnian Serbs have decided to boycott the vote.
      But some diplomats fear that the new postponement will only solidify the
      lines of partition separating the three ethnic groups in Bosnia. </FONT></FONT></P>
    
    <P ALIGN="left"><FONT COLOR="#000000"><FONT SIZE="3"><B>Oct. 24</B>
      Although the U.S. has shipped $100 million worth of military equipment
      intended for Bosnia to the Croatian port of Ploce, it refuses to turn it
      over until the Bosnian government agrees to meet certain conditions,
      including the dismissal of Deputy Defense Minister Hasan Cengic, who is
      accused of having ties to Iran. </FONT></FONT></P>
    
    <P ALIGN="left"><FONT COLOR="#000000"><FONT SIZE="3"><B>Oct. 25</B>
      Officials in Washington and NATO have begun preparing for a new
      international peacekeeping force in Bosnia that would include at least
      5,000 and perhaps as many as 10,000 U.S. troops. </FONT></FONT></P>
    
    <P ALIGN="left"><FONT COLOR="#000000"><FONT SIZE="3"><B>NY Times, Oct.
      27</B> With Bosnian leaders continuing to block the reunification of the
      Muslim-Croat Federation and the Bosnian Serb republic, Bosnia's industrial
      network&#151;which used to employ half of the country's workers&#151;is
      now unsalvageable. Production is down by 90% and what is left in the two
      parts of the country are two rudimentary economies that will be competing,
      instead of collaborating, for the same markets. </FONT></FONT></P>
    
    <P ALIGN="center"><FONT COLOR="#000000"><FONT SIZE="4"><B><I>Croatia
      </I></B></FONT></FONT></P>
    
    <P ALIGN="left"><FONT COLOR="#000000"><FONT SIZE="3"><B>Oct. 8</B> Antun
      Tus, a retired Croatian general, criticizes President Franjo Tudjman on
      Radio 101&#151;the last independent radio station in Croatia&#151;over Mr.
      Tudjman's drive to turn Croatia into a military power. &#160;Although
      Radio 101 resisted Communist and nationalist intolerance for 13 years, it
      is likely to be turned over to Tudjman supporters when its license expires
      in November. </FONT></FONT></P>
    
    <P ALIGN="left"><FONT COLOR="#000000"><FONT SIZE="3"><B>Oct. 16</B>
      After a six-month delay over human rights concerns, the Council of Europe,
      which promotes democracy and human rights, admits Croatia as its 40th
      member. Croatia is the second former Yugoslav republic (Slovenia joined in
      1993) to be accepted as a member. </FONT></FONT></P>
    
    <P ALIGN="left"><FONT SIZE="4">&#160;</FONT></P>
    
    <P ALIGN="center"><FONT COLOR="#000000"><FONT SIZE="4"><B><I>Germany/Bosnian
      Refugees </I></B></FONT></FONT></P>
    
    <P ALIGN="left"><FONT COLOR="#000000"><FONT SIZE="3"><B>Oct. 9</B> Some
      of the 320,000 Bosnian refugees who have found shelter in Germany are
      being threatened with expulsion as Bavaria announces that it will
      immediately enforce an August decree it signed, along with the other 15
      German states, to return the refugees voluntarily or by force to Bosnia.
      German states have been financially burdened by the refugees and have
      pressed for their departure since the December peace agreement. </FONT></FONT></P>
    
    <P ALIGN="center">

        
        <FONT COLOR="#000000"><FONT SIZE="4"><B><I>WESTERN EUROPE / EASTERN
        EUROPE


        
        </I></B></FONT></FONT>


      
       </P>
    
    <P ALIGN="center"><FONT COLOR="#000000"><FONT SIZE="4"><B><I>France/U.S.A./NATO
      </I></B></FONT></FONT></P>
    
    <P ALIGN="left"><FONT COLOR="#000000"><FONT SIZE="3"><B>Oct. 12</B>
      Blaming the U.S. for its refusal to let a European officer be in charge of
      the Alliance's southern command (which includes the U.S. Sixth Fleet)&#151;a
      post traditionally held by an American admiral&#151;France says that it
      will remain in NATO politically but not militarily (except in some cases
      such as Bosnia). France had considered rejoining NATO's military command
      structure but insisted in August on European control of the two main NATO
      ground commands, one of which is Allied Forces Southern Command. </FONT></FONT></P>
    
    <P ALIGN="center"><FONT COLOR="#000000"><FONT SIZE="4"><B><I>Norway
      </I></B></FONT></FONT></P>
    
    <P ALIGN="left"><FONT COLOR="#000000"><FONT SIZE="3"><B>Oct. 23</B> In a
      surprise announcement, Prime Minister Gro Harlem Brundtland announces her
      resignation, saying that she will run for reelection to parliament in
      September 1997 and brushing off speculation that she quit to seek the post
      of U.N. Secretary General. She is being succeeded by Thorbjoern Jagland,
      leader of the Labor Party, who is expected to follow the current
      government policies. &#160; </FONT></FONT></P>
    
    <P ALIGN="center"><FONT COLOR="#000000"><FONT SIZE="4"><B><I>Norway/U.S.A./Russia
      </I></B></FONT></FONT></P>
    
    <P ALIGN="left"><FONT COLOR="#000000"><FONT SIZE="3"><B>Oct. 5 (Reported
      in NY Times, Oct. 8)</B> Norway and the United States sign the Arctic
      Military Environmental Cooperation Accord with Russia to help Russia
      (technically and financially) dispose of nuclear submarine reactors and
      other radioactive waste that it dumped for 30 years in the Barents and
      Kara seas. </FONT></FONT></P>
    
    <P ALIGN="center"><FONT COLOR="#000000"><FONT SIZE="4"><B><I>Russia/NATO
      </I></B></FONT></FONT></P>
    
    <P ALIGN="left"><FONT COLOR="#000000"><FONT SIZE="3"><B>Oct. 6</B> At
      NATO Headquarters in Brussels, Russian security adviser Alexander Lebed
      announces his goal to pursue a &#147;complicated, but civilized dialogue&#148;
      concerning NATO's enlargement. </FONT></FONT></P>
    
    <P ALIGN="left"><FONT COLOR="#000000"><FONT SIZE="3"><B>Oct. 7</B>
      Although Gen. Lebed concedes that NATO has the right to enlarge, he urges
      the Alliance to delay the decision to expand for a generation in order to
      &#147;allow the bitterness of the cold war to fade.&#148; </FONT></FONT></P>
    
    <P ALIGN="left"><FONT COLOR="#000000"><FONT SIZE="3"><B>Oct. 9</B>
      Despite possible Russian reactions, the U.S. is pushing ahead with the
      NATO expansion schedule that will bring several former Soviet allies into
      NATO in 1999. In December, NATO is to set a date (before July 97) for a
      summit conference that will name the first countries eligible for NATO
      membership. </FONT></FONT></P>
    
    <P ALIGN="center"><FONT COLOR="#000000"><FONT SIZE="4"><B><I>Switzerland
      </I></B></FONT></FONT></P>
    
    <P ALIGN="left"><FONT COLOR="#000000"><FONT SIZE="3"><B>Oct. 30</B>
      Switzerland announces that it will join the NATO Partnership for Peace
      program. The move will allow Swiss officers to observe military maneuvers
      and play some part in peacekeeping exercises. </FONT></FONT></P>
    
    <P ALIGN="center"><FONT COLOR="#000000"><FONT SIZE="4"><B><I>Turkey
      </I></B></FONT></FONT></P>
    
    <P ALIGN="left"><FONT COLOR="#000000"><FONT SIZE="3"><B>Oct. 1</B>
      Necmettin Erbakan, the leader of the pro-Islamic Welfare Party who became
      Turkey's Prime Minister in June, has been campaigning for closer ties with
      Muslim countries. After visiting Iran in August, where he signed a
      multibillion-dollar oil transport agreement with the government, he is
      about to embark on a trip to Libya, declared a terrorist state by the
      U.S., and Nigeria, whose military leaders have jailed the man who won the
      country's last presidential election. The trip is causing concern in the
      West. </FONT></FONT></P>
    
    <P ALIGN="left"><FONT COLOR="#000000"><FONT SIZE="3"><B>Oct. 7</B>
      Turkey and Libya sign a deal to triple trade between the two countries,
      prompting U.S. criticism. </FONT></FONT></P>
    
    <P ALIGN="left"><FONT SIZE="+1"><A HREF="october96.htm">Go to top of page</A></FONT></P>
    
    <P ALIGN="left"><FONT SIZE="+1"><A HREF="96timelines.htm">Return to 1996
        Timeline Table of Contents</A></FONT></P>
    
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    <P ALIGN="left">Copyright &copy; Center for Strategic Decision Research
      1997</P>
    
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