By Michael Denison (6/18/2003 issue of the CACI Analyst)
BACKGROUND: Tasmagambetov appeared to have been ‘out of the woods’ on the land reform issue after his government survived a vote of confidence held by a joint session of parliament on 19 May. Calling the vote in the first place had been a political manoeuvre by Tasmagambetov aimed at securing the adoption of the government’s version of the draft land code without the 500 amendments to the bill tabled by deputies of the Majilis (lower house). The issue of land privatization has engendered an extraordinary coalescence of the disparate factions making up the political opposition.By Annette Bohr (6/18/2003 issue of the CACI Analyst)
BACKGROUND: According to official reports, President Niyazov\'s motorcade was fired upon at about 7 a.m. in downtown Ashgabat as he was traveling to his office from his residence in Arshabil, 28 kilometers outside the capital.By Niklas Swanström (6/18/2003 issue of the CACI Analyst)
BACKGROUND: The Chinese government has made it a policy to aggressively improve trade relations with the Central Asian states, and not only in the prioritized areas of oil, gas and grain, but also for small and medium sized companies. Both Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji and Chinese President Hu Jintao have emphasized the strategic importance of the ancient Silk Road for China’s economic development and stability. Trade has earlier focused on commodities such as steel, cotton, food, etc, but in recent years border trade has begun to focus to a higher degree on machinery, electronic products, and high tech development as well as large investment projects in the agricultural sector and the oil/gas industry.By James Purcell Smith (6/4/2003 issue of the CACI Analyst)
BACKGROUND: Since the early years of its independence, Turkmenistan\'s President Saparmurad Niyazov has been coming up with a number of gas pipeline projects, with the aim to boost its gas exports bypassing the Northern route through Russia. The Turkmen president spent days and weeks of talks with heads of states and other officials, discussing numerous gas pipeline projects. A shortlist includes the Turkmenistan-Iran-Turkey option, the Turkmenistan-Uzbekistan-Kazakhstan-China-Japan, the Trans-Caspian Turkmenistan-Azerbaijan-Georgia-Turkey, and the last, widely discussed project, Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan with possible extension to India.The Central Asia-Caucasus Analyst is a biweekly publication of the Central Asia-Caucasus Institute & Silk Road Studies Program, a Joint Transatlantic Research and Policy Center affiliated with the American Foreign Policy Council, Washington DC., and the Institute for Security and Development Policy, Stockholm. For 15 years, the Analyst has brought cutting edge analysis of the region geared toward a practitioner audience.
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