Field Reports
ADIL SOZ CONFRONTS THE GOVERNMENT IN KAZAKHSTAN
By Olivia Allison (11/5/2003 issue of the CACI Analyst)
Officials and journalist groups disagree on the new draft media law. While government officials say the law is designed to protect journalists, press-freedom analysts have pointed to several articles of the law that could be used to further infringe on press freedom.The harsh statements from the ministry are likely an attempt to silence criticism from journalist groups.
INAUGURATION OF THE AZERBAIJANI PRESIDENT
By Gulnara Imsailova (11/5/2003 issue of the CACI Analyst)
The Head of the Central Electoral Commission Mazahir Panahov declared that the elections were free and fair. Simultaneously the secretary of the CEC from the opposition, Vidadi Mahmudov, declared that everyone knew in advance that some provisions of the Election Code were “in the hands of \" the ruling Yeni Azerbaijan Party, and it consequently became an obstacle for carrying out democratic elections.In a ceremony on October 31, President Aliyev was inaugurated in the Republic palace, with 2000 guests.
OPENING OF RUSSIAN AIRBASE IN KYRGYZSTAN
By Maria Utyaganova (11/5/2003 issue of the CACI Analyst)
The airbase in Kant, a small town 20 km away from the Kyrgyz capital Bishkek, was established as a part of the rapid deployment force under the auspices of the Collective Security Treaty Organization. The CSTO was formed two years ago by six former Soviet republics: Russia, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Armenia, Tajikistan and Belarus. At the press conference following the opening ceremony, the Russian president said that “by creating an air shield here in Kyrgyzstan we expect to strengthen security in the region, whose stability has become a tangible factor affecting the development of the international situation”.CAN ISLAM BE A STRONG OPPOSITION FORCE IN UZBEKISTAN?
By Rustam Mukhamedov (10/22/2003 issue of the CACI Analyst)
In the past, the territory of Uzbekistan was famous for its Islamic schools, which were located in Bukhara and Samarkand, and for theologians like Imam Al-Bukhari, who was one of the several scholars in the Islamic world, who collected the majority of the Hadith (the stories from the life of Prophet Mohammed). Being an Islamic center in Central Asia, the population of Uzbekistan is on the whole composed of more pious followers of Islam than the people of Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan. But today, Uzbekistan’s government tries to build a secular state, while fighting against radical movements such as the Islamic movement of Uzbekistan (IMU), Wahhabi and Hizb-ut-Tahrir.Visit also
Staff Publications
Silk Road Paper S. Frederick Starr, U.S. Policy in Central Asia through Central Asian Eyes, May 2023.
Analysis Svante E. Cornell, "Promise and Peril in the Caucasus," AFPC Insights, March 30, 2023.
Oped S. Frederick Starr, Putin's War In Ukraine and the Crimean War), 19fourtyfive, January 2, 2023
Oped S. Frederick Starr, Russia Needs Its Own Charles de Gaulle, Foreign Policy, July 21, 2022.
Silk Road Paper S. Frederick Starr, Rethinking Greater Central Asia: American and Western Stakes in the Region and How to Advance Them, June 2022
Oped Svante E. Cornell & Albert Barro, With referendum, Kazakh President pushes for reforms, Euractiv, June 3, 2022.
Oped Svante E. Cornell Russia's Southern Neighbors Take a Stand, The Hill, May 6, 2022.
Silk Road Paper Johan Engvall, Between Bandits and Bureaucrats: 30 Years of Parliamentary Development in Kyrgyzstan, January 2022.
Oped Svante E. Cornell, No, The War in Ukraine is not about NATO, The Hill, March 9, 2022.
Analysis Svante E. Cornell, Kazakhstan’s Crisis Calls for a Central Asia Policy Reboot, The National Interest, January 34, 2022.
Book S. Frederick Starr and Svante E. Cornell, Strong and Unique: Three Decades of U.S.-Kazakhstan Partnership, Central Asia-Caucasus Institute, December 2021.
Silk Road Paper Svante E. Cornell, S. Frederick Starr & Albert Barro, Political and Economic Reforms in Kazakhstan Under President Tokayev, November 2021.