News Digest
LAWMAKER SLAMS MARRED BALLOTING IN KYRGYZSTAN, TAJIKISTAN
By empty (3/1/2005 issue of the CACI Analyst)
US Senator John McCain expressed \"outrage\" over last week\'s parliamentary elections in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, saying balloting was riddled with irregularities. In both countries, McCain said, \"election day was marred by vote buying, de-registration of candidates, and media interference, and followed hyperbolic warnings by officials about the dangers of civil war,\" he said of the February 27 voting. \"I am particularly outraged by the forced shut-down of the only independent printing press in Kyrgyzstan, just four days before the election,\" he said.INTERNATIONAL OBSERVERS DIFFER IN ASSESSMENTS OF KYRGYZ PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS
By empty (3/1/2005 issue of the CACI Analyst)
International observers from the CIS and OSCE on 28 February offered differing assessments of 27 February parliamentary elections in Kyrgyzstan, agencies reported. Asan Kozhakov, head of the CIS observer mission, noted some irregularities but deemed the elections \"transparent, open, and legitimate.\" But Kimmo Kiljunen, who headed the OSCE observer mission, told a news conference in Bishkek on 28 February that the elections, \"while more competitive than previous elections, fell short of OSCE commitments and other international standards in a number of important areas,\" RFE/RL\'s Kyrgyz Service reported.U.S. NOTES HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS IN AZERBAIJAN
By empty (3/1/2005 issue of the CACI Analyst)
In its annual report on human rights world-wide that was released on 28 February, The U.S. State Department registered a worsening of the human rights situation in Azerbaijan in 2004 following the disputed presidential ballot in October 2003.ATTEMPT MADE ON ABKHAZ PM\'S LIFE
By empty (3/1/2005 issue of the CACI Analyst)
An attempt has been made on the life of Alexander Ankvab, prime minister of the breakaway republic of Abkhazia. Ankvab emerged uninjured from the incident. Early reports suggest the prime minister\'s car came under fire outside the village of Achadara at the entrance to Sukhumi on Tuesday morning.Visit also
Staff Publications
Silk Road Paper S. Frederick Starr, Greater Central Asia as A Component of U.S. Global Strategy, October 2024.
Analysis Laura Linderman, "Rising Stakes in Tbilisi as Elections Approach," Civil Georgia, September 7, 2024.
Analysis Mamuka Tsereteli, "U.S. Black Sea Strategy: The Georgian Connection", CEPA, February 9, 2024.
Silk Road Paper Svante E. Cornell, ed., Türkiye's Return to Central Asia and the Caucasus, July 2024.
Book Svante E. Cornell, ed., "The Changing Geopolitics of Central Asia and the Caucasus" AFPC Press/Armin LEar, 2023.
Silk Road Paper Svante E. Cornell and S. Frederick Starr, Stepping up to the “Agency Challenge”: Central Asian Diplomacy in a Time of Troubles, July 2023.
Silk Road Paper S. Frederick Starr, U.S. Policy in Central Asia through Central Asian Eyes, May 2023.