News Digest
RUSSIA-GEORGIA TIES PLAGUED BY OUTSTANDING ISSUES - GEORGIAN MP
By empty (2/18/2005 issue of the CACI Analyst)
The cold welcome Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov got in Tbilisi has nothing to do with the Russian minister\'s refusal to lay wreaths at Tbilisi\'s monument commemorating the fighters for Georgia\'s unity, Konstantin Gabashvili, chairman of the Georgian parliamentary committee for international relations, told Interfax on Friday. There are several outstanding problems in the two countries\' relations, and a solution to them is crucial to bringing their ties back to normal, Gabashvili said. \"The conflict zones, where the annexation of Georgian territories is effectively taking place, and Russia\'s military bases are among the problematic issues Russia has been using to put political pressure on Georgia,\" he said.NEARLY ONE-QUARTER OF AZERBAIJANIS SUPPORT INTRODUCING ISLAMIC LAWS
By empty (2/18/2005 issue of the CACI Analyst)
A public opinion poll found 23.2 percent of respondents support the introduction of Islamic laws in Azerbaijan. The poll, conducted from September to October 2004, surveyed a sample of 1,200 Azerbaijani citizens and was conducted by the ADAM Social Research Center.PRO-MOSCOW CHECHEN LEADER CONDEMNS ABDUCTIONS
By empty (2/18/2005 issue of the CACI Analyst)
Pro-Moscow Chechen administration head Alu Alkhanov on 18 February confirmed that eight relatives of Chechen resistance leader Aslan Maskhadov were abducted in December and that a criminal investigation into the matter has been launched. Alkhanov said that he is personally categorically opposed to such abductions in any circumstances. He also charged that Maskhadov and radical Chechen field commander Shamil Basaev have been involved in abductions in the republic and he called on resistance fighters to \"return to a normal, peaceful life.GEORGIA INSISTS ON WITHDRAWAL OF RUSSIAN BASES
By empty (2/18/2005 issue of the CACI Analyst)
The attitude of Georgia to Russian military bases remains unchanged and amounts to demanding their speedy withdrawal from Georgia, parliament speaker Nino Burjanadze told reporters on Friday after meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. \"Georgia continues to insist on the speedy withdrawal of bases and will not agree to the timeframe suggested by the Russian side, namely 6-7 years,\" she said. She said they had also discussed joint control over Roki tunnel connecting the Russian internal republic of North Ossetia and Georgia\'s breakaway territory of South Ossetia but she \"did not see the Russian side\'s readiness for it.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.