News Digest
ARMENIAN PEACEKEEPERS LEAVE FOR IRAQ
By empty (1/19/2005 issue of the CACI Analyst)
Forty-six noncombat military personnel (including 31 drivers, 10 sappers, three doctors, and a liaison officer) left Yerevan on 18 January for Kuwait, where they will undergo two weeks of training before beginning their six-month tour of duty with the international peacekeeping force in Iraq, Noyan Tapan and RFE/RL\'s Armenian Service reported. The proposed deployment aroused considerable domestic political opposition. Addressing the contingent at a farewell ceremony at Zvartnots Airport, Defense Minister Serzh Sarkisian stressed that their mission is \"strictly humanitarian.OSCE TO SEND 200 OBSERVERS TO MONITOR KYRGYZ ELECTIONS
By empty (1/19/2005 issue of the CACI Analyst)
Lubomir Kopaj, who will head the OSCE observer mission to monitor Kyrgyzstan\'s parliamentary elections on 27 February, told a news conference in Bishkek on 18 January that the mission will include a total of 200 observers. The mission will consist of 12 international staff members, 18 long-term observers, and 170 short-term observers. (Interfax).AFGHAN CALL FOR ANTI-DRUG FUNDS
By empty (1/19/2005 issue of the CACI Analyst)
The man heading Afghanistan\'s campaign against drugs production has called for more funds to support cash crop alternatives for the country\'s farmers. Counter narcotics minister Habibullah Qaderi wants incentives to help wean farmers off poppy and onto other crops. According to UN statistics, poppy cultivation now accounts for 60% of Afghanistan\'s economic activity.KYRGYZ OFFICIAL WARNS OF \'EXTREMISTS\' IN UPCOMING ELECTIONS
By empty (1/18/2005 issue of the CACI Analyst)
Kalyk Imankulov, head of Kyrgyzstan\'s National Security Service, told journalists on 18 January that extremists could try to influence the outcome of the 27 February parliamentary elections. \"Extremists may hire a candidate, lobby laws through him, and turn Kyrgyzstan into a base for conquering the entire Ferghana Valley,\" Imankulov said. He also warned of possible terror attacks by the banned Islamist group Hizb ut-Tahrir.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.