News Digest
KAZAKH PARLIAMENT DROPS MILITARY TRANSIT PACT WITH RUSSIA
By empty (12/10/2004 issue of the CACI Analyst)
Kazakhstan\'s Senate (upper chamber of parliament) voted on 10 December to end an agreement with Russia that had provided for the duty-free transit of Russian military cargo through Kazakhstan. The agreement was originally signed on 9 September 1994, and renewed in 1999. It expired on 8 September and Kazakhstan\'s Foreign Ministry informed Russia that it intended to end the agreement as of 1 January 2005.ANTI-OLIGARCH PROTESTERS PICKET KAZAKH INDUSTRIAL GROUP
By empty (12/10/2004 issue of the CACI Analyst)
About 60 people demonstrated at the head offices of the Eurasian Industrial Association (EIA) in Almaty on 10 December. A spokesman for the protesters said that they are workers at EIA enterprises who are unhappy with poor social services and insufficient attention to workplace safety. Police dispersed the unsanctioned demonstration after an hour, detaining three protesters.TENSIONS RISE ON GEORGIA\'S BORDER
By empty (12/9/2004 issue of the CACI Analyst)
New tensions have emerged on Georgia\'s border with Azerbaijan over allegations of smuggling and a rail cargo dispute. Georgian police clashed with the local ethnic Azeri population after customs officials raided homes and confiscated what they said were smuggled goods. In Azerbaijan, the authorities are preventing more than 1,000 railway wagons entering Georgia.ARMENIA HOPES TURKEY IN EU WILL REOPEN BORDER
By empty (12/9/2004 issue of the CACI Analyst)
Turkish accession to the EU should lead to a more open society which would open its border with Armenia and recognise a genocide of Armenians early last century, Armenia\'s foreign minister said on Thursday. Vardan Oskanyan told Reuters in an interview that the European Union should press Turkey \"aggressively\" to reopen the border. EU leaders decide next week whether to start accession negotiations with Turkey.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.