News Digest
FORMER ADJARAN LEADER\'S PROPERTY CONFISCATED
By empty (9/6/2004 issue of the CACI Analyst)
The Supreme Court of the Adjar Autonomous Republic ruled on 6 September that the personal fortune of former Adjaran leader Aslan Abashidze and some 30 members of his family, variously estimated at between 100 million laris ($52 million) and $70 million, could not have been acquired legally, and should therefore be confiscated. That property includes land, several villas, bank accounts, and luxury cars. Abashidze stepped down under pressure from the Georgian central government in May and has since lived in Moscow.GEORGIAN PRESIDENT PROTESTS JOURNALISTS\' ARREST IN BESLAN
By empty (9/6/2004 issue of the CACI Analyst)
Mikheil Saakashvili sent a letter of protest to the Russian government on 6 September against the arrest in Beslan two days earlier of a journalist and a photographer employed by the independent Georgian television station Rustavi-2 and demanded their immediate release. The two were sentenced later on 6 September to 10 days\' administrative arrest on charges of illegally entering the Russian Federation. The Georgian Foreign Ministry has sent a similar protest to the Russian Prosecutor-General\'s Office.KYRGYZSTAN LAYS CLAIM TO UZBEK ENCLAVE
By empty (9/6/2004 issue of the CACI Analyst)
Kyrgyzstan\'s prime minister on Monday laid claim to an enclave that has been part of Uzbekistan since a Soviet-era redrawing of Central Asia _ a move that could further strain relations between the two nations as they continue tense border talks. \"Shakhimardan is Kyrgyz land and we will assert our right to that land,\" Nikolai Tanayev told Parliament. Territorial disputes have strained relations among Central Asian nations since they became independent following the 1991 Soviet collapse.AFGHANISTAN’S ELECTION CHALLENGE
By empty (9/6/2004 issue of the CACI Analyst)
In war-ravaged Afghanistan, holding the country\'s first election poses stiff challenges - harsh terrain, suspect security and simply ensuring that people cast their ballots properly. On 9 October Afghans will choose from 18 presidential candidates in some 25,000 polling stations across the country. That is not all - Afghan refugees in neighbouring countries will be also casting their ballots.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.