News Digest
CONSTRUCTION STOPPED ON BAKU-CEYHAN PIPELINE
By empty (8/3/2004 issue of the CACI Analyst)
Construction on the proposed 1,100-mile pipeline running from the Caspian Sea to the Mediterranean has been stopped due to BP’s failure to get construction permits. Environmental authorities in Georgia found that the British Petroleum-led consortium that is responsible for building the pipeline failed to get the proper clearances. Georgia\'s environment ministry reportedly sent BP a formal reminder that BP must apply for construction permits to undertake any operations in the region, but the company failed to respond, beginning construction anyway.GEORGIAN-ABKHAZ TALKS SUSPENDED AFTER TURKISH VESSEL SHELLED
By empty (7/31/2004 issue of the CACI Analyst)
Abkhaz officials suspended talks with their Georgian counterparts on 31 July in response to the recent shelling of a Turkish commercial cargo ship off the Abkhaz coast. A statement issued by the Abkhaz official criticized the incident as breach of the cease-fire agreement in effect and stated that \"the actions of the new Georgian authorities in regard to South Ossetia, and now in regard to Abkhazia, demonstrate that the Georgian side has embarked upon a policy of wrecking the process of peaceful settlement of conflicts.\" (RFE/RL).KAZAKHS DENY UZBEK ALLEGATIONS OF TERRORISTS TRAINING IN KAZAKHSTAN
By empty (7/27/2004 issue of the CACI Analyst)
The Kazakh National Security Committee has denied Uzbek allegations that the organizers of terrorist attacks in Uzbekistan in the spring were trained in Kazakhstan. A court heard on Monday that alleged terrorists on trial for attacks in Tashkent and Bukhara region on March 28 - April 1 used Kazakhstan\'s areas bordering Uzbekistan to set up terrorist training camps. Fifteen men and two women are being tried for those attacks.AFGHAN CANDIDATE LIST PUBLISHED
By empty (7/27/2004 issue of the CACI Analyst)
Election organisers in Afghanistan have published a preliminary list of presidential candidates two days early. Zakim Shah, the chairman of the joint electoral management body, said 23 people had met the Monday deadline to register for the October poll. There were no surprises as he read out the names one by one - most on the list had already announced they were standing, the majority as independents.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.