News Digest
MOSCOW OUTRAGED TBILISI HAS NOT RETURNED SEIZED PROPERTY
By empty (7/8/2004 issue of the CACI Analyst)
Moscow has expressed outrage over the fact that, despite Russia\'s demands, the Georgian authorities have still not returned the property of Russian peacekeepers seized by Georgian forces on Wednesday morning. \"Moscow is extremely worried by incoming reports that the Georgian authorities are not stopping their unlawful and provocative actions in the Georgian-Ossetian conflict zone,\" the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement. \"There can be no doubt that the violent seizure of the military equipment was deliberately aimed at further exacerbating the situation in South Ossetia and undermining Russian-Georgian relations,\" it says.RUSSIAN ENVOY AGAINST VISAS FOR TAJIKS
By empty (7/8/2004 issue of the CACI Analyst)
Maksim Peshkov, Russia\'s ambassador to Tajikistan, told a news conference in Yekaterinburg on 8 July that he opposes the introduction of visas for Tajik travelers to Russia, reported the next day. He said, \"Visas won\'t help at all. People will continue to smuggle drugs.MUSHARRAF SEEKS AZERBAIJAN DEALS
By empty (7/8/2004 issue of the CACI Analyst)
The president of Pakistan, Pervez Musharraf, is beginning a two-day visit to the oil-rich former Soviet republic of Azerbaijan on Thursday. The countries have signed military accords in the past, and the visit is likely to result in closer ties between the two mainly Muslim nations. The leaders of Azerbaijan and Pakistan make unusual partners.GEORGIA BACKING OUT ON PROMISE NOT TO HUNT ABASHIDZE - RUSSIA
By empty (7/7/2004 issue of the CACI Analyst)
The Russian Foreign Ministry has drawn attention to the fact that Georgia is not standing by its promise, made at the highest level, not to persecute former Ajarian leader Aslan Abashidze. \"We leave the arbitrary treatment of promises made at the highest level by individual officials in Tbilisi, but cannot help wondering what the assurances of Georgian politicians are worth and what else can be expected from them,\" says a ministry release on the opening of a criminal case against Abashidze in Georgia. It says reports on the issue have been snowballing.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.