News Digest
RUSSIA CONSIDERING INVESTING WITH IRAN IN TAJIK ENERGY SECTOR
By empty (6/9/2004 issue of the CACI Analyst)
Russia is ready to invest in Tajikistan\'s energy sector jointly with Iran, the head of Russia\'s electricity grid said Wednesday. \"We know that Tajikistan\'s neighbor, Iran, is interested in a number of projects, including the Sangtuda hydroelectric power station, and we are interested in joint analysis of the situation to see the possibility of joining the consortium,\" Anatoly Chubais, the head of Russia\'s Unified Energy Systems, said in the Tajik capital, Dushanbe. Chubais met Wednesday with President Emomali Rakhmonov and said the Tajik leader favored conducting a three-way meeting among Russia, Tajikistan and Iran on the energy issue.GEORGIAN VILLAGERS PROTEST CASPIAN OIL PIPELINE
By empty (6/9/2004 issue of the CACI Analyst)
Dozens of villagers in the former Soviet republic of Georgia protested Wednesday against a pipeline for Caspian Sea oil, demanding compensation because it is being built near their land. About 40 residents of Krtsansi, about 40 kilometers (25 miles) east of the capital Tbilisi, tried to enter a closed construction site for the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline, and then blocked a road near the site after they were turned away by security forces, Deputy Interior Minister Irakly Kldiashvili said. Two women accused of organizing the protest were detained, Kldiashvili said on Rustavi-2 television.ARMENIAN PREMIER CONDEMNS \'ILLEGAL\' POLICE RAIDS
By empty (6/9/2004 issue of the CACI Analyst)
Andranik Markarian told journalists in Yerevan on 8 June that a criminal investigation has been opened into what he termed the \"illegal\" ransacking of the offices of major opposition parties in the wake of a police crackdown on 13 April on demonstrators in Yerevan calling for the resignation of President Robert Kocharian, RFE/RL\'s Armenian Service reported. At the same time, Markarian argued that Armenia is more democratic now than before last year\'s presidential and parliamentary elections. He pointed out that the authorities do not prevent unsanctioned demonstrations, and that there is complete freedom of the press.RUSSIA TOPS IN ASYLUM SEEKERS
By empty (6/9/2004 issue of the CACI Analyst)
Russia has the highest number of citizens seeking political asylum abroad, \"Novye Izvestiya\" reported on 8 June, citing data from the UN High Commissioner for Refugees. According to the daily, 7,508 Russian citizens applied for political asylum abroad during the first quarter of this year. Most were former residents of Chechnya, according the United Nations.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.