News Digest
IRAN SEEKING TO GROW CASPIAN CRUDE SWAP VOLUME-IEA
By empty (5/12/2004 issue of the CACI Analyst)
Iran looks set to increase the quantities of crude swapped with Russian and Caspian producers, which are seeking diverse export outlets for their oil, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said on Wednesday. The country currently receives 120,000 barrels per day (bpd) of Russian, Kazakh and Turkmen crude delivered to its northern port of Neka on the Caspian Sea, providing these producers with an equivalent volume of its own Iranian Light crude in the Middle East Gulf. This volume could swell to 500,000 bpd by the end of 2004 if new pumping stations are added along the pipeline that transports the oil from Neka to the Tehran and Tabriz refineries, the IEA said in its monthly report.ARMENIAN OPPOSITION RESUMES CALLS FOR PRESIDENT\'S RESIGNATION
By empty (5/12/2004 issue of the CACI Analyst)
Leading members of the opposition Artarutiun alliance said on 11 May in Yerevan that they will convene a further demonstration on 14 May to press for the resignation of President Robert Kocharian, RFE/RL\'s Armenian Service reported. Kocharian left on 10 May for a three-day visit to Lebanon, after which he will visit Moscow on 13 May. Opposition legislators said the Armenian authorities have declined to take any of the measures recommended in a Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) resolution passed in late April, including releasing all persons detained for their participation in opposition rallies last month.RUSSIA HAS ABOUT 50,000 SKINHEADS - HUMAN RIGHTS WORKERS
By empty (5/12/2004 issue of the CACI Analyst)
There are about 50,000 skinheads in Russia, who commit on average 30-40 attacks a month based on motives of xenophobia and ethnic enmity, said the Moscow Human Rights Bureau\'s Director Alexander Brod. \"I can ascertain a dramatic increase in the number of acts motivated by xenophobia and ethnic hatred, including assaults and beatings. Over the last 3-4 years, the number of such acts has been growing annually by 30%,\" Brod told the press on Wednesday.RUSSIAN PRESIDENT MAKES UNSCHEDULED TRIP TO GROZNY
By empty (5/12/2004 issue of the CACI Analyst)
Vladimir Putin flew to Grozny on 11 May, where he presented posthumous awards to the widows of pro-Moscow Chechen leader Akhmed-hadji Kadyrov and interim Chechen parliamentary speaker Khussein Isaev. Both men were killed by the bomb that exploded on the morning of 9 May at a Grozny stadium during a ceremony to mark Victory Day. Speaking to his cabinet on 11 May after visiting Grozny, Russian President said that the killing of pro-Moscow Chechen leader Akhmed-hadji Kadyrov is both \"a loss and a lesson for the government,\" RTR, ORT, and RIA-Novosti reported.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.