News Digest
TWO \'FREEDOM\' DECREES FROM TURKMEN LEADER
By empty (3/12/2004 issue of the CACI Analyst)
Turkmen President Saparmurat Niyazov issued two decrees on 11 March, one allowing Turkmen citizens to leave the country freely and another guaranteeing them religious freedom, turkmenistan.ru reported. The first decree grants Turkmen citizens the right to leave the country unimpeded, provided they have a valid entry visa for the country to which they are traveling.FRENCH AMBASSADOR TO BE NAMED GEORGIAN FOREIGN MINISTER
By empty (3/11/2004 issue of the CACI Analyst)
President Saakashvili told journalists on 11 March that he intends to name Salome Zurabishvili-Kashia as foreign minister as she is ideally suited to promote Georgia\'s integration into European structures. Zurabishvili-Kashia, who was born in Paris in 1951 into a family that fled Georgia following the Soviet takeover in 1921, made her career in the French diplomatic service and was named French ambassador to Tbilisi last year. Saakashvili said that during his recent visit to Paris he discussed Zurabishvili-Kashia\'s possible appointment with French President Jacques Chirac, and that he will grant her Georgian citizenship.FORMER CHECHEN DEFENSE MINISTER SAYS HE SURRENDERED VOLUNTARILY
By empty (3/11/2004 issue of the CACI Analyst)
Speaking at a press conference in Grozny on 11 March, Magomed Khambiev, who served as defense minister under Chechen President Aslan Maskhadov, denied that he surrendered on 8 March because his relatives had been detained by Chechen security officials. Khambiev said both he and Maskhadov were against the incursion into Daghestan in the summer of 1999 by Chechen formations commanded by field commander Shamil Basaev, and that he does not understand why Maskhadov failed to prevent Basaev from launching that raid. Khambiev also said he thinks Maskhadov should follow his example and surrender to the pro-Moscow Chechen authorities.KAZAKH PRESIDENT NAMES NEW ADMINISTRATION HEAD
By empty (3/11/2004 issue of the CACI Analyst)
Nursultan Nazarbaev on 10 March appointed Imanghali Tasmaghambetov head of the presidential administration. The move comes amid a general reshuffling that has seen Nazarbaev loyalist Nurtay Abyqaev, former head of the presidential administration, become the speaker of the Senate, and Oralbay Abdykarymov, former speaker of the Senate, become Kazakhstan\'s state secretary. Tasmaghambetov has served as state secretary since June 2003.Visit also
Staff Publications
Silk Road Paper S. Frederick Starr, U.S. Policy in Central Asia through Central Asian Eyes, May 2023.
Analysis Svante E. Cornell, "Promise and Peril in the Caucasus," AFPC Insights, March 30, 2023.
Oped S. Frederick Starr, Putin's War In Ukraine and the Crimean War), 19fourtyfive, January 2, 2023
Oped S. Frederick Starr, Russia Needs Its Own Charles de Gaulle, Foreign Policy, July 21, 2022.
Silk Road Paper S. Frederick Starr, Rethinking Greater Central Asia: American and Western Stakes in the Region and How to Advance Them, June 2022
Oped Svante E. Cornell & Albert Barro, With referendum, Kazakh President pushes for reforms, Euractiv, June 3, 2022.
Oped Svante E. Cornell Russia's Southern Neighbors Take a Stand, The Hill, May 6, 2022.
Silk Road Paper Johan Engvall, Between Bandits and Bureaucrats: 30 Years of Parliamentary Development in Kyrgyzstan, January 2022.
Oped Svante E. Cornell, No, The War in Ukraine is not about NATO, The Hill, March 9, 2022.
Analysis Svante E. Cornell, Kazakhstan’s Crisis Calls for a Central Asia Policy Reboot, The National Interest, January 34, 2022.
Book S. Frederick Starr and Svante E. Cornell, Strong and Unique: Three Decades of U.S.-Kazakhstan Partnership, Central Asia-Caucasus Institute, December 2021.
Silk Road Paper Svante E. Cornell, S. Frederick Starr & Albert Barro, Political and Economic Reforms in Kazakhstan Under President Tokayev, November 2021.