News Digest
EUROPEAN UNION UNHAPPY WITH KYRGYZ ELECTION CODE REVISIONS
By empty (2/5/2004 issue of the CACI Analyst)
The representative of the European Union to the OSCE told the weekly meeting of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Permanent Council on 29 January that the EU remains unhappy with the Kyrgyz Election Code, even after the recent adoption of changes by the parliament. In the view of the EU, the revised version does not meet international standards for free and fair elections, nor does it fulfill the country\'s OSCE commitments. The EU criticism noted that there are still some points in the legislation that could be used to limit the rights of citizens, candidates, and political parties to participate fully in the political process.BRITISH FOREIGN SECRETARY CALLS FOR INVESTMENT IN KAZAKH SMALL BUSINESSES
By empty (2/5/2004 issue of the CACI Analyst)
Jack Straw, who arrived in Kazakhstan on 5 February, told a news conference after his meeting with Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbaev in Astana that Britain will help Kazakhstan develop its small- and medium-sized-business sector so the country\'s economy will not be centered exclusively on the raw-materials sector. Straw noted that British firms have already invested heavily in the Kazakh oil-and-gas sector. As part of his 5 February program in Astana, Straw opened a representative office of the British Embassy and the British Council, and announced that the embassy itself will move from Almaty to Astana in the near future.AZERBAIJANI PRESIDENT DECREES NEW HOUSING FOR DISPLACED PERSONS
By empty (2/4/2004 issue of the CACI Analyst)
President Ilham Aliyev signed a decree on 4 February on the construction of new settlements to house some 4,000 families of displaced persons from Armenian-occupied districts of Azerbaijan adjacent to Nagorno-Karabakh who have been living in tent camps and railroad cars for the past decade. The settlements will be provided with water mains, electricity, schools, and medical facilities and will be financed from the State Oil Fund. (Turan).RUSSIAN AMBASSADOR ACCUSES TAJIK PUBLICATIONS OF DISTORTIONS
By empty (2/4/2004 issue of the CACI Analyst)
Russian Ambassador to Tajikistan Maksim Peshkov told a press conference in Dushanbe on 4 February that some recent articles in the independent Tajik publications \"Asia Plus\" and \"Ruz-i nav\" about Russian-Tajik relations have distorted facts and demonstrated ignorance of the real situation. Peshkov said he is bothered by reports on Tajik labor migrants in Russia and on the strategic relationship between the two countries, but he was particularly annoyed by an assertion that Tajikistan\'s debt to Russia is $300 million, rather than the $400 million that Peshkov says is the correct figure. The Tajik media has sometimes been critical of the treatment of Tajik job seekers in the Russian Federation.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.