News Digest
GEORGIAN LEADER CALLS FOR WRITING OFF ENERGY DEBT TO RUSSIA...
By empty (12/1/2003 issue of the CACI Analyst)
Acting Georgian President Nino Burdjanadze on 28 November participated with leading Russian politicians in a televised discussion on ORT of Georgian-Russian relations. Asked by Unified Energy Systems (EES) head and Union of Rightist Forces (SPS) co-Chairman Anatolii Chubais whether she agrees that Russia should play a larger role in Georgian affairs, Burdjanadze said that, in view of the difficult economic situation in Georgia, Russia could help by writing off Georgian debts for energy supplies. Chubais responded that there can be no talk of writing off debts, but he would consider restructuring or rescheduling them.TURKMEN PRESIDENT URGES OPPOSITION-IN-EXILE TO COME HOME
By empty (12/1/2003 issue of the CACI Analyst)
Reacting to a meeting of the Turkmen opposition-in-exile that was held in Vienna on 23-24 November, Turkmen President Saparmurat Niyazov on 28 November called on former high-ranking officials now in exile to return home and face criminal charges, turkmenistan.ru reported on 1 December. Niyazov, who was speaking to a meeting of heads of law enforcement agencies, specifically called on former Deputy Prime Minister Khudaiberdy Orazov, former Turkmen Ambassador to Turkey Nurmukhammed Khanamov, and former Deputy Minister of Agriculture Saparmurad Yklymov – all of whom are now leaders of the opposition in exile -- to return, asserting they are false democrats who have sold out their homeland.MOSCOW HOLDS TALKS WITH LEADERS OF GEORGIAN BREAKAWAY REPUBLICS
By empty (11/29/2003 issue of the CACI Analyst)
Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov held several meetings on 27-29 November with Aslan Abashidze, leader of the Adjar Autonomous Republic; Raul Khadjimba, prime minister of the unrecognized Republic of Abkhazia; and Eduard Kokoyty, president of the unrecognized Republic of South Ossetia, Russian media reported. Ivanov told journalists on 29 November that \"one should not see a conspiracy\" in the closed-door meetings. It is natural, he said, that these leaders would come and express their concern in the wake of the recent developments in Georgia because of the large number of ethnic Russians living in those regions.AZERBAIJAN, RUSSIA SEEK TO EXPAND ECONOMIC COOPERATION
By empty (11/28/2003 issue of the CACI Analyst)
Azerbaijan\'s President Ilham Aliyev met in Baku on 28 November with visiting Russian Deputy Prime Minister Viktor Khristenko to discuss ways to expand bilateral economic cooperation. Aliyev expressed the hope that more Russian companies will invest in Azerbaijan. In talks with Azerbaijan State Oil Company head Natik Aliyev (no relation to the president), Khristenko proposed revising the 1996 agreement under which Azerbaijan pledged to export 5 million tons of oil via the Baku-Tikhoretsk-Novorossiisk pipeline beginning in 2002.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.