News Digest
ARMENIAN PARLIAMENT QUERIES PRIVATIZATION STRATEGY
By empty (10/21/2003 issue of the CACI Analyst)
In a report circulated to legislators and made available to RFE/RL\'s Yerevan bureau, the parliament Audit Chamber highlighted \"significant shortcomings\" in the government\'s three-year program to privatize remaining state-owned enterprises, RFE/RL\'s Yerevan bureau reported on 20 October. The government program, which should be completed by the end of this year, envisaged the sale of almost 1,000 enterprises, but in 2000-2001 only 350 were sold. Moreover, in many cases the sales were not transparent, and according to Audit Chamber deputy head Gegham Gasparian, many entities were sold for less than one fifth of their face value as estimated by the State Property Committee.ARMENIAN OPPOSITION STAGES NEW ANTIGOVERNMENT DEMONSTRATION
By empty (10/20/2003 issue of the CACI Analyst)
Thousands of people attended a rally in Yerevan on 17 October at which leading members of the opposition Artarutiun bloc renewed their demand for the referendum of confidence in President Robert Kocharian proposed by the Constitutional Court in April, RFE/RL\'s Yerevan bureau reported. Kocharian immediately rejected that proposal. People\'s Party of Armenia Chairman and defeated presidential candidate Stepan Demirchian told the rally that a referendum would give Kocharian the legitimacy that he currently lacks because the presidential election outcome was falsified.US ADDS VOICE TO INTERNATIONAL CRITICISM OF AZERBAIJAN ELECTION
By empty (10/20/2003 issue of the CACI Analyst)
The United States added its voice to concerns about events in Azerbaijan after the much-criticised presidential election in the Central Asian republic. A number of international bodies, led by the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe, has condemned a wave of arrests of opposition party officials and supporters following last week\'s election, which was won by the son of the outgoing president. \"We share those concerns at what appears to be a wave of politically motivated arrests over the weekend,\" deputy State Department spokesman Adam Ereli told reporters.KYRGYZ LOWER HOUSE WANTS TO KNOW MORE ABOUT COALITION AIR BASE
By empty (10/20/2003 issue of the CACI Analyst)
The lower house of Kyrgyzstan\'s parliament ratified 10 international agreements on 20 October but not an agreement on the status of New Zealand personnel at the international antiterrorism coalition air base at Bishkek\'s Manas airport. The parliamentarians said they want more information on the makeup and financial expenditures at the base, which supports coalition missions in Afghanistan. They also want more information from Foreign Minister Askar Aitmatov, who was not present at the session, on the expected length of the coalition\'s presence in Kyrgyzstan.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.