News Digest
RUSSIA WANTS IRAN TO SIGN NUCLEAR PACT
By empty (5/15/2003 issue of the CACI Analyst)
Russia on Thursday gave the strongest signal yet that it shares U.S. concerns over Iran\'s burgeoning nuclear program and called for tighter international controls to make sure Tehran isn\'t developing atomic weapons.KAZAKH OPPOSITION LEADER PARDONED BY NAZARBAEV OPTS OUT OF POLITICS
By empty (5/15/2003 issue of the CACI Analyst)
Mukhtar Abliyazov, a former energy minister and a founder of the opposition Democratic Choice of Kazakhstan (DVK) coalition who was jailed in 2002 on charges of abuse of office and who was pardoned this week by President Nursultan Nazarbaev , announced on 14 May that he is leaving politics and going into business, RFE/RL\'s Kazakh Service. Abliyazov said he has withdrawn from DVK because he no longer shares its positions, and he insisted that his release from prison was not connected to his decision to leave the coalition. Abliyazov also sought to smooth over a dispute between his lawyer and the opposition newspaper \"SolDat\" over publication of what were alleged to be chapters of a book he wrote, saying that he did not blame the newspaper for anything and that he might publish something in future.KAZAKHSTAN CRIMINALIZES HUMAN TRAFFICKING
By empty (5/16/2003 issue of the CACI Analyst)
The Mazhilis on 15 May approved additions to the country\'s Criminal Code that specify punishments for trafficking in human beings for purposes of sexual or other forms of exploitation. Deputy Justice Minister Irak Elekeev told journalists the adoption of the legislation added a legally defined crime to the Criminal Code --namely, the exportation of people from Kazakhstan or human trafficking. He said the action was necessary because existing laws do not cover the trafficking of people from other countries via Kazakhstan for purposes of sexual or other forms of exploitation.AFGHAN CONSULATE OPENS IN TAJIK PROVINCE
By empty (5/16/2003 issue of the CACI Analyst)
An Afghan consulate was formally opened on 14 May in Khorog, the capital of Tajikistan\'s Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Oblast (GBAO). An agreement on opening the consulate was signed late last year, and the consulate has been functioning since early February. Speaking at the opening ceremony, Afghanistan\'s Ambassador to Tajikistan Muhammed Dovud Panjsheri noted the \"invaluable\" contribution made by Tajikistan\'s President Imomali Rakhmonov to establishing \"peace and accord\" in Afghanistan, as well as the help provided by the GBAO in improving the humanitarian situation in Afghanistan.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.