News Digest
UZBEK HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVIST SENTENCED
By empty (9/17/2002 issue of the CACI Analyst)
A Tashkent court on 17 September sentenced Yuldash Rasulov, a member of the Human Rights Movement of Uzbekistan, to seven years' imprisonment on charges of disseminating antigovernment propaganda and recruiting members for the banned Islamist organization Hizb ut-Tahrir. Rasulov's sister Khakima said that, on the contrary, he had persuaded several Hizb members to leave that organization. Fellow human rights activist Surat Ikramov said that the prosecution produced no evidence during the trial, which began on 3 September, to substantiate the charges against Rasulov.PUTIN UNHAPPY WITH SHEVARDNADZE'S RESPONSE
By empty (9/18/2002 issue of the CACI Analyst)
Speaking at a news conference in Sochi on 17 September, President Vladimir Putin said he is not satisfied with Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze's response to his recent message about the Pankisi Gorge problem, RTR reported on 17 September. "We wanted guarantees that there will be no terrorist attacks on our territory from the Georgian side, but we did not get such guarantees or commitments," Putin said. He added that Georgia is virtually not cooperating with Russia to combat terrorism and that more and more information indicates that Georgia is cooperating with terrorists.TAJIKISTAN'S DRAFT NATIONALITY CONCEPT CRITICIZED
By empty (9/18/2002 issue of the CACI Analyst)
Representatives of the Tajik presidential staff, political parties, international organizations, and organizations representing ethnic minorities attended a roundtable in Dushanbe on 18 September to discuss the draft nationality concept prepared by the presidential staff. Most minority representatives rejected the draft and called for it to be reworked. Valerii Yushin, who heads Tajikistan's Russian community, said the draft is devoid of specific content and does not address such issues as education and representation of minorities in local government bodies.CASPIAN OIL PORJECT FORGES AHEAD
By empty (9/18/2002 issue of the CACI Analyst)
Construction work has officially been launched on a multi-billion-dollar pipeline to take Caspian Sea oil from Azerbaijan to Turkey via Georgia. It is the first major pipeline from the vast Caspian oilfields to bypass Russian territory. The Turkish and Georgian presidents, along with their Azeri counterpart, took part in a ceremony to lay the inaugural section of the pipeline at the Sangachal terminal, near the Azeri capital, Baku.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.