By empty (7/19/2005 issue of the CACI Analyst)

There is no need for permanent Western forces in Central Asia because the situation in Afghanistan has changed, said Tajik Foreign Minister Talbak Nazarov. \"The Afghan problem is being solved. There are almost no Taliban left, political stabilization is obvious, the presidential elections have been held and preparations for the parliamentary election are underway,\" Nazarov told a news conference in Dushanbe on Tuesday.

By empty (7/19/2005 issue of the CACI Analyst)

OSCE special envoy Alojz Peterle met with acting First Deputy Prime Minister Kulov on 18 July to discuss Kyrgyzstan\'s recent presidential election and the country\'s progress toward democracy, RFE/RL\'s Kyrgyz Service reported. Peterle commented, \"I\'m more than pleased that the [Kyrgyz presidential] elections were done in that way as they were done.\" He added that he feels that the new government is \"preparing themselves to do what is necessary to be done for the benefit of the country.

By empty (7/18/2005 issue of the CACI Analyst)

Talking to journalists ahead of talks with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan at his summer residence in Sochi, President Vladimir Putin said on 17 July that bilateral trade has reached $10 billion a year and that both presidents \"set an absolutely realistic task\" of bringing it to $25 billion \"within the next few years.\" Putin also noted the intensified political contacts between the two countries. In addition to bilateral trade and the expansion of energy cooperation, the two leaders also plan to discuss the situation in Iraq and the Middle East, and security problems in Central Asia and the Caucasus.