Field Reports
Azerbaijan Arrests Election Monitor and Signs Shah Deniz Deal
By Mina Muradova (the 08/01/2014 issue of the CACI Analyst)
On December 16, Anar Mammadli, a well-known elections watcher in Azerbaijan, was detained on charges of illegal business activity and tax evasion. However, human rights defenders believe that the pre-trial detention of Mammadli is politically motivated as a result of his critical reports on the October Presidential Elections in Azerbaijan. Mammadli is Chairman of the Election Monitoring and Democracy Studies Center (EMDC), which documented widespread electoral violations during the October presidential poll. Immediately after Ilham Aliyev was controversially re-elected for a third term, the authorities launched an investigation of EMDC.
Kyrgyzstan's Grand Mufti Resigns
By Arslan Sabyrbekov (the 08/01/2014 issue of the CACI Analyst)
On January 7, Kyrgyzstan's Grand Mufti Rakhmatulla-Hajji Egemberdiev stepped down amid a scandal over a sex video posted on local websites on New Year’s Eve. The country’s spiritual leader had personally submitted his resignation to the Council of Ulemas (Religious Clerics), stating that it was an inhumane act with the objective of damaging his dignity and called on President Atambayev to intervene and protect his rights. Egemberdiev is now the sixth mufti replaced in Kyrgyzstan over the past four years amid different scandals.
"Russia Will Not Abandon the Caucasus," Putin Tells Armenia
By Haroutiun Khachatrian (the 11/12/2013 issue of the CACI Analyst)
Russia's President Vladimir Putin visited Armenia on December 3, for the third time since he took office in 2000. The visit was strategically scheduled immediately after the EU's Eastern Partnership summit in Vilnius.
SocioEconomic Situation in Kazakhstan's West Remains Unstable
By Georgiy Voloshin (the 11/12/2013 issue of the CACI Analyst)
After the violent riots of oil industry workers rocked in Kazakhstan’s Zhanaozen in December 2011, marring the celebration of the 20th anniversary of the country’s independence, Kazakhstani authorities have been at pains to stabilize the situation there. According to official figures presented this September, the government has since January 2012 allocated some US$ 90 million for socioeconomic needs in the Mangistau region, where riot police killed at least 14 people and wounded over 100 others during the Zhanaozen protests. Most of the funds have been directed to the creation of new jobs and the implementation of social support programs, for instance in establishing the necessary infrastructure.
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Staff Publications
Silk Road Paper S. Frederick Starr, Greater Central Asia as A Component of U.S. Global Strategy, October 2024.
Analysis Laura Linderman, "Rising Stakes in Tbilisi as Elections Approach," Civil Georgia, September 7, 2024.
Analysis Mamuka Tsereteli, "U.S. Black Sea Strategy: The Georgian Connection", CEPA, February 9, 2024.
Silk Road Paper Svante E. Cornell, ed., Türkiye's Return to Central Asia and the Caucasus, July 2024.
Book Svante E. Cornell, ed., "The Changing Geopolitics of Central Asia and the Caucasus" AFPC Press/Armin LEar, 2023.
Silk Road Paper Svante E. Cornell and S. Frederick Starr, Stepping up to the “Agency Challenge”: Central Asian Diplomacy in a Time of Troubles, July 2023.
Silk Road Paper S. Frederick Starr, U.S. Policy in Central Asia through Central Asian Eyes, May 2023.