Field Reports
YERKRAPAH UNION DECLARES SUPPORT FOR ARMENIAN PRESIDENT
By Haroutiun Khachatrian (3/7/2012 issue of the CACI Analyst)
The greeting speech of Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan at the 9th Congress of Yerkrapah, the Union of the Karabakh war volunteers, demonstrated that this organization is a strong political force in Armenia and that the President will rely on its support in his pre-election strategy and his reform attempts.
Vazgen Sargsyan, later one of the founders of the national Armenian army that was still under formation after the breakdown of the Soviet Union, created
Union Yerkrapah (Country Keeper in Armenian) in 1992. The organization united fighters who voluntarily arrived in Armenia or Nagorno-Karabakh and fought there until the regular armies of Armenia and the unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh Republic were formed.
GEORGIA GRANTS VISA-FREE TRAVEL TO RUSSIAN CITIZENS
By Maka Gurgenidze (3/7/2012 issue of the CACI Analyst)
Georgia lifted visa requirements for citizens of the Russian Federation on February 29; one day after Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili announced the initiative in his annual state of the nation address in the Georgian Parliament. Whereas the abolishment of the visa regime was the most striking point of president’s speech, a notable part was also dedicated to a development plan envisaging improvements in social and security policies.
According to Saakashvili, the plan presented for the years 2012-2015 involves five aspects: employment, agriculture, healthcare, democratic reforms and security, and aim at ensuring a more equal distribution of the country’s economic progress in recent years.
NATO SECRETARY GENERAL VISITS GEORGIA
By Maka Gurgenidze (11/30/2011 issue of the CACI Analyst)
NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen and North Atlantic Council (NAC) diplomats visited Georgia on November 9-10. The visit incited Tbilisi’s hopes that the next Alliance summit will bring Georgia closer to NATO. Although Rasmussen appraised the NATO-Georgia partnership as “very special” and “solid,” he could not specify when Georgia may expect membership in the organization.
TAJIKISTAN FREES JAILED PILOTS UNDER PRESSURE FROM MOSCOW
By Alexander Sodiqov (11/30/2011 issue of the CACI Analyst)
On November 22, a court in Tajikistan released two foreign pilots, including a Russian citizen, who two weeks earlier had been sentenced to lengthy terms in jail. The release of Vladimir Sadovnichy, a Russian citizen, and Alexei Rudenko, an Estonian citizen, has been prompted by an unusually strong backlash from Moscow that threatened to ruin Tajikistan’s economy.
Sadovnichy and Rudenko were flying their Antonov-72 cargo planes from Afghanistan to Russia on March 12 when Tajik air traffic controllers denied them permission to land for refueling at the Qurghonteppa (Kurgan-Tube) Airport in southern Tajikistan.
Visit also
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.