By Tavus Rejepova (9/1/2010 issue of the CACI Analyst)

Over the past few weeks, controversy has emerged in Turkmenistan over what is termed a ‘dual citizenship and passport fiasco’ in the country. The Turkmen authorities unexpectedly announced the cancellation of the dual Turkmen-Russian citizenship and started enforcing this regulation at the airports, seaport and railway stations across the country. Since the news were first not publicly announced in the media, a sudden enforcement of these regulations caught the holders of a double citizenship by surprise and created confusion among those wanting to travel abroad.

By Alexander Sodiqov (9/3/2010 issue of the CACI Analyst)

Early in the morning on August 23, 25 recently convicted prisoners escaped from a high-security detention centre run by Tajikistan’s State Committee for National Security (GKNB) in central Dushanbe. According to GKNB’s statement released soon after the first media reports on the bold escape, three inmates had “taken advantage of the guards’ negligence” by wrestling the keys away from them and setting other convicts free.

By Georgiy Voloshin (9/1/2010 issue of the CACI Analyst)

As Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus continue to intensify their trade and investment cooperation within the framework of the newly created Customs Union, their law enforcement authorities are voicing concerns over the spread of organized crime across the single customs area of three member states.