Field Reports
PRESIDENT ALIYEV SACKS BAKU POLICE CHIEF
By Azer Kerimov (7/11/2007 issue of the CACI Analyst)
Last week, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev sacked the long-serving chief of Baku police department Maharram Aliyev (no relation to the President) in an attempt to further distance himself from his father’s old guard. Maharram Aliyev headed the influential central police department of the capital city since early 1990s, as a favor given him for the political support he provided to then President Heydar Aliyev. He belongs to the so-called “Western Azerbaijanis†group, commonly referred to Azerbaijanis who were deported from Armenia throughout the twentieth century.
RULING PARTY STRENGTHENS HOLD IN KAZAKHSTAN, RESTRUCTURES
By Marat Yermukanov (7/11/2007 issue of the CACI Analyst)
While opposition parties in Kazakhstan are making faltering attempts to consolidate their forces in anticipation of snap parliamentary elections set for August 18, the pro-presidential Nur Otan party, in a bid to win the overwhelming majority of votes, trumpets its ambitious pre-election program the central point of which is the improvement of living standards. With such a powerful propaganda trump card bolstered by administrative resources accumulated at the hands of the ruling party, the outcome of the elections is easily predictable.
The most widespread fear among the opposition camp is that if the pro-presidential Nur Otan party gets up to 90 percent of votes as forecast by some experts it may lead to one-party rule and the de facto elimination of political pluralism in the country.
TENSIONS ESCALATE OVER SOUTH OSSETIA
By Niklas Nilsson (7/11/2007 issue of the CACI Analyst)
During the last few weeks, tensions have mounted in South Ossetia. One concrete issue under dispute has been a shortage of drinking water to both Tskhinvali and Georgian villages, something both sides have ascribed to sabotage. The water dispute began in May, after residents of Georgian villages north of Tskhinvali extracted water for irrigation purposes from a pipeline supplying Tskhinvali with drinking water.
GUAM LEADERS DISCUSS CONFLICTS AND ENERGY IN BAKU
By Niklas Nilsson (6/27/2007 issue of the CACI Analyst)
During June 18-19, the presidents of Georgia, Azerbaijan and Ukraine, and the Prime Minister of Moldova met in Baku for a summit of the Organization for Democracy and Economic Development – GUAM. The summit was also attended by significant proponents of GUAM’s agenda within the EU, through the presidents of Poland, Lithuania and Romania. However, the summit failed to attract participation of the EU presidency and commission.
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.