By empty (11/1/2006 issue of the CACI Analyst)

South Ossetian presidential elections to be held on November 12 will not be recognized by the European Union; head of the European Commission Delegation to Georgia and Armenia Torben Holtze stated on October 31 at a press conference on finishing his representative work in Georgia and Armenia (Per Eklund (Sweden), who arrives in Tbilisi on November 2, will head the European Commission Delegation to the countries). “South Ossetia has not been recognized by us as a state,” Holtze stressed. “Also, ‘parallel’ elections to be held on the same day in Tskhinvali region will not be recognized as legitimate.

By empty (10/17/2006 issue of the CACI Analyst)

Turkmenistan\'s President Saparmurat Niyazov says he has pardoned some 10,000 prisoners in an annual amnesty. The prisoners include eight men who were convicted of trying to assassinate him four years ago, he said. President Niyazov has pardoned tens of thousands of prisoners during his 15-year rule, which he says proves how much the state cares about its people.

By empty (10/17/2006 issue of the CACI Analyst)

A small group of demonstrators staged on October 16 a protest in front of the French Embassy in Baku, Turan reported. Organized by the Karabakh Liberation Organization to protest a recent vote by the French parliament to criminalize the denial of the \"Armenian genocide,\" the demonstrators pelted the embassy entrance with eggs, tomatoes, and other foodstuffs. Baku police later broke up the demonstration and arrested some 18 participants after they presented a petition to embassy staff calling on France to close its embassy and end all investment in Azerbaijan.