News Digest
KAZAKH PRESIDENT\'S DAUGHTER PROPOSES OWN PARTY AS PARLIAMENTARY LOBBY FOR JOURNALISTS
By empty (1/20/2004 issue of the CACI Analyst)
Darigha Nazarbaeva, head of the Congress of Journalists of Kazakhstan and of the state television channel and the official news agency Khabar, told a session of the congress in Karaganda on 20 January that the country\'s journalists need their own lobby in the lower house of parliament. Further, she proposed her own political party, Asar, which was formed last year, as the basis for such a lobby following parliamentary elections later this year. Questioned about her attitude toward the controversial media law that was adopted by the Kazakh lower house in late December and has since been submitted to the Senate, Nazarbaeva told journalists that the current version is more liberal than the initial version drafted by the government, but it still has shortcomings because the changes sought by professional journalists have not been included.RUSSIA DECRIES RISE IN INTRA-GEORGIAN TENSIONS
By empty (1/20/2004 issue of the CACI Analyst)
The Russian Foreign Ministry released a statement on 20 January expressing concern at the escalation of tensions between the central Georgian authorities and the leadership of the Adjar Republic, Russian media reported. The statement specifically condemned \"extremist-minded forces\" such as the youth movement Kmara (Enough!), whose \"dangerous\" activities the ministry claimed pose a threat to stability throughout Georgia. It called for a \"political dialogue\" to resolve outstanding problems between Tbilisi and Batumi.AZERBAIJANI PRESIDENT PLEDGES TO ENCOURAGE INVESTMENT, RAISE SALARIES
By empty (1/20/2004 issue of the CACI Analyst)
Speaking to journalists in Baku on 20 January during a ceremony to commemorate the 14th anniversary of the Soviet military intervention in that city, Ilham Aliyev said he will expedite implementation of his November 2003 decree streamlining procedures for foreign investors. He stressed that economic development will make it possible to raise public-sector salaries and welfare payments. Aliyev singled out the Karabakh conflict as the most important problem facing Azerbaijan, stressing that the OSCE Minsk Group should draft new proposals to resolve it.UZBEK AMNESTY FREES MOST WOMEN SENTENCED FOR RELIGIOUS EXTREMISM
By empty (1/20/2004 issue of the CACI Analyst)
An amnesty declared by Uzbek President Islam Karimov at the beginning of December 2003 to mark the 11th anniversary of the Uzbek Constitution has freed 21 of the 24 Muslim women known to have been convicted of religious extremism between 1997 and 2001,according to the Independent Human Rights Organization of Uzbekistan. All 21 -- who had been sentenced to from three to 16 years\' imprisonment --were all reportedly released by 17 January. According to the human rights group, it remains unclear why the three women who are still imprisoned were not freed.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.