By empty (12/1/2003 issue of the CACI Analyst)

Reacting to a meeting of the Turkmen opposition-in-exile that was held in Vienna on 23-24 November, Turkmen President Saparmurat Niyazov on 28 November called on former high-ranking officials now in exile to return home and face criminal charges, turkmenistan.ru reported on 1 December. Niyazov, who was speaking to a meeting of heads of law enforcement agencies, specifically called on former Deputy Prime Minister Khudaiberdy Orazov, former Turkmen Ambassador to Turkey Nurmukhammed Khanamov, and former Deputy Minister of Agriculture Saparmurad Yklymov – all of whom are now leaders of the opposition in exile -- to return, asserting they are false democrats who have sold out their homeland.

By empty (11/29/2003 issue of the CACI Analyst)

Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov held several meetings on 27-29 November with Aslan Abashidze, leader of the Adjar Autonomous Republic; Raul Khadjimba, prime minister of the unrecognized Republic of Abkhazia; and Eduard Kokoyty, president of the unrecognized Republic of South Ossetia, Russian media reported. Ivanov told journalists on 29 November that \"one should not see a conspiracy\" in the closed-door meetings. It is natural, he said, that these leaders would come and express their concern in the wake of the recent developments in Georgia because of the large number of ethnic Russians living in those regions.

By empty (11/28/2003 issue of the CACI Analyst)

Azerbaijan\'s President Ilham Aliyev met in Baku on 28 November with visiting Russian Deputy Prime Minister Viktor Khristenko to discuss ways to expand bilateral economic cooperation. Aliyev expressed the hope that more Russian companies will invest in Azerbaijan. In talks with Azerbaijan State Oil Company head Natik Aliyev (no relation to the president), Khristenko proposed revising the 1996 agreement under which Azerbaijan pledged to export 5 million tons of oil via the Baku-Tikhoretsk-Novorossiisk pipeline beginning in 2002.