News Digest
AZERBAIJANI INTERIOR MINISTER EXPLAINS RATIONALE FOR ONGOING ARRESTS
By empty (10/28/2003 issue of the CACI Analyst)
Ramil Usubov told Turan on 28 October that of an estimated 3,000 participants in the 16 October clashes with police in Baku, 625 were arrested, of whom all except 77 were released by 21 October. Usubov added, however, that more arrests are likely, as not all the estimated 300 \"active participants\" in the violence are in custody. Usubov admitted that 60-70 members of district election commissions are under arrest, but said they are being held because of their participation in the 16 October unrest, not because they steadfastly refused to endorse falsified election protocols.TAJIKISTAN INTRODUCES GAS RATIONING
By empty (10/28/2003 issue of the CACI Analyst)
Natural-gas rationing has been introduced in Tajikistan, although for the Muslim holy month of Ramadan rationing conditions are more liberal than is expected to be the case after the Ramadan ends on 24 November. During Ramadan, gas will be supplied to the population from 4 a.m.PRISONERS AT NOTORIOUS UZBEK PRISON DECLARE HUNGER STRIKE
By empty (10/27/2003 issue of the CACI Analyst)
Prisoners at the notorious Yaslyk prison in the Karakalpakstan desert declared a hunger strike on 14 October, demanding that the authorities stop persecuting their families and friends, that violence against religious believers be stopped, and that they themselves be released. According to the IGNPU (Uzbek Human Rights NGO), the prisoners were beaten by Interior Ministry troops and a number were sent to other prisons. The Yaslyk prison is notorious not only because of the extreme conditions there due to its location, but also because it is used primarily for political and religious prisoners.IMF TELLS KAZAKHSTAN TO REDUCE USE OF DOLLAR
By empty (10/27/2003 issue of the CACI Analyst)
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has drawn up recommendations for Kazakhstan in the field of monetary policy, calling in particular for the country to reduce the role of the U.S. dollar in its economy.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.