News Digest
SON OF TURKMEN OPPOSITION FIGURE BEATEN IN MOSCOW
By empty (9/4/2003 issue of the CACI Analyst)
Shanazar Berdyev, an RFE/RL stringer who is the son of prominent Turkmen opposition figure Muhamedgeldy Berdyev, was attacked at the door of his Moscow apartment on 2 September and severely injured by a person reportedly wearing a police uniform, the Russian human rights group Memorial reported on 4 September. Muhamedgeldy Berdyev\'s brother, Meretmuhammet, was detained in 1997 for distributing the opposition publication \"Turkmen Ili\" in Mary Oblast, and later died in a psychiatric institution under unexplained circumstances. Shanazar Berdyev emigrated to Russia in 2002 to escape the Turkmen security services and two unidentified Turkmen speakers reportedly attempted to kidnap him from a Moscow street in October 2002.EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT LOOKS AT HUMAN RIGHTS IN TURKMENISTAN
By empty (9/3/2003 issue of the CACI Analyst)
The European Parliament has raised the issue of human rights in Turkmenistan and is considering adopting a resolution on the issue. According to Peter Zalmaev, coordinator for CIS programs of the International League for Human Rights, this is \"a revolutionary event.\" He described the action of the European Parliament as the first step toward instituting sanctions against Turkmenistan.SENIOR AZERBAIJANI CLERIC APPEALS TO ARMENIAN COUNTERPART
By empty (9/3/2003 issue of the CACI Analyst)
Sheikh ul-Islam Allakhshukur Pashazade, who is chairman of the Muslim Spiritual Board of the Caucasus, has written to his Armenian counterpart, Catholicos Garegin II, asking him to intervene to halt the alleged destruction of Azerbaijani historical monuments on Azerbaijani territories currently controlled by Armenian forces. The letter claimed that \"hundreds\" of architectural and historic monuments have been destroyed in recent years, including the history museum in Shusha and the Museum of Stone Monuments in Zangelan, according to Pashazade\'s spokesman Hadji Akif. (Interfax).NEW AGREEMENT ON ARMENIAN-GREEK MILITARY COOPERATION SIGNED, MORE AID PROMISED
By empty (9/3/2003 issue of the CACI Analyst)
Following a three-day official visit to Armenia, General Georgios Antonakopoulos, the Greek Army\'s chief of staff, promised on 3 September that Greece will increase its military assistance to Armenia, saying that the two countries share common geopolitical goals. Antonakopoulos signed a new memorandum of understanding with his Armenian counterpart, Deputy Defense Minister General Mikael Harutiunian, and agreed to expand bilateral military cooperation with the formulation of a more detailed cooperation plan by November. According to the agreement, Armenia is expected to deploy a 30-man contingent of troops for peacekeeping duties under the command of Greek forces in Kosova.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.