News Digest
AZERBAIJANI OPPOSITION BEGINS TALKS ON SELECTING SINGLE PRESIDENTIAL
By empty (8/19/2003 issue of the CACI Analyst)
The six opposition candidates for the 15 October Azerbaijani presidential election have begun discussing the possibility of endorsing a single opposition candidate to challenge incumbent President Heidar Aliev and his son, Ilham, both of whom are running as candidates from the ruling Yeni Azerbaycan Party. Musavat Party leader Isa Gambar told journalists on 18 August that opposition parties are discussing various aspects of pre-election cooperation. He added that the talks on a possible single candidate do not involve just the \"big three\" -- himself, Azerbaijan National Independence Party Chairman Etibar Mamedov, and Azerbaijan Popular Front Party (progressive wing) Chairman Ali Kerimli -- but also other opposition parties that he declined to name.TWO AGREEMENTS ON U.S. ASSISTANCE SIGNED IN TAJIKISTAN
By empty (8/19/2003 issue of the CACI Analyst)
U.S. Ambassador to Tajikistan Franklin Huddle has signed two agreements on assistance to Tajikistan.UP TO 100 KYRGYZ CITIZENS BEING FORCED TO WORK OFF DEBTS IN CHINA
By empty (8/19/2003 issue of the CACI Analyst)
The case of three Kyrgyz citizens caught while attempting to cross into Kyrgyzstan from China without documents has drawn attention to the detention of as many as 100 Kyrgyz by Chinese businesspeople, to whom the Kyrgyz reportedly owe money. According to the three Kyrgyz detained on the border, the debtors are being forced by their Chinese creditors to work as slaves. The three told officials they had to perform heavy labor for periods from seven months to three years.KAZAKH PEACEKEEPERS LEAVE FOR IRAQ
By empty (8/19/2003 issue of the CACI Analyst)
A first group of 14 service personnel from Kazakhstan\'s KazBat peacekeeping battalion set out for Iraq on 19 August, with the rest of the 27-person contingent departing the following day. The group -- comprising military engineers, eight officers, and three interpreters -- is scheduled to remain in Iraq for six months. The group is to work on land-mine removal and water extraction.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.