News Digest
KYRGYZ PRESIDENT, FORMER COMMUNIST FIRST SECRETARIES GET IMMUNITY FOR LIFE
By empty (6/26/2003 issue of the CACI Analyst)
Kyrgyzstan\'s Legislative Assembly (the lower house of parliament) on 26 June adopted laws giving the country\'s first president -- Askar Akaev -- and the two former first secretaries of the Communist Party of Kirghizia who are now parliamentarians -- Absamat Masaliev and Turdakun Usubaliev -- lifelong immunity from prosecution for actions taken during their periods in office. Akaev will also remain a member of the national Security Council for life. In addition, when he leaves office, he will continue to receive 80 percent of his presidential salary, will be allowed to keep his houses in Bishkek and on Lake Issyk-Kul, and an official car and driver.TWO JOURNALISTS RELEASED IN AFGHANISTAN
By empty (6/25/2003 issue of the CACI Analyst)
Two journalists accused of publishing articles that defamed Islam were released Wednesday after a week in prison but will still face trial, President Hamid Karzai said. The weekly newspaper Aftab printed an article June 11 saying the Muslim world had not seen progress in 1,400 years and accused leaders in Afghanistan\'s north of building palaces with \"bloody hands.\" Chief editor Sayed Mahdawi and his Iranian deputy, Ali Riza Payam, were arrested June 17.FEDERATION COUNCIL PROLONGS RUSSIAN PEACEKEEPERS\' MANDATE IN ABKHAZIA
By empty (6/25/2003 issue of the CACI Analyst)
The Federation Council on Wednesday prolonged the mandate of the Russian peacekeepers deployed to the Georgian-Abkhaz conflict zone. Russian President Vladimir Putin on June 19 asked the upper parliamentary chamber to prolong the mandate. In keeping with Putin\'s proposal, the mandate was extended to June 30, 2003.HEYDAR ALIYEV NOMINATED FOR THIRD PRESIDENTIAL TERM
By empty (6/25/2003 issue of the CACI Analyst)
Heydar Aliyev, Yeni Azerbaijan party\'s chairman, has been nominated yesterday for the third presidential term at the session of the party\'s Political Council. Ali Akhmedov, party\'s executive secretary, said in his speech that \"Azerbaijani people support Heydar Aliyev\'s policy and he is regarded as a leader by an absolute majority.\" Milli Mejlis speaker Murtuz Aleskerov, party\'s deputy chairman, has presented Heydar Aliyev\'s program.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.