By empty (9/24/2002 issue of the CACI Analyst)

During a telephone conversation on 23 September, Turkmenistan's President Saparmurat Niyazov and his Uzbek counterpart Islam Karimov agreed to establish border markets at customs posts between Dashoguz and Khorezm oblasts in order to promote cross-border trade, turkmenistan.ru reported the following day. Turkmenistan will offer for sale oil products, while Uzbekistan will supply textiles, shoes, rice, fruits, and vegetables.

By empty (9/24/2002 issue of the CACI Analyst)

President Kocharian met on 23 September with Arkadii Ghukasian and Anushavan Danielian, the president and prime minister of the unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, to discuss the socioeconomic situation in the enclave. Danielian told RFE/RL's Armenian Service that he believes Armenia should increase its annual financial assistance to Karabakh from 9 billion drams ($16.07 million) to 12 billion drams given that Stepanakert does not impose either customs duties or VAT on goods imported from Armenia.

By empty (9/23/2002 issue of the CACI Analyst)

Speaking at a news conference in Madrid, Sergei Ivanov confirmed on 23 September that Russia has been invited by Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze to send unarmed military observers to the Pankisi Gorge. However, Ivanov said the invitation is not enough to assuage Russian concerns. "Our cooperation with Georgia can be reduced to a simple formula: how, when, and where to neutralize and destroy terrorists," Ivanov was quoted as saying.