By empty (9/18/2002 issue of the CACI Analyst)

Speaking at a news conference in Sochi on 17 September, President Vladimir Putin said he is not satisfied with Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze's response to his recent message about the Pankisi Gorge problem, RTR reported on 17 September. "We wanted guarantees that there will be no terrorist attacks on our territory from the Georgian side, but we did not get such guarantees or commitments," Putin said. He added that Georgia is virtually not cooperating with Russia to combat terrorism and that more and more information indicates that Georgia is cooperating with terrorists.

By empty (9/18/2002 issue of the CACI Analyst)

Representatives of the Tajik presidential staff, political parties, international organizations, and organizations representing ethnic minorities attended a roundtable in Dushanbe on 18 September to discuss the draft nationality concept prepared by the presidential staff. Most minority representatives rejected the draft and called for it to be reworked. Valerii Yushin, who heads Tajikistan's Russian community, said the draft is devoid of specific content and does not address such issues as education and representation of minorities in local government bodies.

By empty (9/18/2002 issue of the CACI Analyst)

Construction work has officially been launched on a multi-billion-dollar pipeline to take Caspian Sea oil from Azerbaijan to Turkey via Georgia. It is the first major pipeline from the vast Caspian oilfields to bypass Russian territory. The Turkish and Georgian presidents, along with their Azeri counterpart, took part in a ceremony to lay the inaugural section of the pipeline at the Sangachal terminal, near the Azeri capital, Baku.