News Digest
ARMENIAN OPPOSITION PARTIES DEMAND PRESIDENT'S IMPEACHMENT
By empty (9/10/2001 issue of the CACI Analyst)
As anticipated on 7 September the leaders of the People's Party of Armenia, Hanrapetutiun, and the National Accord Front issued a joint statement calling for the impeachment of President Robert Kocharian, whom they accuse of violating the Armenian Constitution, condoning terrorism, and precipitating the country into a deep political, moral, psychological, and socioeconomic crisis, RFE/RL's Yerevan bureaureported. The statement also repeated earlier allegations that Kocharian sought to sabotage the investigation into the October 1999 parliament shootings in order to prevent the identity of the organizers from becoming known. The joint statement was read by Artashes Geghamian, a leading member of the AHCh, at Hanrapetutiun's first congress in Yerevan at which one of the party's leaders, former Yerevan Mayor Albert Bazeyan, declared that "the removal of the Kocharian regime and the formation of a legitimate government is the main precondition for the development of our country.OSCE QUERIES LEGALITY OF SENTENCE ON FORMER KAZAKH PREMIER
By empty (9/10/2001 issue of the CACI Analyst)
The OSCE office in Kazakhstan issued a statement in Almaty on 7 September expressing doubt that the jail sentence handed down the previous day to former Prime Minister Akezhan Kazhegeldin conforms to international standards of justice. Kazhegeldin was sentenced in absentia to 10 years imprisonment on charges of abuse of office, tax evasion, taking bribes, and illegal possession of weapons. The OSCE noted that trying a defendant in absentia may violate the principle of equality before the law, and that "there are certain doubts" that the presumption of innocence was fully observed during the trial.IMPRISONED FORMER KYRGYZ OFFICIAL TAKES LEGAL ACTION AGAINST PRESIDENT
By empty (9/10/2001 issue of the CACI Analyst)
Former Kyrgyz Vice President and opposition Ar-Namys Party leader Feliks Kulov has brought a lawsuit against President Askar Akaev and is demanding that the president publish an apology for branding him as a person who "disappointed him" and "who loved power too much." That characterization appears in Akaev's book "The Memorable Decade," which was formally launched on 24 August. Kulov was sentenced in January to seven years imprisonment on charges of abuse of power while serving as national security minister in 1997-1998.30,000 RUSSIAN SOLDIERS SAID BEATEN EACH YEAR
By empty (9/9/2001 issue of the CACI Analyst)
According to estimates by the Soldiers' Mothers' Committee, approximately 30,000 Russian soldiers are beaten by their officers or fellow soldiers every year. Officials of the committee said that in the past year alone, 15,000 soldiers and their parents have appealed to the committee for assistance. (Interfax).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.