News Digest
TURKMEN PRESIDENT OFFERS TO SHIP NATURAL GAS TO GERMANY
By empty (11/24/2005 issue of the CACI Analyst)
Turkmenistan President Saparmurat Niyazov told German businessmen that his gas-rich country could export natural gas to Germany but only with Russia\'s approval, state-controlled television reported Thursday. Niyazov told the visiting delegation on Wednesday that Turkmenistan could export up to 30 billion cubic meters (1,059 billion cubic feet) of gas to Western Europe via the \"Central Asia-Center\" pipeline going from Turkmenistan to Russia, according to Turkmen television. The question is, Niyazov said in televised remarks, \"will Russia allow us to do it?\" The former Soviet republic, which is ruled with an iron fist by Niyazov, has stepped up efforts to export its vast gas wealth.ENERGY CRISIS GRIPS TAJIK REGION
By empty (11/24/2005 issue of the CACI Analyst)
Tajik Energy Ministry spokesman Nozir Yodgori confirmed on 24 November that a complete power blackout has struck northern Sughd province after a cutoff of electricity and gas supplies from neighboring Uzbekistan. Yodgori also warned that a steep reduction in the water level of the Norak reservoir threatens to lead to a new energy crisis in Tajikistan within two months. He added that although electricity rationing has been introduced in the region, limiting daily electricity to just three hours, the country still needs some $90 million to cover its energy shortfall.AZERI OIL STRIKERS RETURN TO WORK
By empty (11/23/2005 issue of the CACI Analyst)
More than a thousand oil workers have returned to work in Azerbaijan after staging a 24-hour strike in protest at their pay and working conditions. The workers, employed by US oil services firm McDermott, barricaded themselves in a factory near Baku used to construct oil rigs for BP. The workers claimed they have been stopped from forming a trade union and have no access to healthcare.LAST US PLANE LEAVES UZBEK BASE
By empty (11/21/2005 issue of the CACI Analyst)
The US has flown its last plane out of an air base in Uzbekistan that has been an important staging point for US military operations in Afghanistan. Uzbekistan in July gave the US six months to leave the base, after it joined international condemnation of the suppression of a May uprising. In a ceremony, troops lowered the US flag and handed to Uzbek officials the keys to the Karshi-Khanabad base.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.