News Digest
AZERBAIJANI PRESIDENT RULES OUT CONCESSIONS ON NAGORNO-KARABAKH
By empty (12/21/2006 issue of the CACI Analyst)
In comments during a visit to the Azerbaijani exclave of Nakhichevan, President Ilham Aliyev ruled out on December 21 any compromise on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Aliyev called on Armenia to \"take a constructive position in the negotiations\" over Karabakh and warned Armenia \"not to look for excuses trying to buy time.\" He further stressed that \"Azerbaijan will never grant independence to Nagorno-Karabakh\" and noted that the Azerbaijani economy is seven times bigger than that of Armenia, with a military budget equal to the total Armenian state budget.TURKMENISTAN’S ‘IRON RULER’ DIES
By empty (12/21/2006 issue of the CACI Analyst)
Turkmenistan\'s authoritarian president Saparmurat Niyazov, who ruled the Central Asian country for 21 years, has died aged 66, state TV has reported. Mr Niyazov, who named cities and airports after himself in a personality cult, left no designated successor. Turkmenistan, which has large gas reserves, now faces an uncertain future with rival groups and outside powers scrambling for influence, analysts say.KAZAKHSTAN CONSIDERS FINANCIAL AID FOR KYRGYZSTAN
By empty (12/20/2006 issue of the CACI Analyst)
Kazakh Prime Minister Daniyal Akhmetov met on December 20 with Kyrgyz acting First Deputy Prime Minister Daniyar Usenov in Astana to discuss a planned $100 million Kazakh aid package for Kyrgyzstan. Kazakhstan is the leading investor in Kyrgyzstan, having invested $56.2 million for the first nine months of 2006, compared to $63.KYRGYZ LEGISLATORS OVERRIDE VETO ON ARMING THEMSELVES
By empty (12/15/2006 issue of the CACI Analyst)
Kyrgyzstan\'s parliament on December 14 overrode a presidential veto of a bill that will allow deputies to carry firearms, akipress.org reported. The amendment, which was first passed on September 22 and subsequently vetoed by President Kurmanbek Bakiev, will allow legislators to obtain and carry firearms with the permission of the speaker of parliament.Visit also
Forums and Events
Joint Center Publications
Analysis Niklas Swanström and Leah Oppenheimer, "Invisible Ink: Looking for the Lost Trade between China, Russia, and Central Asia", ISDP Policy Brief, 13 March 2013. 
New Silk Road Paper S. Frederick Starr with Adib Farhadi, Finish the Job: Jump-Start the Afghan Economy, December 2012.
Conference Report Cheryl Benard, Eli Sugarman, and Holly Rehm, Cultural Heritage vs. Mining on the New Silk Road? Finding Technical Solutions for Mes Aynak and Beyond (in cooperation with the Alliance for the Restoration of Cultural Heritage) December 2012.
Article Svante E. Cornell, "The 'Afghanization of the North Caucasus: Causes and Implications of a Changing Conflict", in Stephen Blank, ed., Russia's Homegrown Insurgency: Jihad in the North Caucasus, Carlisle, PA: U.S. Army War College Strategic Studies Institute, 2012.