Jamestown Delegation Returns from the Caucasus

For Immediate Release

06/17/2005, Washington DC — The Jamestown Foundation this week completed a six-day delegation visit to the South Caucasus, during which participants from Jamestown\’s Board of Directors and several interested U.S. Foundations traveled to the Republics of Georgia and Azerbaijan .

The Jamestown delegation met with the leaders of both countries in the wake of President Bush\’s historic visit to Tbilisi and the May 25th launching of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline in Azerbaijan. Led by Jamestown Foundation President Glen Howard, the delegation was also escorted on official excursions to the Pankisi gorge, where Western-led attempts failed to reinstall monitors on Georgia\’s fragile northern border, and also to the frontlines of the Azerbaijan sector of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, which is set for a new round of negotiations in Europe this weekend. The Jamestown delegation participated in a series of high-level discussions on these and many other issues as part of its mission to address conflict and instability in this area of strategic importance, as well as assess the prospects for regional integration into Euro-Atlantic security and economic structures.

Founded in 1984, The Jamestown Foundation is an independent, non-partisan research institution dedicated to providing timely information concerning critical political and strategic developments in China, Russia, and Eurasia. Jamestown’s research and analysis is available to the public free-of-charge via Jamestown’s website, www.jamestown.org.