 RFE/RL Central Asia Report 06.05.2009 A review of RFE/RL reporting and analysis about the five countries of Central Asia.For more stories on Central Asia, please visit and bookmark our Central Asia page . |
 Nabucco Chief: Partner States To Sign Agreement In 2009 Reinhard Mitschek, the managing director of the Nabucco gas-pipeline consortium, says that the consortium's member states will sign an agreement on their respective gas-supply shares at the end of 2009. More  Tajikistan Opens 'Secular-Religious' High School The government has officially opened the "secular-religious" Imam Abu Hanifa high school in Dushanbe, RFE/RL's Tajik Service reports. More  EU Seems To Be Getting Serious About Southern Energy The EU's energy summit in Prague on May 8 -- with leaders of key Central Asian and South Caucasian states, as well as Turkey -- will mark a milestone in the bloc's effort to lessen its dependence on Russian fossil energy reserves, key among them natural gas. Senior EU officials briefing journalists in Brussels ahead of the summit said the bloc is prepared to give "whatever" political, economic, and financial support needed to pipeline projects needed to forge direct links with countries around the Caspian Sea. More  U.S. Urged To Appoint Ambassador To Turkmenistan The U.S. Commision on International Religious Freedom has recommended that Washington appoint an ambassador to Turkmenistan as soon as possible. More  New Synagogue Opens In Dushanbe Dushanbe's only synagogue has been officially opened in the central part of the Tajik capital, RFE/RL's Tajik Service reports. More  Firings Hint At Easing Of Media Restrictions Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov recently sacked two top media executives. He's also overseen the opening of Internet cafes and the reopening of journalism schools. The moves have sparked hope his government might ease long-standing media restrictions. Others, however, say the changes are largely superficial. More  Financial Crisis Causing Drop In Media Freedom Worldwide A report by the U.S.-based watchdog Freedom House says the global financial crisis is having a negative impact on freedom of the press. Released ahead of World Press Freedom Day on May 3, the report indicates that the crisis is providing oppressive governments with new tools to tighten their grip on the media. More  Group Says Iran, Turkmenistan Among '10 Worst Countries To Be A Blogger' The Committee To Protect Journalists says Iran, Turkmenistan, Saudi Arabia, and China are among the "10 worst countries to be a blogger." More Tajik authorities have banned poultry and pork imports from four U.S. states, Mexico, Russia, and El Salvador to "prevent the spread of swine flu in the country," RFE/RL's Tajik Service reports. More  Uzbeks Put Up Border Signpost At Disputed Kyrgyz-Uzbek Village Locals told RFE/RL that they were surprised by the absence of any official Kyrgyz reaction to the measure. More A 4-year-old Russian girl from the Kyrgyz town of Petrovka, allegedly raped by a 22-year local man of Kurdish origin on April 6, has arrived in the Kyrgyz capital with her mother and human rights activist Tolekan Ismailova, RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service reports. More  Leaders Fail To Overcome Differences At Water Summit The presidents of the five Central Asian states have failed to overcome their differences over water use. While their summit was officially intended to discuss the disappearing Aral Sea, it was widely seen as a chance to openly discuss the region's most contentious issues -- energy needs and cross-border water sharing. More  Central Asian River Too Polluted For Irrigation A recent meeting in Kazakhstan came out with the dire assessment that Central Asia's longest river, the Syr Darya, is so contaminated by the time it reaches the province of Kyzyl-Orda that it's unsuitable for irrigation. And the situation could have repercussions throughout the region, considering the Syr Darya flows through four of the five countries of Central Asia. More  Masquerade Eclipses Kazakhstan's Media Problems The eighth-annual Eurasian Media Forum recently concluded in the Kazakh capital, Almaty. That might look like a paradox, unless you knew that the April 23-24 forum was organized by Dariga Nazarbaeva, the daughter of Kazakhstan's President Nursultan Nazarbaev. More  Turkish Schools Coming Under Increasing Scrutiny So-called Turkish schools in Central Asia are coming under increasing scrutiny. The governments of Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan fear the schools promote pan-Turkic and religious ideas that could jeopardize the region's secular order. Do Turkish schools have more than education on their agendas? More |
