RFE/RL Central Asia Report

RFE/RL Central Asia Report 19.05.2009 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 .

 

Kyrgyz Opposition Leader Quits Presidential Race Former Defense Minister Ismail Isakov has announced that he is withdrawing from Kyrgyzstan's presidential election to improve the chances of another opposition candidate. More   Relatives Demand Investigation Into Kyrgyz Officials' Deaths The relatives of a Kyrgyz politician and his two associates who were killed in an alleged traffic accident in March are demanding further investigations into the case. More   Tajikistan's Secularization Proof perhaps that Tajik President Rahmon's policy of secularization is working. More   Tajik Families Defect To 'Muslim' Afghanistan Two Tajik families illegally entered Afghanistan earlier this month because they said they wanted to live in an Islamic country, RFE/RL's Tajik Service reports. More   'It Was Very Hard Time For Me' Our colleagues over at RFE/RL's excellent "Journalists In Trouble" page have posted a video interview with Turkmen correspondent Yovshan Annagurban that is worth checking out, if you haven't already seen it. More   Tajik Court Sentences Seven Hizb ut-Tahrir Activists To Jail Seven activists of the Hizb-ut Tahrir religious group have been sentenced to prison in the northern Tajik region of Soghd, RFE/RL's Tajik Service reports. More   Tajik President Wants His Portraits Taken Down Tajik President Emomali Rahmon has instructed officials, from district governors to ministers, to remove all his portraits from public places. More   Kazakh President's Son-in-Law Tells All A book written by the former son-in-law of the Kazakh president, titled the "Godfather-in-Law," was published this week in German and Russian. More   Andijon Refugees Say Relatives Tortured, Killed Members of a refugee group in the West claim Uzbek authorities vowed to release jailed relatives after the December 2007 presidential election that saw Islam Karimov maintain his longstanding grip on power if they would "keep their mouths shut." More   Tajik Authorities Target Obscure Islamic Group Alleged followers of an obscure Sunni missionary group have come under heavy pressure in Tajikistan, where officials accuse them of wanting to overthrow the secular order in favor of a caliphate. Skeptics wonder whether Jamaat-ut Tabligh hasn't unfairly been tarred with the "extremist" brush. More   Andijon Anniversary Rekindles Battle Over Collective Memory Uzbek authorities were quick to disperse a small group of people determined to mark today's anniversary of the bloodshed. Rights groups, meanwhile, want the EU to maintain sanctions despite improving relations. More   OSCE Dismisses Criticism, Says 'We Do Not Seek To Please' In an exclusive interview, OSCE Secretary-General Marc Perrin de Brichambaut talks to RFE/RL about a range of issues facing Europe's leading human-rights organization, including Kazakhstan's upcoming chairmanship, Russia's influence on the organization, and whether political upheaval in Moldova has endangered a Transdniestrian peace settlement. More   World's 'Oldest Person' Dies Kazakhstan's oldest citizen, who might have been the oldest person in the world, has died, RFE/RL's Kazakh Service reports. More   Victory Day Celebrations In Former Soviet Union In Russia and other post-Soviet states, the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-45 is marked on May 9, a day later than the rest of the world since it was early morning in Moscow when Germany's official surrender was signed outside Berlin. While Victory Day is marked with grand military spectacle in Moscow, other former Soviet states also have their solemn remembrances. More   Embassy Visit Adds New Chapter To Kazakh Saga Kazakh officials say Mukhtar Aliev, the father of embattled presidential in-law and former envoy Rakhat Aliev, appealed to the embassy in Vienna this week to help him return home. The official line is that he claimed his son was mistreating him and would not allow him to return to Kazakhstan. But Rakhat Aliev accuses the Kazakh authorities of trying to pit father against son. More   Uzbek Children Told To Grow Cotton At Home Uzbek authorities have instructed school children to grow cotton seedlings at home that can later be planted at large cotton plantations, RFE/RL's Uzbek Service reports. More