 RFE/RL Central Asia Report 7/26/2010 6:44:30 PM 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 . |
 Tajiks Up Marriage Age For Women Tajik President Emomali Rahmon has signed a law amending the country's Family Code to raise the legal age for women to marry from 17 to 18 years. More  Another Wish From Suleyman's Hill Now, in late July, the shock is gone and animosity has taken over. The gap between the two peoples has widened; a darkness has settled over them. I've been hearing it in their voices and seeing it in their eyes all week long. More  Kyrgyz Protest International Police Plan Some 1,500 people have gathered in Kyrgyzstan's southern city of Osh to protest a government-backed plan to deploy international police in the turbulent region More  Kazakhstan And The OSCE Can Take The Lead In Kyrgyzstan Analyst Roman Muzalevsky says that utilizing each other's capacities to address global and regional security threats, including by supporting reconstruction and rehabilitation efforts in Kyrgyzstan, will position both Kazakhstan and the OSCE as serious actors in Central Asia, and particularly in Kyrgyzstan. More  Tensions Continue To Rise In Southern Kyrgyzstan Despite residents' efforts to return to normal life in the crippled southern Kyrgyz city of Osh, ongoing threats and allegations of abductions and torture more than a month after deadly clashes are pushing ethnic Kyrgyz and Uzbeks even further apart. More  Tajiks Nab Renegade Colonel's Men A Tajik security official says that six followers of renegade Colonel Mahmud Khudoyberdiev have been detained so far this year and six others are still on the run. More  Prosecutor Targets Forerunner's Son The son of former Tajik Prosecutor-General Bobojon Bobokhonov has been arrested on corruption charges, the latest in a string of moves initiated against current or former judicial officials by Bobokhonov's successor. More  Wary Locals Question Allegations Of Islamist Role In Kyrgyz Violence The authorities in Kyrgyzstan accuse Islamist militants of taking part in ethnic violence in the south of the country last month that killed more than 300 people and threatened to undermine the new government. But locals say religious groups weren't involved and that the government's accusations threaten to provoke further unrest. More  Central Asia, Al-Qaeda New Recruiting Ground? Does Central Asia now have its first homegrown Al-Qaeda member? More  Kazakhstan's Ex-Drug Czar Extradited Turkey has extradited Kazakhstan's former antidrug czar who has been charged with abuse of power. More  Kazakh Inmate Found Hanged In Jail The inmate in Kazakhstan's notorious Dolinka prison who shot a video showing another inmate being beaten by a jail guard in May was found hanged in the penitentiary last month More  Jailed Turkmen Cleric Dies In Prison Reports say Islamic cleric Shiri Geldimuradov has died in a prison in Turkmenistan under unexplained circumstances some three months after his controversial arrest. More  OSCE Approves Deployment Of Police Advisers To Kyrgyzstan The OSCE Permanent Council has agreed to deploy a team of police advisers in southern Kyrgyzstan to assist the country in reducing interethnic tensions in the region. More  Osh Mayor Says No International Police Force Needed In Kyrgyzstan As the OSCE signs off on sending a small international police force to help maintain order in southern Kyrgyzstan, and allegations of abuse continue to emerge, the mayor of Osh says no such force is needed and dismisses the suggestion that human rights violations are being committed. More  Hard-Body Diplomacy Tajik musclemen have found a valuable ally from none other than the U.S. Embassy in Dushanbe, whose International Narcotics and Law Enforcement program recently sponsored a one-day bodybuilding tournament in the capital. More  Reporter's Notebook: Osh Has Cleaned Up But Uzbeks Trust No One RFE/RL correspondent and Chaikhana blogger Bruce Pannier is in Osh to see how the situation has changed there since last month's riots killed some 300 people and left another 400,000 homeless. More  Turkmenistan: No Rush To Democracy First, he suggested setting up opposition parties. Now, the president of Turkmenistan, Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov, wants to pave the way for private media in his country, known as one of the most closed nations in the world. More |
