 RFE/RL Central Asia Report 9/20/2010 4:49:58 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 . |
 Eight Kazakh Inmates Self-Mutilate Eight inmates at the notorious Dolinka prison in central Kazakhstan engaged in self-mutilation today, the latest in a series of such incidents in the country's jails. More  Russian Military Begins Kyrgyz Talks A Russian military delegation has arrived in Bishkek for talks after Kyrgyzstan said it wanted more money to host Russian military facilities. More The lead judge in the case that led to ethnic Uzbek rights activist Azimjan Askarov being sentenced to life in prison in Kyrgyzstan denies that the charges were politically motivated and says one of the co-defendants testified against Askarov. More  Kyrgyzstan Closes Tajik Border Kyrgyzstan has closed its border with Tajikistan following the deadly clashes between an armed extremist group and Tajik military forces in Tajikistan's Rasht province on September 19. More  23 Tajik Soldiers Killed in Attack Officials in Dushanbe say Islamist militants were behind an attack on a Defense Ministry military convoy that killed at least 23 government troops in the country's eastern Rasht Valley. The mountainous area was the former stronghold of the Islamic opposition that fought against the secular government in a civil war in the 1990s. More  In Eurasia, Millions Worry About Beloved Buckwheat Devastating fires and droughts are not the only consequences of the heat wave that hit much of the former Soviet Union this summer. Millions of people across the region are now hit by another misfortune: buckwheat shortages. More  Kyrgyz Ethnic Uzbek Trial Delayed The trial of four ethnic Uzbeks for their involvement in the ethnic clashes in southern Kyrgyzstan in mid-June has been postponed because one of the defendants is ill. More  Tajik Officials 'Targeting Islamic Dress' A branch of the opposition Islamic Renaissance Party (IRP) in the southern Tajik city of Kulob has complained that authorities are pressuring women who wear the hijab, the Islamic head scarf. More  VOA Freelancer Denies Uzbek Charges Abdumalik Boboev, a freelancer for VOA's Uzbek Service, is charged with slander, distributing materials that pose a threat to public order, and illegally crossing Uzbekistan's state border. More  President Times Infinity It probably will not come as a surprise to most that Kazakhstan's President Nursultan Nazarbaev is planning to run for another term as president. More  Tajiks Nab Seventh Jailbreak Fugitive Tajik authorities say they have captured another member of a group of high-profile inmates who broke out of jail in Dushanbe last month. More  Kazakh Leader 'To Seek Reelection' An adviser to Kazakhstan's president, Nursultan Nazarbaev, says that country's only leader in its post-Soviet history will seek a fresh term in office in 2012. More  Rights Groups Decry Kyrgyz Sentence International human rights groups have condemned a court in Kyrgyzstan's sentencing of an ethnic Uzbek human rights activist to life in prison. More  Tajiks Try To Calm Commanders A delegation from Tajikistan's power ministries has told former opposition commanders that a military operation in the eastern part of the country is not aimed at them but at a rebel commander and his supporters. More  Detention Sparks Kyrgyz Protest Officials in the southern Kyrgyz city of Uzgen say a crowd of several hundred people rallied today to demand the release of a local man detained on suspicion of illegal arms possession. More Four convicts have gone on trial in central Kazakhstan for allegedly faking a video of an inmate being beaten. More Kyrgyzstan: Activist Given Life In Prison A well-known ethnic Uzbek human rights activist has been sentenced to life in prison for involvement in the killing of a Kyrgyz policeman. More Islamic Party Urges Clarification Over 'Detention' Of Activist The opposition Islamic Renaissance Party of Tajikistan (IRP) has asked officials from the country's State Committee for National Security (SCNS) for clarification after the apparent detention of one of its members in the capital, Dushanbe. More  Turkmenistan: More Charitable Than I Knew According to a report by the British-based Charities Aid Foundation, more than 60 percent of Turkmenistan's population does volunteer work. More In Kyrgyzstan, Scales Of Justice Appear Tipped Following Interethnic Violence As court trials regarding Kyrgyzstan's recent interethnic unrest begin, alarm is being expressed that the scales of justice appear -- at least initially -- to be tipped against the ethnic Uzbek minority. More  TAPI: An Idea Whose Time Hasn't Quite Yet Come It's been a dream on a map for more than a decade, a project that could provide thousands of badly needed jobs and a reliable source of energy that could benefit millions in instable areas of southern Asia. TAPI -- the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India natural gas pipeline -- has proven as elusive a quest as any in the long history of the region. More Russian: Arms For Kyrgyz Military Space Russian officials have offered to supply Kyrgyzstan with arms as payment for Moscow's use of Kyrgyz territory for various military installations. More  Kazakhstan Extradites Kyrgyz Citizen To Uzbekistan Kazakh officials have extradited a Kyrgyz citizen of Uzbek origin to Uzbekistan. Meanwhile, 29 Uzbek citizens detained by Kazakh authorities as illegal immigrants have been held in Kazakhstan's National Security Committee jail since mid-June. More  Kyrgyz President Reshuffles Top Law Enforcement Officials Kyrgyz President Roza Otunbaeva has reshuffled several top judicial and law enforcement officials, saying the move was aimed at strengthening the justice system ahead of next month's elections. More A Kazakh director is shooting an unauthorized sequel to the Hollywood comedy "Borat," which left some Kazakhs feeling insulted by its depiction of a naive easterner bumbling through the United States. In response, director Erkin Rakishev has set out to show the "real" Kazakhstan to the world. More  Families Get Land After Leaving Uzbek-Kyrgyz Village Families from a disputed area along the Kyrgyz-Uzbek border have received land to build houses in a nearby village in Kyrgyzstan. More |
