RFE/RL CENTRAL ASIA REPORT
24.06.2013
A review of RFE/RL reporting and analysis about the five countries of Central Asia.HOW MUCH DO YOU KNOW ABOUT THE TALIBAN? TAKE OUR NEWS QUIZ TO FIND OUT! For more stories on Central Asia, please visit and bookmark our Central Asia page . |
 Turkmen Elections Set For December 15 Turkmenistan's state-run print media outlets published a parliamentary resolution on June 24 announcing the voting will take place on December 15. More  Kazakhstan: U.S. 'To Stay Involved' In Region Kazakhstan's presidency says U.S. President Barack Obama has told his Kazakh counterpart, Nursultan Nazarbaev, that Washington would remain "deeply involved in developments in Afghanistan and Central Asia" after U.S. troops leave Afghanistan. More  Nigerians’ Tajik Soccer Dreams Deferred A soccer career in Tajikistan wasn't all it was cracked up to be for a group of Nigerians who are now suing an alleged middleman for allegedly luring them to that Central Asian country on false promises. More Muhibullah Abdullah and his family, ethnic Tajiks from Afghanistan, fled to Kazakhstan after the Taliban threatened Abdullah's life. Ahead of World Refugee Day, marked on June 20, RFE/RL's Kazakh Service spoke to Abdullah and his sons about the new life they've made in Almaty. More  In Uzbekistan, Everyone's A Pop Critic, Including The Government In a statement on its website, Uzbekistan's Culture and Sport Ministry has announced a ban on "meaningless" songs that fail to "praise the motherland." More  Kyrgyz Set Manas Closure Date The Kyrgyz parliament has set a date for the closure of the NATO Transit Center at Manas International Airport near Bishkek. More Israel's first-ever ambassador to Turkmenistan has presented his credentials to Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov. More Uzbekistan's border guards have shot dead a Kyrgyz citizen under circumstances that remain unclear. More  U.S. Says Uzbekistan, Russia, Iran Worst For Human Trafficking Uzbekistan and Russia have received the lowest possible rating from the U.S. State Department in its annual report on human trafficking around the world. More  Eurasian Deterioration 'Troubling' Countries in Central Europe and Central Asia are increasingly being ruled by autocratic governments with little regard for democracy, according to the 2013 "Nations In Transit" report by democracy watchdog Freedom House. More A Kyrgyz court has acquitted three lawmakers from the opposition Ata-Jurt (Fatherland) party who had been convicted of an attempt to seize power. More  Scuffles At Kyrgyz Lawmakers' Appeal Supporters of the jailed leaders of the opposition Ata-Jurt (Fatherland) party threw shoes and plastic bottles at the judge and prosecutor during a court hearing on June 17. More  The Central Asian Dust Bowl Desertification has increased markedly in the past two decades in Central Asia, causing agricultural yields to plummet. Some estimates suggest that 70 percent of Turkmenistan has become desert, but nearby Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan have also suffered precipitously. (7 PHOTOS) More UN-Backed Plan To Combat Central Asian Desertification Won't Hold Water The United Nations launched an ambitious 10-year project to combat desertification in 2006. As the UN marks World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought seven years later, there is little to show for the effort. More  Tajik Underground Madrasahs Found Police in Tajikistan have found about a dozen missing children in two underground madrasahs near Dushanbe. More |
