Bruce Pannier is a Central Asia analyst and appears regularly on the Majlis podcast for RFE/RL.
The Communications Ministry appeared to bow to pressure after authorities blocked websites that included opposition and other critical voices.
The election is slightly more than a month away, but many observers believe incumbent President Imomali Rakhmonov is sure to win.
BISHKEK, September 28, 2006 (RFE/RL) -- Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiev today addressed the nation from the parliament building outlining his vision for the country for the next decade or longer.
(RFE/RL) PRAGUE, September 26, 2006 (RFE/RL) -- Tajikistan's Islamic Renaissance Party (IRP) has become the third political party to announce it won't field a candidate in November's presidential election.
President Kurmanbek Bakiev came to power after demonstrators chased his predecessor from office. Critics now say he reminds them of the old days.
Turkmenistan sits atop huge oil and gas reserves (file photo) (ITAR-TASS) As gas and oil prices spiral upward, fuel-dependant states are scrambling to find new sources of hydrocarbon energy supplies. But as energy-hungry countries seek out new oil and gas suppliers, some are troubled by the reputations of governments in one of the most promising regions -- countries like Turkmenistan, for instance.
(RFE/RL) The number of children in Southern Kazakhstan Region diagnosed as being HIV positive has grown to 54. Two adults have also tested positive. Officials believe the children were accidentally infected with the disease in local children's hospitals, from transfusions with HIV-tainted blood.
The prime ministers getting down to work in Dushanbe today (RFE/RL) Government leaders from the six countries of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) are meeting in the Tajik capital Dushanbe today. The SCO is better known for its intentions to combat international terrorism but today's meeting focuses more on one of the original purposes of the group -- economic ties across Eurasia.
Omurbek Tekebaev addressing his supporters in Bishkek on September 12 (Courtesy Photo) Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiev was in parliament today to answer some of the many questions deputies have about the affair of Omurbek Tekebaev. The parliament deputy and opposition leader was detained last week in Poland on charges of possessing nearly 600 grams of heroin. He was released two days later when a court determined the drugs were not Tekebaev's. Subsequent allegations arose that Kyrgyzstan's security service planted the narcotics inside a matryoshka (nesting doll) in Tekebaev's baggage.
UNESCO's decision to award President Islam Karimov the "Borobudur" gold medal has come under fierce criticism.
Parliament is looking into charges that the president's brother ordered heroin to be placed in an opposition leader's baggage.
Representatives of all five Central Asian states met in Kazakhstan to sign a treaty declaring their region "nuclear-weapons free."
Former parliament speaker Omurbek Tekebaev is being held in Poland after customs officials there found heroin in his baggage.
An SCO antiterrorism operation in Kazakhstan in 2003 (ITAR-TASS) PRAGUE, August 24, 2006 (RFE/RL) -- Kazakhstan and China launch three days of joint counterterrorism exercises today. It is the first time those two countries have held joint security maneuvers, and testifies to China's aggressive pursuit of improved ties with its immediate CIS neighbors. But Beijing has other motives for such new-fashioned cooperation, particularly with its Central Asian neighbors.
U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Richard Boucher (file photo) (RFE/RL) PRAGUE, August 10, 2006 (RFE/RL) -- U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Richard Boucher continued his Central Asian tour today, traveling from Uzbekistan to neighboring Kyrgyzstan.
Baikonur Cosmodrome (file photo) (AFP) PRAGUE, August 9, 2006 (RFE/RL) -- Experts from both countries are still tallying the full extent of the damage from the explosion of a Russian rocket over Kazakh territory on July 27. The blast, shortly after liftoff from Kazakhstan's Baikonur Cosmodrome, spilled deadly heptyl rocket fuel over a swath of territory.
A key defendant in the case of an opposition leader's murder alleges that it was part of a much wider plot to oust the president.
Ninety years ago, tens of thousands of Kyrgyz died during a revolt against Russian Tsarist forces and a mass flight to escape to China.
The presidents of these three Persian-speaking countries are expected to discuss regional security issues, as well as trade and development.
Tajigul Begmedova (right) at RFE/RL today (RFE/RL) Tajigul Begmedova is the chairwoman of the Bulgaria-based Turkmenistan Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights. Forced to leave Turkmenistan in March 2002, the Turkmen authorities have harassed her relatives since she left. Begmedova visited Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty headquarters in Prague today and expressed great concern with the fate of some activists and an RFE/RL journalist that are currently being detained by the government.
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