Bruce Pannier is a Central Asia analyst and appears regularly on the Majlis podcast for RFE/RL.
Civic groups and the political opposition in Kyrgyzstan are making final preparations for a major demonstration in the capital on April 28 to condemn criminal elements in official life.
Shanghai Cooperation Organization plans highlight the transformation of the former "Shanghai Five" from its early days focused on confidence building along China's border with former Soviet states.
Gurbanbibi Atajanova, Turkmenistan's prosecutor-general for more than a decade, publicly confessed to stealing property and taking bribes, but President Niyazov was unmoved by pleas of mercy from the "Iron Lady."
http://gdb.rferl.org/A166225D-F3ED-4BC2-BB89-4E2591EE436F.bmp --> http://gdb.rferl.org/A166225D-F3ED-4BC2-BB89-4E2591EE436F.bmp President Karimov (left) visited New Dehli in April 2005 (AFP) Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is expected to use a two-day stopover in Uzbekistan that begins today to further his country's goal of increased economic and political influence in Central Asia. The visit -- which comes on the heels of an official trip to Germany -- is the first to Central Asia's most populous country by an Indian prime minister in more than a decade.
At least 15 people have been hospitalized in Tajikistan with a potentially deadly bacterial disease called leptospirosis. The Tajik cases represent the first outbreak in this part of Central Asia in more than a decade.
The Kazakh National Security Committee claims it has uncovered a terrorist plot targeting the country's infrastructure that was being orchestrated from abroad. But the suggestion that the plotters were closely following opposition groups has worried some.
Top Kyrgyz government officials led by President Kurmanbek Bakiev have appeared on television with opposition leaders to discuss the political course of the country.
The country's political opposition wields little power, and it arguably poses little threat to President Imomali Rakhmonov's hopes of reelection in November. But there's more.
Are political opponents trying to kill one of Kyrgyzstan's most outspoken civic leaders? That's the question on many minds after a recent attack on Edil Baisalov.
The election of Rysbek Akmatbaev to parliament on April 9 sparked debate over the legitimacy of his election and led to demonstrations.
U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Richard Boucher says U.S. help to Central Asia isn't limited to economic and security issues but for moving forward with democratic reforms. Boucher is in Kyrgyzstan today as part of a regional tour that has taken him to Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, and also includes Kazakhstan. Boucher spoke in Bishkek today with RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service and other media about U.S. relations with Central Asian countries.
An alleged crime boss who is poised to win a seat in parliament in upcoming elections has put Kyrgyzstan's political leadership in a tight spot just a year after it was ushered into power by a popular uprising.
The second of two correspondents for RFE/RL's Turkmen Service who were detained by Turkmen authorities for 10 days recounts his experiences.
China's recent gas and oil deals with Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan have some observers wondering whether this eastward push for trade and political ties is distancing Central Asia from the West.
Kazakh President Nazarbaev has arrived in Russia for talks with his close ally, Vladimir Putin. The two countries are linked by a wide range of issues, including oil, gas, and space.
Karel De Gucht, Belgium's foreign minister and chairman of the OSCE (file photo) (epa) The head of the OSCE has steered a delicate diplomatic course in his tour of Central Asia -- his most delicate visit still lies ahead.
Traffic along the northern shore of Kyrgyzstan's largest lake was brought to a standstill on March 30. The reason: a decision by the country's electoral authorities to bar a candidate from running in a by-election in a case that also casts a sidelight on the issues of corruption and organized crime.
March 24 is an official holiday in Kyrgyzstan, as the country marks the first anniversary of what the leaders of the country are calling the "People's Revolution." It was the first time in more than a decade that a leader in Central Asia was replaced.
Two RFE/RL correspondents working in Turkmenistan disappeared earlier this month, sparking concern from many international human rights organizations and eventually the two were released after 10 days in custody.
A court in Tajikistan has just sent 17 Afghans to prison for killing a number of Tajik police officers and for trafficking drugs and weapons across the border for almost a decade. It was a rare judicial success in a battle that has plagued Tajikistan for years.
Load more
