Zamira Eshanova is a correspondent for RFE/RL's Uzbek Service.
The United States has designated Afghanistan a “state sponsor of wrongful detention,” accusing the unrecognized Taliban government of holding American citizens as bargaining chips.
Across Turkmensahra, a poor and isolated region in northeastern Iran along the Caspian Sea and the border with Turkmenistan, war brings tight security, price hikes, and a mixture of hope and concern about what the future may bring for a long marginalized Sunni minority.
Like many Central Asian citizens in Iran, Kyrgyz nationals are facing life under US-Israeli strikes. Two citizens spoke to RFE/RL’s Kyrgyz Service of their experiences: some remain in Tehran, watching explosions from their homes, while others have been evacuated to Baku after long, tense journeys.
The conflict in Iran is sending shock waves across Central Asian economies, with Turkmenistan particularly exposed due to its heavy reliance on Iranian imports, especially food and household items, according to residents and firsthand market reports from Ashgabat and Balkan.
European Union sanctions envoy David O’Sullivan arrived in Bishkek for high-level meetings with Kyrgyz officials amid concerns that some financial channels and trade flows in Kyrgyzstan are being used to circumvent sanctions against Russia.
Thousands of Central Asian families have been left searching for husbands drafted into the Russian Army and lost in the war in Ukraine, trapped between grief, bureaucracy, and silence. Their wives carry the unbearable weight of hope and fear, as well as the financial burden of making ends meet.
Months after Russia’s language and registration rules took effect, thousands of Central Asian children remain shut out of schools, forcing families to return home and leaving education gaps behind.
Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan have pledged support for the reconstruction of Gaza, deepening ties with Washington as both countries seek closer relations with the United States and greater geopolitical support.
The Constitutional Court in Kyrgyzstan has issued a ruling with implications for an ongoing political power struggle that will suit President Sadyr Japarov -- while also throwing an obstacle to any long-term aim he may have to stay in power until 2037.
The sudden dismissal of Kamchybek Tashiev as head of Kyrgyzstan’s State Committee for National Security (SCNS) marks a major shift in the country’s political balance.
Kazakhstan will hold a referendum on a sweeping new constitution that reshapes parliament, expands presidential powers, and addresses the status of the Russian language. Officials call the process inclusive, but critics say it consolidates authority under Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev and sidelines dissent.
The EU’s new sanctions target two Uzbek companies tied to businessman Rustam Muminov, who is sanctioned for supplying cotton pulp for Russian gunpowder and ammunition production. Evidence suggests his network dominates Uzbekistan’s cotton cellulose exports to Russia.
Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov dismissed Kamchybek Tashiev as chairman of the State Committee for National Security (SCNS) on February 10 and appointed Jumgalbek Shabdanbekov as acting chairman amid rising political tensions in the Central Asian nation.
Under a proposed 20th European Union sanctions package against Russia, expected to be adopted by the end of the month, Kyrgyzstan could face certain export restrictions for the first time.
Bishkek is hosting the B5+1 Forum this week, bringing together officials and business leaders from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and the United States to explore investment opportunities and deepen economic ties.
Lawyer confirms former presidential daughter is alive and incarcerated in an Uzbek prison, but says she denies wrongdoing and will continue to fight against asset seizures.
Secretly recorded audio shows the eagerness of Uzbekistan's newly installed finance minister to make good on his boss's order to get rid of the old-guard "rats."
Scientists in Uzbekistan say they will soon begin genetically testing children in search of future Olympic athletes. But is Uzbekistan's plan really a good idea? And is it even good science?
While according to the Uzbek Constitution elections are required this year, many observers say Islam Karimov will not surrender his office anytime soon.
Fayoz Tojikhalilov is an Uzbek citizen who fled to Kyrgyzstan in the wake of the May 2005 military crackdown in Andijon. He was later arrested and jailed, and he now awaits either trial in Kyrgyzstan or extradition to Tashkent.
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