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Turkmen Opposition Leader Buried In Oslo


Avdy Kuliev's funeral in Oslo today (RFE/RL) OSLO, April 20, 2007 (RFE/RL) -- Turkmen opposition leader Avdy Kuliev was buried today in Oslo, RFE/RL's Turkmen Service reported.


Kuliev was Turkmenistan's first foreign minister, but resigned in 1992 and fled the country becoming a leader of the Turkmen opposition-in-exile, first from Russia, then from Norway.


He died on April 10 at age 70. He had recently undergone stomach surgery and never regained consciousness.


"Today we paid homage to A. Kuliev and buried him in Oslo at a Muslim cemetery," dissident Turkmen writer Akmukhammet Welsapar said after today's service. "He is given to the soil now."


Turkmen authorities refused a request from Kuliev's wife to bury him in Turkmenistan.

Human Rights In Turkmenistan

Human Rights In Turkmenistan
Tajigul Begmedova speaking at RFE/RL in Prague on July 21 (RFE/RL)

LIFE UNDER NIYAZOV: On July 21, RFE/RL's Prague broadcasting center hosted a presentation by TAJIGUL BEGMEDOVA, chairwoman of the Bulgaria-based Turkmenistan Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights (THF). Begmedova discussed the human rights situation in Turkmenistan under President Saparmural Niyazov, focusing on the arrests in June of THF activists and RFE/RL Turkmen Service correspondent Ogulsapar Muradova. Begmedova, who graduated from the Institute of Economy in Moscow in 1987, fled Turkmenistan in 2002 and lives in exile in Sofia.


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Listen to the complete presentation (36 minutes; presentation in Russian with consecutive translation into English):
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Some RFE/RL Coverage Of Human Rights In Turkmenistan:

Media Coverage Of Leader Distracts From Real Problems

Authorities Cast Wide Net In Conspiracy Allegations

Embattled Turkmen Writer Honored Abroad

RFE/RL Correspondent Recounts Arrest


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RFE/RL coverage of Turkmenistan.


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