Janyl Jusupjan

Looking For China's Elusive Kyrgyz

Visiting the neighbors isn't easy when you live in Kyrgyzstan and they live in China's Xinjiang Province.

Kyrgyzstan: RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service -- Women Activists Report Increasing Harassment

Well-known NGO leader and rights activist Cholpon Jakupova (file photo) (RFE/RL) August 3, 2007 (RFE/RL) -- Kyrgyzstan is known for having a strong civil society, but in recent months many observers have warned that the human-rights situation in the country has deteriorated.

Central Asia: Masters Try To Revive Old Ways Of Teaching Traditional Music

Musicians from across Central Asia gathered on the shores of Lake Issyk-Kul in eastern Kyrgyzstan recently for a workshop on traditional music. For 12 days in August, more than 100 students and their teachers played songs beneath the snow- capped Tien Shan Mountains near the Chinese border. They also explored ways traditional music has been passed down through the generations in Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Kyrgyzstan. The workshop departs from the way modern Western notation used to teach music in Central Asia during the Soviet era. As RFE/RL reports, it is part of broader attempts by Central Asian masters to revive ancient oral musical traditions that suffered under the Soviet education system.

World: Ancient European Music Meets Central Asian Masters

Namazbek Uraliev (left) and Sylvian Roy find a common language Artists trying to preserve Europe's ancient music traditions have gathered at the St. Chartier Festival in central France for the past 30 years. In July, their knowledge of ancient music was illuminated by Central Asian masters -- both performers and instrument makers -- who were guests of the festival. RFE/RL reports on the recent meeting of two ancient musical traditions.

International Children’s Day: Plight Of One Small Migrant From Kyrgyzstan

Saiara and Anetta Riglova In the last five years, more than 50,000 people mostly from Ukraine and points farther east have sought legal status in the Czech Republic as refugees. Under international law, refugees are people who flee their homeland because they have reason to fear being killed, tortured or otherwise mistreated. On the occasion of International Children’s Day today, RFE/RL recounts the story of one such child: 6-year-old Saiara.

Uzbekistan: Andijon Events Seen Through Women's Eyes

Women in Central Asia are hard-hit by joblessness and tend to dominate the shuttle trading that many destitute families depend on for a living. Women also make up a large part of the civic society that provides for the elderly, homeless, and orphans. The women who assembled in the eastern Uzbek city of Andijon on 13 May to participate in mass demonstrations believed that they would be able to safely and peacefully voice their concerns. But they were seriously mistaken -- because the government opened fire. RFE/RL correspondents spoke to some of the Uzbek women who fled to a refugee camp that was set up in nearby Kyrgyzstan to house those who escaped the violence in Andijon.

Kyrgyzstan: Girl Pursues A Difficult Dream -- Becoming An Imam

Many Muslim countries have witnessed an upsurge in women studying Islam. But women are still prevented from serving as imams, or prayer leaders, in mosques. RFE/RL tells the story of one young Kyrgyz girl who dreams of being an imam, and why she may have to travel to China to pursue her dreams.

Germany: Central Asian Films Highlighted At Berlin Festival

Central Asia: Swiss Project Helping Regional Mountain Residents

Kyrgyzstan: Top Political Posts Unavailable To Women

Uzbekistan: NGO Helping Women Secure Their Rights

Kyrgyzstan: Canada An Example For Ecological Movement

Kyrgyzstan: Cyanide Spill Offers Lessons