Monday, February 13, 2012

Kyrgyzstan

Kyrgyz Demonstrators Block Strategic Highway

Protesters in Bishkek before the elections (file photo)

Bishkek, 6 March 2005 (RFE/RL) -- About 1,000 people in Kyrgyzstan's eastern Naryn Province today blocked a key road connecting the province to the capital, Bishkek.

TEXT SIZE - +

March 06, 2005

The demonstrators were protesting against the local election commission's decision to bar an opposition candidate from running in the second round of balloting.

They demanded that candidate Ishenbai Kadyrbekov be allowed to run in the 13 March second round of parliamentary elections.

The local election commission yesterday barred Kadyrbekov from running, saying his campaign team broke election rules. Naryn Province Governor Shamshybek Medetbekov addressed the protesters.

"I am the governor of Naryn Province," he said. "I will go now to the town of Naryn [the provincial capital]. I have to meet with the judiciary and local electoral commission in order to clarify for myself what is going on. When I study the situation I will come back to you and will answer our questions."

Kadyrbekov is appealing the commission decision. A court is due to consider the appeal tomorrow.

(RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service)

Production and distribution of rap music is not officially banned, but it

Yo! Turkmen Rappers Flip The Script On Repression

For a growing number of Turkmen youth, rap music has become a way to express their daily struggles and inspire political change in one of the world's most oppressive countries. More

A woman relaxes underneath a photo of President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov at the resort of Avaza.

Turkmenistan's Personality Cult 2.0

Turkmen Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov appears to be building a personality cult to match that of his eccentric predecessor. More

Myalikguly Berdymukhammedov, the father of Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov, in a September 2009 television appearance

Keeping Up With The Berdymukhammedovs

Reports say a police unit in Turkmenistan this week was named after the father of President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov. State-run media reportedly describe it as a gesture to honor Myalikguly Berdymukhammedov's years of service to Turkmenistan's Interior Ministry and "his efforts in educating the younger generation." More