Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Turkmenistan

Turkmen Activist's Wife Appeals To Bush Over Arrest

Tadjigul Begmedova (file photo) (RFE/RL)

February 26, 2007 (RFE/RL) -- The wife of a Turkmen dissident has asked U.S. President George W. Bush for help following the arrest of her husband in Bulgaria.

TEXT SIZE - +

February 26, 2007

Tadjigul Begmedova made her plea in an open letter published on the website of the exiled opposition Watan party.

Begmedova's husband, Annadurdy Khajiev, was arrested on February 19 in the Black Sea port city of Varna on embezzlement charges following notification by Interpol. He is a former senior Turkmen Central Bank official.

He now faces extradition to Turkmenistan.

Khajiev's supporters say his arrest was politically motivated and have demanded his immediate release.

Khajiev is a senior member of Watan whose sister, RFE/RL correspondent Ogulsapar Muradova, died in a Turkmen jail in 2006 after a trial described by international human rights groups as unfair.

A vendor in the central Bosnian town of Zenica sells heart-shaped cushions with proclamations of love for 1 euro each.

Love It (Or Hate It), It's Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day, the Western holiday celebrating love, has become a global phenomenon over the past two decades. The fall of communism and the emergence of the Internet have helped February 14 become something of an unofficial international day of romance. However, not all the passions the holiday stirs are related to love. While some countries have openly embraced the holiday, others are attempting to ban it or replace it with local customs. More

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