Qishloq Ovozi (Archive)

Representatives of the Tajik government and members of banned Tajik opposition groups came to the OSCE's annual Human Dimension Implementation Meetings (HDIM) in Warsaw this last week.

The forum provided both sides an opportunity to air their grievances in a neutral setting, but importantly this year, the two sides actually met face-to-face and spoke with one another. There were moments of friendship and one moment of violence when a member of the government was caught on video punching an activist in the face.

RFE/RL's media-relations manager, Muhammad Tahir, moderated a discussion on what happened between the Tajik groups in Warsaw and what the prospects might be for a rapprochement.

All the guests on this Majlis Podcast were speaking from Warsaw, where they were attending the HDIM.

Mahmudjon Faizrahmon, spokesman for the Islamic Renaissance Party of Tajikistan, a party banned in Tajikistan since 2015, joined in the discussion. Independent Tajik journalist Hamyara Bakhtiyar, who has written for such media outlets as Anadolu Ajansi, CabarAsia, Asia-Plus, and Ozodagon, participated. Our longtime Majlis friend Steve Swerdlow, Central Asia researcher for Human Rights Watch, was back to give us his insight on what happened between the Tajiks at the HDIM. I was not at this year's HDIM, but I threw in my two cents on events leading up to the meetings in Warsaw.

(Note: After we recorded the podcast, there were reports that the Tajik government had agreed to negotiations with the opposition.)

Embed share

Majlis Podcast: Prospects For Dialogue In Tajikistan

by RFE/RL

Embed share

The code has been copied to your clipboard.

The URL has been copied to your clipboard

---

No media source currently available

0:00 0:33:55 0:00

Direct link

• 64 kbps | MP3

Pop-out player

Listen to the podcast above or subscribe to the Majlis on iTunes.

This week's Majlis Podcast discussed China's heavy-handed campaign in the western Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR).

Beijing's concerns about terrorism getting even a toehold in China have led to an unprecedented campaign of cultural and religious eradication in Xinjiang aimed at Muslim groups, mainly the traditional inhabitants of the area, the Uyghurs, but increasingly targeting other Muslim groups such as Kazakhs and Kyrgyz.

Some ethnic Kazakhs and Kyrgyz who were once Chinese citizens, who in recent years have become citizens of neighboring Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, have disappeared while visiting Xinjiang and turned up in reeducation camps that are sprouting up throughout the region and, by some accounts, where more than 1 million of Xinjiang's Muslims might now be interned.

It is having an effect on the way some in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan view their eastern neighbor.

RFE/RL's media-relations manager, Muhammad Tahir, moderated a discussion on what Chinese authorities are doing in Xinjiang and what the effect is on relations with neighbors Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan.

From Washington, Alim Seytoff, the head of Radio Free Asia's Uyghur Service, joined the talk. From Almaty, Kazakhstan, Gene Bunin, an independent researcher on both sides of the Chinese-Central Asian border, took part in the discussion. From Prague, Galym Bokash of RFE/RL's Kazakh Service, known locally as Azattyq, participated. And I said some things as well.

Embed share

Majlis Podcast: China's Policies In Xinjiang Straining Ties With Central Asian Neighbors

by RFE/RL

Embed share

The code has been copied to your clipboard.

The URL has been copied to your clipboard

---

No media source currently available

0:00 0:44:45 0:00

Direct link

• 64 kbps | MP3

Pop-out player

Listen to the podcast above or subscribe to the Majlis on iTunes.