The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), an international press rights group, says China and Egypt were the world's worst jailers of journalists in 2015, while the number of journalists imprisoned around the world "declined modestly from record levels recorded in the past three years."
Leaders of Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India broke ground on December 14 on a $10 billion natural-gas pipeline that they hope will ease energy deficits in South Asia and stem tensions in the divided region.
Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka on December 12 called on Russia and Turkey to compromise and overcome the crisis in their relations.
Massive celebrations are being held across Turkmenistan today to mark the 20th anniversary of the day the United Nations officially recognized the country's "permanent neutrality."
When a Turkmen pensioner was offered a prestigious ceremonial post as an elder, who participates in celebrations and mass events, he naively thought it would be a bit of fun as well as a great honor.
In the wake of the downing of a Russian jet by Turkey, Turkic-speaking countries that are also formerly part of the Soviet Union face some serious challenges in balancing ties between Moscow and Ankara.
During the repressive rein of President Saparmurat Niyazov, horse expert Geldy Kyarizov went from the halls of Turkmenistan's government to a "horrific" penitentiary where he spent five months before his release. Allowed to leave the secretive Central Asian state in September, Geldy Kyarizov gave RFE/RL a harrowing account of "torture by hunger" in its toughest prison.
Turkey's downing of a Russian warplane on November 24 has put the Central Asian states with Turkic peoples in an extremely awkward position.
Turkmenistan has not been immune to the economic crisis in Central Asia; if anything, the country's dependence on natural gas exports has made it more vulnerable than its neighbors. But one would never know it looking at the number of costly and arguably fruitless projects into which its pouring money.
Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov arrived in China on November 12 for a visit that the country's state media say is aimed at promoting the ongoing construction of natural gas pipelines between the two countries.
Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov and Afghan President Ashraf Ghani have agreed to launch construction of a pipeline meant to pump natural gas from Turkmenistan through Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India.
Turkmenistan's state media reports that President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov has ordered state companies to begin the construction of a pipeline carrying gas from Turkmenistan to Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India.
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