Central Asian governments have long been aware that some of their nationals went to join extremist groups in Iraq and Syria. With Islamic State losing ground, the increasingly pressing question is what to do with these nationals should they seek to return.
Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov says that his country has become a wheat-exporting nation, according to state media, amid reports that the local population is facing severe food shortages.
The European Commission has adopted a new Central Asia strategy with the aim of creating what it calls "a stronger, modern, and nonexclusive partnership" with former Soviet republics in Central Asia that are "willing and able" to improve relations.
This week, RFE/RL's Media-Relations Manager Muhammad Tahir moderated a discussion on press freedom in Central Asia: what went right during the last year; and what continues to go wrong.
Members of China's Uyghur Muslim population continue to be subject to "egregious abuses" but the government in Beijing has faced few, if any, consequences, a bipartisan U.S. federal commission says in its 2019 annual report on religious freedom worldwide.
This week’s Majlis comes from the Connecting Central Asia in the 21st Century conference hosted by Oxford University on April 25.
The Turkmen government has issued restrictive new lists of which international universities it will recognize diplomas from and which degrees it will accept. It’s yet another blow to the country's students seeking to study abroad.
Hostility toward journalists often expressed by political leaders is putting media at risk globally, the watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said in its annual report published on April 18.
The streets of Ashgabat, the capital of Turkmenistan, were flooded after severe rains that began on April 13. Weeks of heavy downpours have taken a toll on the region, causing deaths and extensive damage from flooding in Iran and Afghanistan.
Russia's state-owned energy giant Gazprom says it has resumed imports of natural gas from Turkmenistan that it stopped three years ago.
In Turkmenistan, a witness filmed city workers throwing dogs into a garbage truck. In Kyrgyzstan, gunmen were seen shooting strays in broad daylight near a playground. Across Central Asia, animal rights activists are pushing for laws banning cruelty to animals -- and they're making progress.
On this week's Majlis podcast, we return to the topic of feminism in Central Asia.
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