Central Asia

Local Tourists Desert Lakeside Resorts

Alina Kenjeeva reports from Lake Issykkul, which this year is seeing far fewer tourists than usual from the Kyrgyz capital Bishkek.

Kyrgyz Farmers at Risk of Brucellosis

So many people in Kyrgyzstan keep livestock that the authorities are struggling to impose health regulations, leading to a heightened risk of animal-to-human disease transmission.

Do Kyrgyz Journalists Need Formal Education?

Sabina Reingold looks at the arguments for and against attending a formal journalism course in Kyrgyzstan.

US Base in Kyrgyzstan Renamed but Remains

Terms of new agreement mean airbase officially becomes transit hub for Afghan operation, but some analysts see no real change.

Kyrgyzstan: Yet Another Tax Amnesty

Government forced to revise plan to allow people to own up to undeclared assets.

Turkmen Academics Welcome Science Reforms

Civil War Statues Keep Bad Memories Alive

Manuchehr Mirzoev reports from the southwestern Tajik city of Qurghonteppa where residents are deeply divided over monuments to commanders from one side of a bloody civil war.

Female Farmworkers an Oppressed Class

Because of the scale of rural emigration in search of better-paid work abroad, one rarely sees a man at work in the cotton fields of southern Tajikistan these days.

Electoral Amnesia in Tajikistan

As political parties gear up for next year’s parliamentary election, reporter Rahmatullo Odina discovers that many voters have no idea who they voted for last time.

Central Asia: 'May 09

IWPR report poured oil on troubled waters as Kyrgyz politicians geared up to protest Uzbek “incursion”.