Kyrgyz Newspaper a One-Man Show in Tajikistan

For a start, the reporter, editor, proofreader and distributor are one and the same person, Sultan Parmanov, who writes by hand as Murghab has only intermittent electricity and no internet.



The Kyrgyz of Tajikistan are mostly livestock-breeders in the Murghab district, an underdeveloped area consisting of high plateau terrain in the Pamirs.



Once Parmanov has got a monthly edition of the Sarykol newspaper together, he has to travel 420 kilometres over high passes to get to the nearest printing press, located in Osh in neighbouring Kyrgyzstan. He explained that this mammoth round trip is still easier than trying to reach the Tajik capital Dushanbe, far to the west through impenetrable mountains.



Getting the paper to press is such a long process that news from March will only appear in the current May edition. At the same time, the newspaper is a lifeline for people in Murghab, who have hardly any access to other media.