Latest posts by Adil Nurmakov from April, 2011
Afghanistan: Opium production for 2011 set to rise
Nick Fielding reports that opium production in Afghanistan for 2011 is likely to increase, although overall cultivation for the entire country is expected to decrease slightly.
Tajikistan: Women between a rock and a hard place
Christya Riedel writes about gender issues in Tajikistan and about difficulties that women are facing there – rules for weddings, violence, denied property rights after a divorce.
Kazakhstan: Bloggers Keep an Eye on Floods as Official Media Keep Quiet
Two large cities in Kazakhstan are suffering from major floods, situated in the centers of two provinces – Uralsk in the western part of the country and Ust-Kamenogorsk in the east. Official media and many private publications have not provided a full picture of the disaster, and the real scope of damage is not being told. Bloggers have led the coverage of the situation, taking field trips with photo and video cameras, and providing assistance to the people.
Kyrgyzstan: Authorities ponder on confiscation of the mobile operator
It appears that Kyrgyzstan’s leading mobile operator MegaCom is about to be confiscated by the government, amidst an ongoing political and law enforcement scandal related to the company, Malika reports.
Turkmenistan: Rights activist isolated in psychiatric hospital
Amangelen Shapudakov, an 80-year-old activist, has been forcibly confined to a pyschiatric hospital by Turkmen authorities after he accused a local official of corruption during an interview with RFE/RL, Schwartz writes.
Turkmenistan: Crackdown on Turkish schools
As Turkmenistan’s authorities quietly move to shut down the system of Turkish secondary schools, Annasoltan communicates with an alum of one of these schools to get an insider’s view.
Kyrgyzstan: Interview with shirin Aitmatova
Sabina interviews Shirin Aitmatova, a Kyrgyz MP and an active online social media activist, discussing poetry and politics.
Uzbekistan: President's daughter sues French publication
Joshua Foust opines on the news that the daughter of Uzbekistan’s authoritarian ruler Islam Karimov filed suit against the French website Rue89.com over an article that identified her father as a dictator and characterized her charity work as an attempt to whitewash the Uzbek repressive regime.
Afghanistan: Violence against Aid Workers
Joel Hafvenstein reflects on the latest and earlier cases of violence against international aid workers in Afghanistan and says that it’s not quite right to talk about a steady increase in such violence.
Kazakhstan: Elections are over
Christya Riedel analyzes the outcomes of the presidential election in Kazakhstan, noting that they could be called “competitive, unpredictable and exciting” only with a large share of sarcasm.
Kyrgyzstan: Interview with the former tycoon, now a criminal
Sabina Reingold interviews Eugene Gurevich, former director of MGN Group, which was managing most part of the state assets in Kyrgyzstan under the previous president Kurmanbek Bakiev. Gurevich fled the country after the popular uprising in April 2010 and has been recently sentenced in absentia to 15 years in jail.
Tajikistan: Russia raises petroleum prices
Christya Riedel reports that Russia has increased tariffs on oil and oil products exported to Tajikistan, putting the country's farmers at risk as they prepare for the spring planting season. Tajikistan receives 92.5% oil products from Russia.
