The Dashoguz Velayat (Region) Library on May 11 hosted the U.S.-Turkmen Book Fair. Jointly organized by the U.S. Embassy in Turkmenistan, the Government of Turkmenistan and the American Corner of Dashoguz, the event highlighted the unifying role of literature and celebrated the 300th anniversary of the birth of great Turkmen poet Magtymguly Pyragy. U.S. Ambassador
On May 14, the Joint Conference of Turkmenistan and the European Union, entitled “30 years of cooperation between Turkmenistan and the European Union: working together for a better future,” was held at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan. The event was attended by representatives of ministries, state agencies and public organizations of Turkmenistan, the
A Kyrgyz court on May 14 sentenced government critic and journalist Oljobai Shakir (aka Egemberdiev) to five years in prison on a charge of making calls online for mass unrest, RFE/RL’s Kyrgyz Service reported. Shakir rejected the charge, calling it ungrounded. Shakir was arrested in August 2023, days after he criticized the government’s decision to
The 16th Senior Officials Meeting of the Central Asia + Japan Dialogue took place on May 14 in Astana under the chairmanship of Nazira Nurbaeva, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan. The meeting was attended by the heads of the foreign ministries of Japan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and the Ambassador of Turkmenistan to Kazakhstan.
On May 14, a high-level delegation from the Government of Switzerland will arrive in Bishkek to strengthen cooperation ties with the Kyrgyz Republic and familiarize with the results of the Swiss funded projects implemented in Kyrgyzstan, the Swiss Embassy in Bishkek announced. The delegation will be composed of Ambassador Mr. Arno Wicki, Assistant Director General of
Yerzhan Yelekeyev, Chairman of the Management Board of National Company Kazakh Invest, on May 13 met with Pascal Zappone, Vice President of the Swedish company Scania CV AB, to discuss the company’s plans to expand investment activities in Kazakhstan, including implementing an investment project to assemble electric generators, Kazakh Invest reported. Scania manufactures industrial and marine engines, trucks,
A court in Astana on May 13 sentenced former Economy Minister Quandyq Bishimbaev to 24 years in prison for the “violent beating” to death of his wife, Saltanat Nukenova, in November 2023 in a local restaurant. Bishimbaev’s cousin Baqytzhan Baizhanov was sentenced to four years in prison for not reporting the crime, which he witnessed
The First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan Kairat Umarov visited Brazil last week for political consultations. At the meeting with the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Brazil, Eduardo Paes Saboia, the parties discussed current aspects of bilateral relations, the global agenda, as well as multilateral interaction on issues of mutual support for
The Special Representative of Uzbekistan’s President, Ismatullah Irgashev, and the Minister of Transport of Uzbekistan, Ilkhom Makhkamov, arrived in Kabul on May 12, Afghan broadcaster TOLOnews reported. During a meeting with the acting Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Emirate (the Taliban administration of Afghanistan), Ilkhom Makhkamov stated that Uzbekistan supports the Islamic Emirate’s
Since the beginning of this year, about 70 thousand women have used the service of traveling in “women’s carriages” in trains of Kazakhstan’s national railways company, Kazakhstan Temir Zholy. This figure has doubled compared to the same period last year — more than 34 thousand women, the company’s press service reported. Since the introduction of
The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) will host the 13th Central Asia Trade Forum, entitled “Trade Connections: Bridging Globally,” on May 14 and 15 in Almaty, the U.S. Embassy in Kazakhstan announced. With more than 10,000 government and business leaders from 25 countries in Central and South Asia, Europe, and the United States participating since
Artificial intelligence (AI) was behind deepfakes, originated in China, about the existence of US laboratories allegedly developing biological weapons in Kazakhstan. Reuters reported citing the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) 2024 homeland threat assessment that last year, a Chinese government-controlled news site using a generative AI platform pushed a previously circulated false claim that
On May 8, Russian President Vladimir Putin, President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko, President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, President of Kyrgyzstan Sadyr Japarov, and Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan gathered in Moscow for a meeting of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council, the governing body of the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU). This year marks the tenth anniversary of the establishment of the Russian-led economic integration
Armenia said on May 8 that it has stopped making financial contributions to the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) after effectively suspending its membership in the Russian-led military alliance, RFE/RL’s Armenian Service reported. “Armenia will refrain from signing up to the November 23, 2023, decision on the CSTO budget for 2024 and, thereby, from participating
In 2024, the Delegation of the European Union to Uzbekistan commemorates Europe Day and 30 years of partnership between the European Union and Uzbekistan. To mark this significant milestone, a public festival and concert celebrating “30 Years of European Union – Uzbekistan Partnership” will take place on 18 May at the Tashkent Botanical Garden, the EU
All five Central Asian presidents are scheduled to attend a parade on Red Square in Moscow on May 9 to commemorate the victory in the Second World War in 1945, RFE/RL’s Kazakh Service reported. Yury Ushakov, an aide to Russian President Vladimir Putin, on May 7 said Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, Tajik President
The Supreme Court of Uzbekistan has exonerated posthumously 198 individuals convicted by the Soviet regime in the 1920s-1930s for “counter-revolutionary actions, armed uprisings, terrorism, banditry and espionage, and anti-Soviet activities,” RFE/RL’s Uzbek Service reported. The Supreme Court announced on May 6 its decision to exonerate the men, many of whom were sentenced to death and others who were
The Ministry of Health and Medical Industry of Turkmenistan and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) on May 3 signed a landmark agreement for a new project “Procurement of health products for the control of infectious diseases in 2024-2025”. This multi-year initiative, with a budget exceeding $34 million fully financed by the Government of Turkmenistan,
Kazakhstan-based billionaire Mikheil Lomtadze has bought England’s Wycombe Wanderers soccer club, RFE/RL’s Kazakh Service reported. Lomtadze’s Blue Ocean Partners Ltd. paid an undisclosed amount for a 90 percent stake in the club, which plays in England’s League One, the third level of the English football league system, the BBC reported on May 5. The 48-year old Georgia-born
The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) in Kyrgyzstan, in collaboration with the PF “Training and Consulting Center” (TES-Center), is launching an initiative to strengthen the value chain (VAC) of natural honey under UNDP project “Aid for Trade in Central Asia”, funded by the Government of Finland. The project will continue to provide support to key
