Uzbekenergo unhappy with Tajikistan’s energy export strategy
Tajikistan has placed itself in direct competition with Uzbekistan as a supplier of electric power. From August this year, Tajikistan has agreed to supply electricity to Afghanistan through the new Sangtud-Puli-Khumri power line, an Uzbekenergo spokesman says. READ MORE
What is Going to Happen to Middle Asia?
Each day gets us closer to the date of withdrawal of the main part of American troops and all NATO units from Afghanistan, planned on the end of 2014, and it becomes clear, that the prospects of Middle Asia look more indefinite. As it has already been known, a part of military equipment the USA plans to give the former soviet republics of the region. READ MORE
Afghan and Central Asian Members of Parliament work to strengthen cooperation
A group of 14 parliamentarians from Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan visited NATO Headquarters in Brussels, Belgium. The visit - organised by NATO Public Diplomacy Division - was part of a long-standing programme of cooperation in the field of public diplomacy between the Alliance and these countries. The group met with representatives of the Diplomatic Corps, as well as with members of the International Staff, including Ambassador Dirk Brengelmann, Assistant Secretary General for Political Affairs and Security Policy. READ MORE
The Legacy of Soviet Nuclear Industry in Tajikistan: Opportunities and Challenges
In April, Rustam Latifov, the head of the Tajik Parliament’s Ecological Commission, announced Tajikistan’s intention to seek international donors to help secure more than 50,000 tons of radioactive waste in Taboshar and distribute humanitarian funds for 2,000 people in the immediate vicinity who are particularly exposed in the villages of Old Taboshar and Somoni (ozodi.org, April 12). Taboshar, situated in the Ferghana Valley of Sugd Oblast just north of Khujand (Tajikistan’s second largest city), is one of ten Soviet-era nuclear sites in the country. While a part of the Soviet Union, Sugd Oblast was a center for both the extraction and enrichment of uranium. Mines in Taboshar and Adrasman provided uranium to the Leninabad Mining and Chemical Combine (now the Vostochnyy Rare Metal Industrial Association, or Vostokredmet) in the city of Chkalovsk. The then-Leninabad plant processed up to 1,000,000 metric tons of uranium a year to enrich yellowcake and uranium hexafluoride and provided the material for the USSR’s first nuclear weapon. READ MORE
NATO’s Central Asian interests
The Central Asian countries (Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Turkmenistan) have entered a period of serious challenges related to the situation in Afghanistan. READ MORE
Countries of Central Asia deserve reparations from Russia and international community for damage to water resources during the Soviet times, U.S. scholar says
As a legal heir to the former Soviet Union, Russia should feel responsible for the serious damage to the water resources in Central Asia inflicted by huge irrigation projects during the Soviet era, according to a renowned U.S. expert on the region, reported Silk Road Newsline. READ MORE
President of Tajikistan and Minister of Armed Forces of United Kingdom discuss withdrawal of British troops from Afghanistan
The use of the territory of Tajikistan for the withdrawal of British troops in the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan (ISAF) in 2014 was discussed in Dushanbe on Friday by President of Tajikistan Emomalii Rahmon and State Minister for the Armed Forces of the United Kingdom Nick Harvey. READ MORE
EU to support delimitation of borders in Ferghana Valley
The European Union will support the delimitation of borders in the Ferghana Valley, which is located on the territory of Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, CA-News was told in the EU mission in Dushanbe on Monday. READ MORE
Turkistan 'terrorists' hurt Uyghur cause
The Turkistan Islamic Party (TIP) harbors the lofty and unrealistic goal of expelling Chinese "occupiers" from Xinjiang province and create an independent State called "East Turkistan". READ MORE
Kyrgyz and Tajik Migrants in Moscow Speak Out
On January 16, labor migrants from Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and other countries joined an anti-fascist rally in Moscow to commemorate the memory of the slain human rights activists Stanislav Markelov and Anastasiya Baburova. Both fought against racial and national discrimination, and were killed three years ago by an unknown gunman. This event is significant for two reasons. READ MORE
