Eighth suspect in Moscow attack appears in court, rights commissioner warns on torture
Reuters Russia remanded in custody on Tuesday a Kyrgyzstan-born man suspected of involvement in Friday’s mass shooting at a Moscow concert hall, and sent investigators to Tajikistan to question the families of four men charged with carrying out the attack. Eight suspects have now been remanded in pre-trial detention since gunmen sprayed concertgoers with bullets […]
Kyrgyzstan shuts down prominent news outlet
Bishkek, Kazakhstan Reuters A court in Kyrgyzstan has ruled to dissolve a non-governmental organisation that ran a popular news website often critical of the government. The court order late on Friday to shut down Kloop.kg follows raids on several other media outlets and arrests of their reporters, which Western governments have criticised as a crackdown […]
Kyrgyzstan moves to rid national flag of likeness to “fickle” sunflower
Bishkek, KyrgyzstanReuters Kyrgyzstan’s parliament voted on Wednesday to tweak the design of the national flag after critics, including President Sadyr Japarov, said its central element looked like a sunflower which in the local culture symbolises fickleness and servility. A man wearing a Kyrgyz national hat poses with national flags before a rally marking the Day of […]
Kyrgyz ex-President released from prison, case to be reviewed
Bishkek, KyrgyzstanReuters Kyrgyzstan’s former President, Almazbek Atambayev, has been released from prison for medical treatment abroad, an ally said on Tuesday, as his case was sent for a review. Atambayev, who served as president between 2011 and 2017 and is so far the only Kyrgyz leader who has not been toppled by violent protests, was […]
Kyrgyz-Tajik border conflict death toll nearly 100
Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan Reuters Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan said on Sunday nearly 100 people had died in their border conflict, as a fragile ceasefire between the Central Asian nations extended into a second day and their mutual ally Russia urged a de-escalation. The former Soviet republics clashed over a border dispute on 14th to 16th September, accusing each […]
Kyrgyzstan reports heavy fighting with Tajikistan, 24 people killed
Bishkek, KyrgyzstanReuters Kyrgyzstan reported “intense battles” with Central Asian neighbour Tajikistan on Friday and said 24 people had been killed in the latest outbreak of violence to hit the former Soviet Union. Both of the small impoverished landlocked nations have accused each other of restarting fighting in a disputed area, despite a ceasefire deal. A […]
Essay: ‘Bride kidnapping’ haunts rural Kyrgyzstan, causing young women to flee their homeland
In an article first published on The Conversation, US-based researchers ERIN HOFMANN and GUANGQING CHI look at the problem of ‘bride kidnapping’ and its links with migration in Kyrgyzstan…
Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan agree ceasefire after border clashes
Bishkek, KyrgyzstanReuters Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan agreed what they called a complete ceasefire on Saturday after reports of fresh shooting and troop build-ups in the aftermath of border clashes earlier this week that killed 49 people. The heads of the countries’ state security bodies announced the agreement in a joint briefing in Kyrgyzstan hours after Kyrgyzstan’s […]
Wow!: How a new game app aims to help address bride kidnapping in Kyrgyzstan
UMBERTO BACCHI, of Thomson Reuters Foundation, reports…
Uzbekistan ends plight of thousands of stateless people with landmark law
London, UKThomson Reuters Foundation Uzbekistan is to allow tens of thousands of stateless people to become citizens under a new law hailed by the United Nations, which urged other countries to follow suit in ending the plight of some of the world’s most invisible people. “This is a huge development and we hope it will […]