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LONDON (TCA) — When in late summer 2014 Kyrgyzstan’s then Interior Minister Abdulla Suranchiyev revealed names of local people’s representatives accusing them of “ties with organised crime,” a shockwave went through the country and beyond. Crime in Central Asia is a long ignored fact that is a deadly danger for the society. Of course, everyone knew about the organized crime groups and their ringleaders dubbed “avtoritety,” an equivalent for the western “godfathers,” but hardly anyone so far had realised that their power over the economy and indeed society itself had become so dangerously strong, exceeding that of the much-feared terrorism made in Afghanistan and the Near East. Continue reading
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BISHKEK (TCA) — Back in 2014, then minister of economic affairs of Kazakhstan Kairat Kelimbetov stated at the Astana Economic Forum that the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) in the course of its formation “is learning a lot from the European Union – not just from the latter’s successes, but also from its mistakes”. Today, that statement is being put to the test – especially concerning the admission of Kyrgyzstan and Armenia by the bloc’s three founding members: Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan. Continue reading
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LONDON (TCA) — It is hardly a secret any longer: both Saudi Arabia and Turkey are becoming atomic powers and their plans stretch further than just Kurds and Syria. The consequences for Central Asia’s post-Soviet republics can become extremely grave sooner than it looks – not in the least because numerous cases of “disappeared” radioactive waste point in the direction of the “enemy within” – meaning Daesh, Al-Qaeda and similar groups. Put together, the facts as far as known show that the world is now closer to a nuclear military adventure, and Central Asia is not outside the danger zone. Continue reading
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OSH, Kyrgyzstan (TCA) — A growing number of commentators and other observers, both in the west and in the former USSR, are casting doubt on the distinction between “radicals” and “moderates” among “Muslim activists” both in Syria and the world outside it. If there is one place in the world that shows how justified such suspicions are to some extent, it must be Central Asia. Continue reading
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LONDON (TCA) — May 22 is the date set for the final nod by the people of Tajikistan through a referendum to change the Constitution to allow the present head of state take part in presidential elections for as many terms as he wishes. Continue reading
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LONDON (TCA) — In December 1992, seven months after the start of the sectarian Tajik Civil War, the Russian 201st Motor Rifle Division recaptured the Tajik capital of Dushanbe which had been held by the United Tajik Opposition, a coalition of Islamists, nationalists and democrats. The 201st Division was a unit of the Russian Army, stationed in Tajikistan after the withdrawal from Afghanistan. The 201st were the border guards on the periphery of the Soviet Union with the 810 mile long border with Afghanistan to the south and the turbulent Chinese province of Xinjiang to the East. Continue reading
