Eurasianet

Despite Ashgabat’s fervent diplomacy, one ingredient is missing from its dream project across Afghanistan. Our weekly briefing.

The embassy says it refuses to give back the cash.

The new launchpad is designed to accommodate more environmentally safe craft.

Turkmenistan is busily engaging with neighbors. Plus: Dancing diplomats and the president’s nephew liquidates a dodgy scheme after journalists exposed him. Our weekly briefing.

A charismatic, handicapped singer has gone viral, triggering appearances with Russian superstars and a member of the ruling family.

The conscripts, generally Tajikistan’s poorest young men, are brutalized into service. And they are the country’s first line of defense.

As hopes for an Afghanistan gas pipeline fade again, there is more upbeat news to the west.

Letters from Washington, cybersecurity cooperation with China, and negotiating with a bankrupt Taliban. This and more in our weekly briefing.

The country no longer has a choice, the president says.

The question of whether Uzbekistan should join the Russia-led Eurasian Economic Union, with its single market of 184 million people, has provoked fierce debates.

Kazakhstan is moving through the production cycle, powered by Chinese demand.

Officials blame an 8 percent spike in consumption on crypto miners from China.

A struggling economy and defeat in last year’s war appear to be driving large numbers of Armenians to leave the country.

More than a fifth of Tajikistan’s total population has entered Russia so far this year.

Arbitrary collective punishment, breadlines before dawn, and a resurgence of diplomacy. This and more in our weekly Turkmenistan briefing.