Eurasianet

Out-of-touch elites, poor planning, and some signs of progress in regional trade. Our weekly Turkmenistan briefing.

Tashkent has also announced it will not return Afghan aircraft flown by pilots fleeing the Taliban last summer.

In our weekly briefing: Restrictions easing, COVID denialism persists, foreign suitors come visiting in hope of business, and the latest annual horse jamboree.

Turkmenistan's new president is continuing his father's traditions: Building white elephants, censoring the internet, and booting people out of their homes.

The billionaire had bought his stake only months ago from the president’s son-in-law.

Businesspeople worry that Kazakh reliance on Russian export routes is going to harm the economy.

The president-in-waiting plans to change nothing. This and more in our weekly Turkmenistan briefing.

Sanctions on Russia quickly impact its allies in Central Asia.

The government said the system was useless against the Omicron variant, but critics accused them of pandering to anti-vaxxer sentiment.

None could miss Beijing’s big moment.

Xi Jinping said trade has grown 25-fold over the last two decades.

As the president readies the public for yet another year of shortages, he has taken money from an economic stabilization fund to breed more horses. This and more in our weekly briefing.

In our weekly briefing: The Taliban visit Ashgabat, the dauphin is received by Uzbekistan’s president, and authorities tighten control after unrest in neighboring Kazakhstan.

Tbilisi’s world-famous nightclubs were the country’s last businesses to reopen following the COVID lockdown. But it took a confrontation with the authorities to make it happen.

A cratering economy, the world’s slowest internet, and the army takes charge of food production. This and more in our weekly Turkmenistan briefing.