Eurasianet

While clumsy on COVID-19, Turkmenistan is being more sure-footed, or consistent at least, on the Afghanistan front. Plus, unsustainable agriculture. Our weekly briefing.

The government signals it is taking COVID a bit more seriously, without admitting the virus is running rampant. And Ashgabat gets down to business with the Taliban. This and more in our weekly briefing.

With the Taliban at the border, the president heads in the other direction to oversee defense operations on the Caspian Sea. Our weekly Turkmenistan briefing.

That Central Asia's presidents seemed to enjoy themselves together was itself a breakthrough. This and more in our weekly Turkmenistan briefing.

Iranians have been flooding into Armenia to get COVID vaccines, causing Tehran to complain and Yerevan to tighten the rules.

Vaccine hesitancy in Uzbekistan is high, bred by social media conspiracies that seem credible in a country without accountable authorities.

Our Kazakhstan correspondent describes the waiting, the bureaucracy, and the anticlimax of getting his Sputnik V jab in Almaty.

Although Turkmenistan is rarely mentioned as a prospective member of the Moscow-led EAEU trading bloc, that notion is quite obviously on the Kremlin’s mind. Our weekly briefing.

Hopes are being pinned on the Sino-Uzbek vaccine ZF-UZ-VAC 2001.

Dushanbe is desperate to resume flights to Russian cities.

Spraying chlorine, new infrastructure on the Afghan border, and claims of a naturally occurring COVID vaccine. This and more in our weekly Turkmenistan bulletin.

Uzbekistan, Tajikistan are taking triumphalist stances on coronavirus.

Electricity exports; crowd control outside food shops; and despite denials, COVID strikes. This and more in our weekly Turkmenistan briefing.

Food prices have jumped this year and there are few jobs, but out-of-work migrants can’t get to where they are desperately needed.

An unacknowledged second wave, secret police at funerals, and congratulations from the Taliban. This and more in our weekly Turkmenistan briefing.