Eurasianet

Ecological conservation is a matter of pride in Turkmenistan. But a disconnect between rhetoric and reality is a hallmark of the Berdymukhamedov era.

A facile and naïve plan being discussed in Washington risks backfiring on Iran’s minority Christians.

This week in our Turkmenistan bulletin: Ashgabat and Moscow suddenly ratify an aged security agreement. Plus budgets, boasts and bribes.

The country's largest oil refinery is no stranger to scandals.

The appearance of the self-defense units is the second time this year that civil society has been forced to hold the line. Where the state repeatedly fails to live up to its obligations, volunteers step in.

While it would be wrong to start pointing fingers and formulating conspiracy theories, clearly the risks are many and real.

After rewarding himself with a more pliant constitution, the president held a massive military parade. This and more in our weekly Turkmenistan briefing.

Chinese personnel, whose presence Dushanbe denies, forbid reporters from filming.

Pollution fell along with traffic during quarantine, but airborne levels of several toxic chemicals rose far above WHO limits.

Government troops are rumored to have been dispatched to quell the trouble.

Developments since the tragedy are prompting questions about the extent to which the Mirziyoyev government welcomes real scrutiny.

This briefing explores government policy and food provision in the Caucasus and Central Asia as COVID-19 upsets farming and trade networks around the world.

Instead of being transparent about the economic crisis, the president is, in the manner of an unaccountable manager incapable of long-term planning, trying to do the same with less.

Supporters of the move think it will provide a useful outlet for the momentarily unemployed.

Reports from March 16-22 on how the pandemic has upended life in Central Asia and the South Caucasus.