Eurasianet

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

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

Middle-class Afghans with the means to navigate Tajikistan’s bureaucracy see the country as a springboard to the West.

That sets them apart from Afghanistan’s other post-Soviet neighbor, Tajikistan.

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.

A severe food shortage crisis is looming in Afghanistan this winter.

Iran and Georgia considered as alternatives.

The Taliban has assured the region’s governments that it has no designs on them, but can it keep more hostile groups in check?

Tajik officials no longer speak about the militants with complete disdain.

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

Ashgabat may hope expending energy to attain international respectability will improve its chances of tapping global financial institutions for investment.

Travel bans, dams and Russian fans. This and more in our weekly Turkmenistan briefing.

Many in the territory blame the rising numbers of coronavirus cases on the authorities’ decision to open up to Russian tourists.

The territory's public health officials have warned against opening up to tourism, and the arrival of tourists has coincided with a spike in the number of COVID-19 cases.