Author: Tahminah

The Dushanbe Declaration was adopted after the economic forum and meeting of the Governing Council of countries in the UN Special Program for Central Asian Economies (SPECA) held in Tajikistan, according to the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP). Delegates from Central Asia emphasized the need for increased regional cooperation in sustainable development. They pledged to work together in sectors such as energy, digital trade, trade harmonization, SME support, water management, and creating innovation ecosystems. UN Under-Secretary-General Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana stressed that SPECA should attract green investments and drive sustainable growth in the region.…

After Tajiks were charged with a deadly attack in Moscow, the country has cracked down on signs of Islam. But experts say it’s not addressing the causes of terrorism. People in Tajikistan were expecting a government crackdown after Tajik men were arrested and charged with a terrorist attack on a Moscow concert hall in March. But it still seemed excessive to Nilufar, a 27-year-old education professional, when she saw local authorities with scissors outside a K.F.C. in Dushanbe, Tajikistan’s capital, trimming beards that were deemed too long. Excessive, but not so surprising. In the span of a month, Nilufar herself…

Au revoir Paris, Hola LA. In a nutshell, that was the just completed ceremony of the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad. It was Tom Cruise leaping off the rim of the Stade de France to take the Olympic flag from LA Mayor Karen Bass and Simone Biles. As the guitar riffs of H.E.R. filled the air, Cruise then exited on a motorbike to deliver the flag to a sunny West Coast. It was the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Billie Eilish and Olympic fixture Snoop Dogg getting into the pre-recorded groove down in Long Beach. It wasn’t telling of the full scope of Los Angeles and no mention was made of Snoop’s…

Hong Kong’s government will be able to proceed with making a protest song illegal under the city’s national security laws after winning a court challenge. The High Court had last year rejected the government’s request for Glory to Hong Kong to be banned, saying it would have “chilling effects” on free speech. But on Wednesday an appeal court overturned that ruling. The move is likely to deepen concerns about freedoms being further eroded in the city. Amnesty International said the government’s ban was “as ludicrous as it is dangerous”. The US, meanwhile, said it was “the latest blow to the…

Explanations beginning to emerge after worst terror attack in Israel’s history They might as well have been sitting ducks. They are the tatzpitaniyot, mostly female soldiers stationed on the IDF bases near the Gaza Strip, their eyes glued to security cameras and other feeds of the border. Last Saturday morning, the Hamas terrorists who entered some of those bases with hang gliders shot at cameras and jammed some communications systems. They shot at the combat soldiers who were stationed at those bases, as well as at the tatzpitaniyot. “Yes, they surprised us, and we weren’t ready for it,” said a female soldier…

The Tajik government has recently transferred thousands of hectares of prime land to a private company that government opponents claim is controlled by a close relative of the authoritarian president, Emomali Rahmon.RFE/RL’s Tajik Service obtained a copy of an official document signed by Rahmon on November 29 that grants temporary ownership of the land to the Ismoili Somoni Holding Company.According to the government’s business registry, the head of the holding company is Rahmatullo Asadulloevich Sadulloev, whom the president’s critics have identified as one of Rahmon’s brothers-in-law.RFE/RL has contacted the Tajik authorities for comment but had not received a response at the time…

“Group 24”, an organization banned in Tajikistan, announced in a statement about the extradition of Bilal Qurbanaliev, an arrested member of this group, to Dushanbe. Qurbanaliev was arrested in October this year for violating the rules of residence in Germany. On December 8, the representatives of “Group-24” said in a statement that the deportation center of the German Ministry of Migration in the city of HOF on November 24 extradited Bilol Qurbanaliev to Tajikistan. The decision to extradite him was issued on the same day, and on November 27, it reached the hands of his defense attorney. According to the information…

The American Embassy in Dushanbe invited Tajik youth to study abroad. Maqsuda Hakimzoda, a student from Hisar, who participated in the International Education Week exhibition in Dushanbe, said that she came here to choose a good university abroad. “I am very happy to see this exhibition up close today. We got many things from this exhibition, like many books. They gave us many suggestions about studying in other countries. I want to study abroad, today we were offered here that if you want, we will support you to study abroad,” he said. International education week will be held in Dushanbe for the 17th…

In a fight between Alisher Gulov, the son of Sherali Gul, the former Minister of Industry and Energy, and Sherdil Sirojov, the son of a businessman and the owner of the former “Jal-Jam” market, five people were injured from both sides. The incident happened around 3 o’clock in the morning on November 30 in the entertainment center “Bukhara Palace” in Dushanbe. Two sources of Radio Ozodi in Dushanbe law enforcement authorities said on December 1 that both parties were drunk and it is not yet clear whose fault the fight started. “The incident is being investigated by Ismail Somoni’s Ministry…

Frankfurt (18/12 – 14) That there are remarkable advantages in being ignored is not generally recognized. Central Asian countries, historically under the thumb of Moscow, all through the 70+ years of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, were more or less cut off from the outside world. There was little trade or other exchange. The USSR was in fact a grab-bag of ethnicities, religions and languages, controlled with an iron fist by Stalin and afterwards with unbroken dominance through subsequent regimes. Under Soviet management, Central Asia had stayed poor and ignored; it had not developed any hydrocarbon resources to lure…