Tag: Islam Karimov

Uzbekistan President vows to reform ‘mad dog’ secret police

February 21, 2018 Uzbekistan Islam Karimov, Shavkat Mirziyoev, SNB, Soviet Union, Uzbekistan

Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoev has said he will reform the country’s secret police, reports Radio Free Europe (RFERL). Calling members of the security services “mad dogs”, Mirziyoev has accused the SNB (a successor to the Soviet-era KGB) of committing atrocities, targeting innocent people and “exceeding its authority”. The SNB developed . . . Read More

Turkmenistan: No change soon for religious minorities after Consitution amended

September 14, 2016 Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov, Islam Karimov, Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbayev, Saparmurat Niyazov, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan

Turkmenistan has approved a constitutional amendment that will allow its President to rule for as long as he likes. Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov has ruled Turkmenistan since 2006. His predecessor, Saparmurat Niyazov, died while still in office at the age of 66 – he was President for 21 years, during which time . . . Read More

Uzbek pastor: ‘It will be even worse after Karimov’

September 7, 2016 Uzbekistan Islam Karimov, Soviet Union, Uzbekistan

An Uzbek church leader has said he fears life will be even harder for minority Christians after the death of Islam Karimov, the country’s President since 1989. Karimov, who was installed during the Soviet era, was eventually confirmed to have died on 2 September, after a week of speculation following . . . Read More

Uzbek pastor and family granted asylum in US after 9-year ordeal

September 2, 2016 Uzbekistan Andijan, Asylum seekers, Central Asia, Fergana Valley, Hizb ut-Tahrir, Islam Karimov, Islamic extremism, Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, Migrants, Refugees, Soviet Union, USA, Uzbekistan

Finally, their journey is over. Three years since fleeing Uzbekistan – following four years in a labour camp, house arrest and death threats – Pastor Dmitry Shestakov has arrived in the United States, where he and his family have been granted asylum. It’s been almost 10 years since Shestakov was . . . Read More

Central Asian Christians feel repercussions of governments’ focus on Islamist threat

July 6, 2016 Central Asia, Hizb ut-Tahrir, Islam Karimov, Islamic extremism, Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Saparmurat Niyazov, Soviet Union, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan

When the three suicide bombers who killed 44 people at Istanbul’s main airport on 28 June were identified as Russian, Uzbek and Kyrgyz nationals, it provided another reminder that the threat from the so-called Islamic State reaches far beyond Syria and Iraq. And nowhere is that threat being taken more . . . Read More

Central Asia in the spotlight as Azerbaijan hosts European Games

June 13, 2015 Ashgabat, Azerbaijan, Baku, Caucasus, Central Asia, Islam Karimov, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, London, Nursultan Nazarbayev, Saparmurat Niyazov, Soviet Union, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan

In a somewhat geographically and culturally challenging development, the first ever European Games begins today (13 June) in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan is more usually identified as a Central Asian country, but the European Union considers it to be in what it calls its “European Neighbourhood” – what others . . . Read More

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