Tag: Saparmurat Niyazov

Turkmenistan: No change soon for religious minorities after Consitution amended

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Turkmenistan: No change soon for religious minorities after Consitution amended
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

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

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

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Central Asia in the spotlight as Azerbaijan hosts European Games
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