Full Coverage: Kyrgyzstan

22.02.2008 The European Union is eager to strengthen its economic partnerships with Central Asian nations, notably Turkmenistan, despite the extremely poor human rights records of countries in this region, writes David Cronin.

18.01.2008 Rebiya, a woman from the Uighur community in western China, was forced to flee her home due to her father's involvement in controversial political matters and now struggles to attain citizenship in Kyrgyzstan, her land of refuge.

03.01.2008 In Kyrgyzstan and many other Central Asian countries, social norms bar women drug users from self-help programs, such as needle exchange, and facilitate their exploitation by other members of society.

03.10.2007 As the outcome of the Ukrainian election threatens to peel away the orange revolution, Misha Kechaqmadze traces the success of post-Soviet regimes to stamp out the march to democracy.

08.08.2007 Kyrgyzstan's new president was elected with the promise to respect the law and civil freedoms, but now women activists are mobilizing amid reports that the government is accountable for a deterioration of the human rights situation.

06.06.2007 Martin Fluch teaches German at Kyrgyzstan’s secondary school #18. Short on books but long on energy, he has embarked on a 680-kilometer run to raise money and awareness for his country's under-supplied and under-staffed educational system.

13.09.2006 SAN FRANCISCO, Sep 13 (OneWorld) - The Bush Administration is objecting to a groundbreaking treaty that set up a nuclear weapon-free zone in Central Asia.

11.09.2006 Five Central Asian states committed themselves to never acquiring, manufacturing, possessing, or testing nuclear weapons by signing a treaty Thursday to create a Central Asian nuclear-weapon-free zone.
From: Arms Control Association

20.03.2006 A presidential decree set to make Friday's first anniversary of Kyrgyzstan's revolution a national holiday has members of the business and upper classes up in arms.

29.07.2005 Over 400 Uzbek refugees who fled to Kyrgyzstan after May’s Andijan massacre are to be given new homes abroad, despite Uzbek pressure that Kyrgyzstan return the refugees. The U.N.'s refugee chief in Kyrgyzstan refused to say where the refugees will go, though speculation points to the Czech Republic, Ukraine, or Canada.

12.07.2005 Acting President Kurmanbek Bakiyev won a landslide victory in Kyrgyzstan’s presidential elections Sunday, calling the vote a "victory of our people's revolution." Promising to fight corruption and reduce presidential power, it was Bakiyev's announcement to reconsider a U.S. military base in Kyrgyzstan that struck a chord in Washington.

20.06.2005 Bride kidnapping is so prevalent in Kyrgyzstan that nearly half of ethnic Kyrgyz women are married this way. Kidnapped and often raped, women are held until they consent to marry their captor. Often overlooked by authorities, some officials are calling for attention to be paid--by including the practice under future anti-trafficking legislation.

26.05.2005 The weak interim regime in Kyrgyzstan has caved in to strong-armed pressure from President Karimov to return the refugees who fled from the Andijan massacre. Fears for their safety in Uzbekistan are intense.

16.05.2005 The violence in Andijan has generated a stream of refugees desperate to cross the border into Kyrgyzstan. But the Kyrgyz authorities are in no hurry to allow them in whilst the heavyhanded Uzbeks are prepared to open fire to prevent then leaving.

28.03.2005 The instant analysis by many political analysts--as well as the Bush administration--is to classify Kyrgyzstan as part of the global domino effect of democracy, but the lack of control and agreement among those who have taken power is worrisome, says the editor of an online journal specializing in Central Asia, and the country could wander down a dangerous path in coming weeks, even emerging as a new safe haven for international terrorist operations.

24.03.2005 Protestors overwhelmed riot police guarding the government compound in Kyrgyzstan's capital, Bishkek, this morning, and freed opposition leader Felix Kulov fom prison. President Akayev's whereabouts were not known, but some reports held that he had fled to Russia and may have resigned.

24.03.2005 Despite his ruthless reputation, President Akayev of Kyrgyzstan has settled for low key tactics in dealing with the people's revolution in the southern provinces of the country. What will happen today as protests move to the capital Bishkek?

23.03.2005 A popular uprising stemming from disputes over last week's parliamentary elections in Kyrgyzstan have raised comparisons with recent political transitions in Ukraine and Georgia. The coming days could be decisive; the president has called for an investigation into election irregularities, but it may be too little too late to appease protestors who have already formed a 'People's Power Authority' in the south of the country.

01.10.2004 Unesco is supporting a workshop on free and open source software (FOSS) for
education in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. The country’s education ministry and institutions as well as organisations from Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan will discuss the ethical and legal issues related to FOSS and its implementation in Central Asia.

18.05.2004 The impact of ICTs on local culture in countries of Central Asia is the focus of this multi-year research project. It has already come out with some findings on the implications of internet on society.