Turkmenistan

by Vladimir Rozanskij | CENTRAL ASIA - CHINA

Of the five countries, only Turkmenistan is not a member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), in keeping with its traditional international neutrality, but President Serdar Berdymukhamedov was nevertheless present at the parade in Beijing. Trade between the region and China grew by 5% last year and will soon exceed 0 billion. Russia is now forced to play a secondary role.

by Vladimir Rozanskij

The 12th annual session of the Dialogue between the European Union and Central Asian countries was held in Dushanbe. During the summit, Tajikistan agreed to conclude a wide-ranging partnership agreement with the EU, joining the processes underway in various forms in other countries in the region.

| 18/07/2025
| CENTRAL ASIA - EU
by Vladimir Rozanskij

For some time now, the authorities in Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Turkmenistan have banned end-of-school-year celebrations in order to ‘avoid excesses’. However, these celebrations continue to take place in secret in country houses or basements, with spending on gifts increasing year after year.

| 03/07/2025
| CENTRAL ASIA
by Vladimir Rozanskij

At the second Forum held in Kazakhstan after the one in Xi'an in 2023, China and the five countries in the region signed 58 trade agreements with investments of over billion. Among the priorities are transport routes and energy, but also the processing of rare earths. On the political front, Xi Jinping gained support for his condemnation of all forms of ‘trade wars involving tariffs and sanctions’.

| 26/06/2025
| CENTRAL ASIA - CHINA
by Vladimir Rozanskij

The Berdymukhamedov government is mobilising to counter “foreign centres of ideological sabotage” which, in its view, are fuelling protests. Public officials will have to go door to door in villages to gather stories about how well people live in the country. They will be accompanied by artists who will demonstrate their skills by singing or playing traditional instruments.

| 09/06/2025
| TURKMENISTAN
by Vladimir Rozanskij

Since the collapse of the USSR, the five former Soviet republics of Central Asia have been debating whether to abandon the Cyrillic alphabet in favour of Latin script. Some argue it more closely reflects the phonetics of Turkic languages, but the issue is entangled with broader calls for “de-Russification” in the context of the war in Ukraine. Even in Kazakhstan—where Nazarbayev launched the transition with the aim of completing it by 2031—serious doubts remain.

| 08/05/2025
| CENTRAL ASIA
by Vladimir Rozanskij

The ‘patriarchal’ traditions of the region seem to be increasingly shifting towards the female faces of the local ‘dynasties’. This is confirmed by the sudden emergence from the shadows of Oguldžakhan Atabaeva, sister of theTurkmen President, Serdar Berdymukhamedov, and daughter of the President-father Gurbanguly.

| 14/04/2025
| TURKMENISTAN
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