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Channel • 3 Shows

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Every two weeks

28/07/2019

Majlis Podcast: Behind Turkmenistan's Facade

Amid rumors about the health of President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov, we take a look at what is behind the facade the Turkmen government tries to show the world.

28/07/2019

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39 min
09/10/2022

Improving Life For People With Disabilities In Central Asia

People with disabilities worldwide continue to face a range of challenges. Access to public facilities or public transportation is often far from adequate. The opportunities for education are limited. And at the root of the problem is the mentality of segregation that has long existed toward those with a disability. What is the situation in Central Asia? What is being done, and what still needs to done to improve the lives of the disabled in the region is the topic of this week’s Majlis podcast.

09/10/2022

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50 min
14/02/2021

Dynastic Succession, Renewed Hopes For Pipelines: What's Going On In Turkmenistan?

On this week's Majlis Podcast, RFE/RL media-relations manager Muhammad Tahir moderates a discussion on what has been happening in Turkmenistan recently and if any of these events signal a change in the country's future.

14/02/2021

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43 min
15/01/2023

The Terrible Rights Situation In Turkmenistan

Turkmenistan has long had a poor reputation for human rights. But recently, two activists whose cases received international attention were freed. This episode of the Majlis podcast looks at some of activists who have languished in Turkmen prisons and examines whether anything has changed since a new president took over in March 2022. Joining host Bruce Pannier to discuss these topics are Rachel Denber, deputy director of HRW's Europe and Central Asia division; Ivar Dale, senior policy adviser at the Norwegian Helsinki Committee; and Farruh Yusupov, director of RFE/RL’s Turkmen service, known locally as Azatlyk.

15/01/2023

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41 min
03/12/2023

Meeting Development Goals For Central Asia’s Persons With Disabilities

December 3 is International Day of Persons with Disabilities. Central Asian countries have all ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and are moving toward implementing the UN Sustainable Development Goals by 2030. Two of those goals are: quality education for all; and decent work and economic growth. In this podcast, we look at the prospects for Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan to achieve these goals for persons with disabilities. Joining host Bruce Pannier to discuss this topic are guests Seinep Dyikanbayeva, program manager and lawyer of the Kyrgyz NGO Parents of Children with Disabilities; Madina Karsakpaeyava, currently working for the UNDP to help make all of Kazakhstan accessible for the disabled; Mirsaid Mukhtorov, a student of the International Law Faculty at the University of World Economy and Diplomacy in Uzbekistan, and an independent researcher of rights of people with disabilities; and Dilmurad Yusupov, co-founder of the NGO Sharoit Plus, an organization which aims to promote a barrier-free and inclusive society for all disabled people in Uzbekistan.

03/12/2023

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43 min
23/06/2024

The Threat Posed by IS-K To Central Asia -- And Beyond

The threat of terrorism is never far from the minds of officials in Central Asia, who know that their region shares a 2,000-kilometer border with Afghanistan. In recent weeks, Tajikistan’s speaker of parliament has warned about a growing number of militants in northern Afghanistan and in Kyrgyzstan, where authorities detained 15 suspected members of Islamic State-Khorasan (IS-K), a group operating out of Afghanistan. Suspected IS-K militants who are Tajik nationals have been blamed for terrorist attacks in Moscow in March and Iran in January. Joining host Bruce Pannier to look at who these militants are and where they are active are guests Lucas Webber, the co-founder and editor of militantwire.com and a research fellow at the Soufan Center; and Riccardo Valle, an analyst focused on jihadism security and the director of thekhorasandiary.com.

23/06/2024

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47 min
05/02/2023

How Kyrgyzstan 'Has Slid Towards Autocracy'

For some 30 years, Kyrgyzstan has had the reputation of being the most democratic country in Central Asia. That is changing quickly. A new constitution approved in 2021 gave President Sadyr Japarov sweeping powers, and he has been using these to clamp down on political opposition, civil society, and independent media. Joining host Bruce Pannier to discuss the dramatic events unfolding in Kyrgyzstan are, Gulnoza Said, head of the Europe and Central Asia program at the Committee to Protect Journalists, Syinat Sultanalieva, Central Asia researcher for Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan at Human Rights Watch, and Bakyt Beshimov, a former member of Kyrgyzstan’s parliament and a former ambassador to the OSCE who currently teaches at Northeastern University.

05/02/2023

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43 min
22/11/2020

Majlis Podcast: The Controversy Over Kyrgyzstan’s Draft Constitution

Kyrgyzstan’s new leadership has hastily written a new draft constitution and set January 10, 2021, the day already named for the presidential election, to also be the day people vote on a referendum on this new constitution.

22/11/2020

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50 min
14/04/2024

Are Tajik Government Policies Helping Create Terrorists?

Can an authoritarian government's policies contribute to its citizens becoming terrorists? Tajik President Emomali Rahmon’s government has received financial and security aid from many governments and for more than three decades, in an effort to keep Tajikistan from becoming a second Afghanistan or Syria. During that time, Rahmon has exploited these concerns to crush all potential opposition and allow his family to take control of nearly every profitable business in the country. In recent months, a few dozen citizens of Tajikistan have carried out -- or been accused of carrying out or abetting -- terrorist attacks in several countries. Should the Tajik government also be held responsible? Joining host Bruce Pannier to discuss this are guests Marius Fossum, the regional representative in Central Asia for the Norwegian Helsinki Committee, and Steve Swerdlow, a rights lawyer with long experience in Central Asia and currently an associate professor of the practice of human rights at the University of Southern California.

14/04/2024

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48 min
31/10/2021

Shortages On People’s Minds As Central Asia Heads Into Winter

On this week's Majlis podcast, Muhammad Tahir moderates a discussion on the current situation in Central Asian countries while they prepare for winter and what could be in store for them as temperatures continue to drop.

31/10/2021

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39 min

RFE/RL's mission is to promote democratic values by providing accurate, uncensored news and open debate in countries where a free press is threatened. We rely on our networks of local reporters to provide accurate news and information in 27 languages and 23 countries.

RFE/RL

Top Shows

Majlis Podcast: Behind Turkmenistan's Facade

Improving Life For People With Disabilities In Central Asia

Dynastic Succession, Renewed Hopes For Pipelines: What's Going On In Turkmenistan?

The Terrible Rights Situation In Turkmenistan

Meeting Development Goals For Central Asia’s Persons With Disabilities

The Threat Posed by IS-K To Central Asia -- And Beyond

How Kyrgyzstan 'Has Slid Towards Autocracy'

Majlis Podcast: The Controversy Over Kyrgyzstan’s Draft Constitution

Are Tajik Government Policies Helping Create Terrorists?

Shortages On People’s Minds As Central Asia Heads Into Winter

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