Sunday, February 12, 2023

Central Asia in Focus: Attacks on RFE/RL’s Kyrgyz Service

 


Attacks on RFE/RL’s Kyrgyz Service, Kazakhstan oil exports, human rights in Turkmenistan, Kyrgyz-Tajik ties, elections in Turkmenistan, and more.

What's Happening in the Region
Rights Groups Call on Kyrgyz Authorities to Stop Attacks on RFE/RL’s Kyrgyz Service
The Civic Solidarity Platform condemns the Kyrgyz government's actions against RFE/RL’s Kyrgyz Service, known locally as Azattyk.

Kyrgyz authorities have blocked Azattyk’s Kyrgyz and Russian websites since late October.

On October 31, Kyrgyzstan’s Demirbank froze Azattyk’s bank account.

Kyrgyz authorities said the reason for blocking Azattyk’s websites was RFE/RL’s refusal to remove a video from RFE/RL’s Russian-language TV channel Current Time about the September fighting along the Kyrgyz-Tajik border.

Demirbank said the decision to freeze Azattyk’s bank account was done at the request of the State Committee for National Security (UKMK).