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Quick Hits #2: A roundup of recent developments in the Caucasus and Central Asia [1]
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Date: 2025-06
Leading off…
Kyrgyz authorities are turning their crackdown on independent media up a notch. RFE/RL’s Current Time broadcast platform reported that State Security Service officials detained seven journalists working for Kloop, a prominent independent outlet, on suspicion of collaborating with exiled investigative blogger Bolat Temirov, who left Kyrgyzstan in 2022 after publishing reports exposing top-level corruption. Those questioned by authorities deny having any contact with Temirov, Kloop’s Editor-in-Chief Anna Kapushenko told Current Time. “The main question is, why do our authorities consider cooperation by journalists to be against the law, some sort of illegal activity?” Kapushenko asked. “And why would you arrest people for this reason?” Temirov also denied having any contact with the Kloop journalists. “I don’t even know many of them personally. I don’t give assignments to anyone,” he said. “I don’t work with any team, I don’t pay money to anyone. I handle all investigations personally.”
In case you missed it from the Caucasus…
Armenia made a goodwill gesture to Russia by effectively detaining an anti-Kremlin activist. Mark Serov, an online critic of the Kremlin from the Volga River city of Kazan, had been living in Georgia, but was taken in tocustody on May 10 when trying to enter Armenia. Officials let Serov’s girlfriend return to Georgia, while issuing an order prohibiting him from leaving the country. Serov is wanted in Russia for inciting “political hatred.”
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan used his May 28 Republic Day speech to tout his “Real Armenia” program. He said it was important for Armenia to make a break with the past. “Our history of the last 4.5 centuries, Historical Armenia, has sent us one main message: ‘do not repeat that history,’” he said. “The Government of the Republic of Armenia, formed by the people’s choice, has realized [this] and is implementing this historic message.” He also cautioned against overreliance on foreign powers. “Security guaranteed by foreign powers is deceptive and elusive,” Pashinyan stated. “We ourselves are the guarantors of our security, and the effective means of guaranteeing this security are … the normalization of relations with immediate neighbors.”
Azerbaijan’s State Security Service confirmed that it had taken into custody Zahireddin Ibragimov, an Azerbaijani national living in Russia who had Russian citizenship. Ibragimov was wanted by Baku for anti-state activities, specifically his criticism of the conduct of the Second Karabakh War. How he ended up in Azerbaijani hands is a mystery. Russia’s Constitution forbids the extradition of citizens. But Russian officials have said that Ibragimov was stripped of his Russian citizenship for “unlawful actions,” although the specific circumstances remain murky. Ibragimov ended up in Azerbaijani custody in April, but officials in Baku waited until late May to announce it. Around the same time, President Ilham Aliyev pardoned four Russian citizens. The respective moves may mark initial steps in an attempt to thaw relations that have been chilled since Russia’s accidental shootdown of a civilian Azerbaijani jetliner in late December.
Amid a rising number of instances of foreigners being denied entry to Georgia, both the Polish and French embassies in Tbilisi have issued travel advisories cautioning citizens of the risk. The advisories are relevant mainly for foreign nationals who are residing in Georgia, or frequent visitors, and relate to what authorities view as anti-government activity. The French advisory states: “Entry to Georgian territory may be refused even to holders of a valid Georgian residence permit. Travelers are encouraged to check, before their trip, the factors that put them at risk of being refused entry to Georgian territory, include their participation in protests in Georgia or their activity on social media. Re-entry to Georgian territory may be conditional upon immediate payment of heavy fines for alleged participation in such protests.”
Meanwhile, across the Caspian…
President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev’s administration in Kazakhstan has sacked the last top official appointed during the Nazarbayev era: Almaty’s mayor, Yerbolat Dosayev, was replaced by Darkhan Satybaldy, the deputy head of Tokayev’s executive office.
The government is considering recognizing a sign language as an official language in Kazakhstan.
Dead seals keep washing up on the Caspian seashore. Since last November, the death toll has surpassed 2,000.
A court in Uzbekistan has sentenced an Uzbek citizen to five years in prison for fighting in the Russia-Ukraine war as a mercenary. Previously, Uzbeks convicted of mercenary activity tended to get away with no jail time. The sentencing thus may represent a shift in the official Uzbek stance. In early May, a Ukrainian Telegram channel, called Project Hochu Zhit (I want to live), published the identities of 1,110 Uzbek nationals who fought in the Russian army and also posted a video in which several Uzbek POWs held by Ukraine pleaded for Tashkent to help secure their release.
Rustam Emomali, Tajikistan’s crown prince, had an audience with Vladimir Putin in Moscow. The Kremlin’s statement on the meeting was succinct, to say the least. The visit was likely just a photo op designed to enhance Rustam’s image as a viable successor to his father, Emomali Rahmon. It indicates that Rahmon’s efforts to secure a dynastic transfer of power has received Putin’s blessing.
And another thing…
UNESCO’s 2025 Gender Report focuses on gender parity in education, noting that many states in Eurasia are doing good jobs of closing gaps. Armenia and Uzbekistan were cited as leaders in terms of the share of female members of parliament. Armenia is the regional leader in terms of gender parity in tertiary gross enrollment ratio for education, but Azerbaijan, Georgia and Uzbekistan also have more women than men studying to obtain college-level degrees. Georgia and Kazakhstan, meanwhile, are regional leaders in terms of gender parity in ICT skills.
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