In a matter of only days Tajikistan has managed to aggravate its relationship with Russia to the lowest point to date. Last week, a Tajik court sentenced a Russian citizen, Vladimir Sadovnichy, to serve eight years and six months in prison for smuggling and illegally... MORE

Tajikistan has raised tensions with Moscow after a court in Dushanbe convicted a Russian citizen, Vladimir Sadovnichy, sentencing him to serve eight years and six months in prison for smuggling and illegally landing his aircraft on Tajikistan’s Kurgan-Tyube airport last March. While the details of... MORE

As relations between Dushanbe and Tashkent have become increasingly strained due to multiple factors, including water resources and energy supplies, Tajikistan is trying to end its reliance on Uzbekistan’s highways and railroads. Tashkent has closed most of the Soviet-era highways linking the countries, and Tajikistan’s... MORE

Arson is believed to be the cause of a fire on October 24 that damaged a cotton-processing plant belonging to Hoji Akbar Turajonzoda, a prominent Tajik religious and political figure, in the town of Vahdat, some 30 kilometers east of the Tajik capital Dushanbe. The... MORE

On October 19, members of the Eurasian Economic Community (EurAsEC) announced in St. Petersburg that both Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan are eligible to join the Russia-Belarus-Kazakhstan Customs Union (www.24.kg, October 19).Although the Customs Union positions itself as an economic alignment, it has long acquired political significance.... MORE

Visiting Tajikistan on October 22-23, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton promised US assistance for improving the country’s border management and anti-drug enforcement, in view of growing instability in neighboring Afghanistan. Such assistance, beyond its intrinsic value, could also remove the rationale behind Moscow’s twin proposals:... MORE

After a year of media speculation and contradictory remarks by Tajik and Russian officials, the authorities in Dushanbe have finally made it clear that Tajikistan does not want Russian troops to return to defend the country’s southern border with Afghanistan.Tajikistan and Russia are expected to... MORE

In early September, Moscow persuaded Dushanbe to extend the agreement on hosting its military base by 49 years. The official agreement between Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and his Tajik counterpart Emomali Rakhmon will be signed in early 2012 (www.vesti.ru, September 2). In exchange for the... MORE

Presidents Dmitry Medvedev of Russia, Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan, Asif Ali Zardari of Pakistan, and Emomali Rakhmon of Tajikistan held a quadripartite meeting on September 2 in Dushanbe. The presidents gave preliminary consideration to possible security and cooperation arrangements for the region, in anticipation of... MORE

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev is unlikely to receive a very warm welcome during his state visit to Tajikistan scheduled for September. The gradually cooling relations between the two countries have hit a new low after Boris Gryzlov, the speaker of the lower house of Russia’s... MORE