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15:07 msk, 25 may 2013

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Central Asia news

Sait Nursi and Fethullah Gülen: Religious and educational activities between Turkey and Central Asia 20 years after the end of the USSR

27.01.2013 23:40 msk Analytics Religious life Central Asia

The so-called "Turkish schools" and lyceums came to Russia and CIS countries in early 1990s. Some of them were closed for various reasons and others continue thriving to date, having achieved fame and respect in the field of education. Fergana's editor in chief had a lengthy interview with the well-known researcher of Turkish Islamic groups, Mr. Bayram Balci, on the principles and ideas behind the movements inspired by Fethullah Gulen and Said Nursi. The interview also sheds light on the two-decade-long experience the schools gained in Central Asia.

Kazakhstan: Refugee Protestant arrested and could be extradited to Uzbekistan

14.09.2012 16:26 msk Religious life Kazakhstan

Makset Djabbarbergenov – a Protestant pastor wanted in his home country of Uzbekistan for "illegal" religious teaching and literature distribution – has been arrested by the authorities of Kazakhstan, where he sought refuge in 2007. He was detained after police held his sister-in-law for two weeks to find his whereabouts, family members told Forum 18 News Service. A court ordered on 7 September Djabbarbergenov be held in detention until Kazakhstan's General Prosecutor's Office decides whether to send him back. "As a person I can say this is not right," Daniyar Zharykbasov of Almaty's Bostandyk District Prosecutor's Office told Forum 18. "But we have to follow the rules." In June the United Nations Committee Against Torture condemned Kazakhstan for sending back 28 Uzbek Muslim refugees and asylum seekers in 2011. They were arrested on their return and at least some received long prison terms.

The head of Kyrgyzstan's security services talks about the creation of the Islamic Movement of Kyrgyzstan

03.05.2011 18:26 msk Religious life Kyrgyzstan

Speaking last Friday, April 29, National Security State Service chief Keneshbek Dushebyaev said in an address to parliament that 400 citizens of Kyrgyzstan, mainly ethnic Uzbeks, are currently training in terrorist camps in Afghanistan and Pakistan. They went after the June events in southern Kyrgyzstan, said Dushebyaev, who described them as “separatists”.

Adeeb Khalid: To speak of “Islam” as a homogenous phenomenon is analogous to speaking of “Christianity” as a single whole

05.03.2011 19:07 msk Religious life Central Asia

How do we explain the political motivations of Muslims? Today when so much of the news concerns conflicts based in and around Muslim societies, the temptation is great to simply see all the causes of those conflicts and all motivations of the actors involved as emanating from Islam itself. The motivations of Muslims are then seen as simply internally defined having no connection with the world that they are part of. Then we can safely proceed to the conclusion that all Muslims are alike because they all take their inspiration from the same scriptures, and they all represent a danger to “us.” This is the path taken by Mikhail Kalishevskii in his recent article on this site, and this is the argument of many commentators from the right (and not just the right) in Europe and North America. Simplification has its virtues, but does it help us understand a reality that is much more complex than such arguments make it seem? Can the actions of Muslims really understood only with reference to their religion? Can the most extreme expressions be taken as proof of the basic essence of global community? I raised some of these questions in my recent book, Islam after Communism: Religion and Politics in Central Asia (University of California Press, 2007), and present some of my arguments below.

Uzbekistan: The Church of Christ is suspended in Tashkent; eight members of it are brought to trial

20.05.2010 08:52 msk Religious life Uzbekistan

The Church of Christ is sealed in Tashkent while 8 of its workers and congregants were imposed charges or administrative arrest of 15 days. The reason of such actions became the statement of Tashkent resident that accused the Church workers of their illegal attempt to turn his 5-year son to Christianity.

Irina Zvyagelskaya: People come to Islamic radicals in despair

20.03.2009 15:32 msk Religious life Russia

Today, the growth of religious tunes in Central Asia is viewed by experts as the time bomb and limited continuation of free development in these countries; even Soviet regime with its systematic atheism closed eyes to Islamic factor in Central Asian republics, viewing it as one of the public life regulators. Ferghana.ru interviewed the doctor of history sciences, professor, vice-President of Center for strategic and political research, chief research officer of Oriental Studies Institute, Irina Zvyagelskaya, on the reasons of religious influence growth in the region and possible hazards of Islamization.

People, accused for the affiliation to the “Nur” religious movement, are convicted in Uzbekistan

18.02.2009 10:21 msk Religious life Uzbekistan

Several people were arrested and sentenced to imprisonment for the terms from 6 to 6.5 years in Uzbekistan, convicted for the affiliation to the “Nur” religious movement (“Beam”). The campaign against “nurist” has been intensified in Uzbekistan since recently.

“Tablighi Jamaat”: Hidden threat of peaceful preach

16.02.2009 12:02 msk Religious life Central Asia

On February 3, the General Prosecutor Office in Kyrgyzstan directed a lawsuit file to Pervomayskiy district court of Bishkek, claiming to recognize “Tablighi Jamaat” international religious organization as terrorist and extremist movement. The lawsuit of Public Prosecutor Office in Kyrgyzstan on admission of “Tablighi Jamaat” as terrorist and extremist organization will be considered by Bishkek court soon. It is quite possible that this Islamic sect will have the same fate as other radical organizations. It is worth reminding that Kyrgyzstan already admitted eight organizations, including “Hizbut Tahrir” and “Jihad Group”, as terrorist and extremist movements.

Kyrgyzstan: Kurban Bairam celebration ended in battering and arrests

21.12.2007 11:42 msk Religious life Kyrgyzstan

Moslems in Kyrgyzstan celebrated Kurban Bairam on December 19. As it turns out, however, the authorities dispersed the celebration in Osh and had 48 men detained. Initiators of the celebration claim that the faithful were manhandled by the police.

Dilmurat hadji Orozov: «Extremists are the people who believe that they alone are correct and revile everything else»

23.11.2007 09:45 msk Religious life Kyrgyzstan

Dilmurat hadji Orozov, Islamic Education Center Director, is convinced that religious matters in Kyrgyzstan are handled by illiterate and corrupt people and that this state of affairs compromises purity of Islam and even national security. Orozov ran the Moslem Religious Administration of the Jalalabad region for nine years. Ferghana.Ru asked Orozov for his views on the religious life in the republic against the background of the campaign against religious extremism.

Moslem women in the southern part of Kyrgyzstan unite to establish non-governmental organizations

02.11.2007 13:48 msk Religious life Kyrgyzstan

Jamal Frontbek kyzy, leader of the Jyman Bakut Koomu community trust, claims that the growing interest in Islam compels Moslem women in the southern part of Kyrgyzstan to aspire for establishment of non-governmental organizations of their own.

Uzbekistan: Night spent in a mosque may cost the faithful summons to the National Security Service

22.10.2007 08:56 msk Religious life Uzbekistan

Uzbek secret services remain inordinately suspicious of the faithful. Loudly promoting guarantees of the freedom of conscience, the Uzbek authorities keep tabs on mosques and practically every believer.

Kyrgyzstan: Osh authorities do not permit Hizb-ut-Takhrir activists to celebrate the Hait

12.10.2007 19:12 msk Religious life Kyrgyzstan

On October 12, Osh municipal authorities turned down the request from Hizb-ut-Takhrir (an outlawed organization in the first place) to organize a public celebration of Hait, the Break Fast that marks the end of the sacred Ramadan.

Conflicts between pupils and school administrations continue in the southern part of Kyrgyzstan

22.09.2007 14:11 msk Religious life Kyrgyzstan

Disputes over the hijab, traditional Moslem headgear, continue to torment Kyrgyz schools. They inevitably become outright heated with the onset of every school year. This time, however, the ban to wear the hijab at schools will apparently become official (principals ascribe it to the new school charters).

Turkmenistan: the amnestied mufti offered a job with the presidential Council for Religious Affairs

27.08.2007 10:44 msk Religious life Turkmenistan

Speaking on Turkmen television on August 13, ex-mufti Nasrullah ibn Ibadullah released from imprisonment only recently said he had been offered a job with the presidential Council for Religious Affairs. Ibn Ibadullah had been its assistant chairman in 2002 and 2003.

Other news

News briefs

25 may

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Forum 18 KAZAKHSTAN: Pentecostal jailed for 2 months pre-trial, Baptist gets 3-days jail, atheist still in psychiatric hospital, 21.05.2013

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Deseret News Man who allegedly taught bomb making in Utah arrested in terrorism case, 17.05.2013

Eurasianet Kyrgyzstan: News Site Unblocked, Yet Still Illegal, 08.05.2013

BBC Bakhtiyar Hamrayev: Tributes paid to Uzbek activist , 07.05.2013

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Eurasianet Turkmenistan: Berdymukhamedov Takes Tumble, 30.04.2013

IPHR Uzbekistan's partners should push for implementation of UN recommendations, 29.04.2013

CNN Strong quake hits southwestern China, 180 are dead, 21.04.2013

State.gov Assistant Secretary Blake To Travel to Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, 20.04.2013

Times of India Taliban bomb kills seven Afghan civilians: Official, 17.04.2013

Global Post U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs discusses transparency of government agencies with Uzbek authorities, 13.04.2013

Central Asia Online Uzbekistan warns population of extremist activity, 12.04.2013

Forum 18 UZBEKISTAN: "Unbelievable" fines after no trial and raid with no warrant, 11.04.2013

CPJ The ban on Ferghana News violates the constitutional guarantee of access to information, 10.04.2013

Registan Gulnara Karimova: Is She Ready to be the Next President of Uzbekistan?, 09.04.2013

Eurasianet Uzbekistan Mission to UN Denies Report of Gulnara Karimova’s Resignation, 08.04.2013

New York Times Rumors About Uzbekistan Leader’s Health Set Off Succession Debate, 07.04.2013

RIAN Homecoming ‘Too Late’ for Soviet Soldier in Afghanistan, 06.04.2013

RTT Sr. US State Deptt. Official To Visit Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, 06.04.2013

HRW Kyrgyzstan: Violence Mars Supreme Court Hearing, 05.04.2013

Economist Two of Central Asia’s strongmen and their daughters ponder succession, 05.04.2013

Eurasianet Kazakhstan, UN Getting Involved In Rogun Mediation, 04.04.2013

World Policy (blog) Dammed or Damned: Tajikistan and Uzbekistan Wrestle Over Water-Energy Nexus, 03.04.2013

RFE\RL Uzbek President's Daughter Attacks Finance Minister Again , 02.04.2013

Khaama Press Report: 5000 Afghan troops quit their job every month, 01.04.2013

Wall Street Journal TeliaSonera Could Face Fines in Uzbekistan Bribery Case, 29.03.2013

Forum 18 TURKMENISTAN: Ninth imprisoned conscientious objector, 26.03.2013

Khaama Press Iran behind water resources destruction in Afghanistan, 24.03.2013

RFE\RL Independent Media Windows Into Uzbekistan Face Financial Facts, 23.03.2013

Eurasianet Uzbekistan Says It Begins Shale Oil Drilling, 23.03.2013

ISN NATO, Uzbekistan and the ISAF Withdrawal, 21.03.2013

BBC Pakistan's Ashraf government makes history, 17.03.2013

Moscow Times MTS to Pull Out of Uzbekistan Next Month, 14.03.2013

Eurasianet Uzbekistan Ups Gas Production as Residents Forced to Choose Coal, 13.03.2013

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