By Firuza Ganieva (4/19/2007 issue of the CACI Analyst)

Tajikistan has recently been creatively engaged in the revival of cultural heritage. On March 21, President Emomali Rahmonov publicly announced that he is abandoning the Russian suffix “ov” from his name, because he wants to be known as Emomali Rahmon – the original name of his father, which reflects the Persian roots of his family. Soon after this statement was made, the President rather spontaneously demanded the British Museum return the Oxus treasure, an ancient Persian collection of silver and gold found long ago on the territory of today’s Tajikistan.

By Erica Marat (4/19/2007 issue of the CACI Analyst)

Following the Tulip Revolution in March 2005, Kyrgyzstan’s civil society groups noticeably increased in numbers and scope of activities. Today, the number of Kyrgyz civil society organizations and individual civic activists is high not only by Central Asian standards, but also in comparison with other post-Soviet states.

However, along with high civic activism, Kyrgyzstan is drowned in political populism voiced by various civic and political groups, as well as individual advocates.

By Firuza Ganieva (4/5/2007 issue of the CACI Analyst)

Tajikistan has been experiencing electricity shortages for several years; however, this winter the most severe energy crisis hit, with disastrous effects on the population. Most regions in the country were supplied with electricity for only several hours per day, whereas rural areas did not have electricity at all. This year’s power outages reached even Dushanbe, the capital of the country, where the supply of energy was limited to only eight hours instead of the usual seventeen.