Authoritarian governments often argue that too much freedom of speech compromises security and stability. RFE/RL asks Dunja Mijatovic, the representative on freedom of the media for the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), how she answers the charge. RFE/RL correspondent Charles Recknagel conducted the interview.
The gradual closure of Turkey’s 52 state-run brothels is emerging as a controversial tactic in Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s declared war on prostitution. While Erdoğan’s supporters denounce brothels as a form of “slavery,” sex workers fear the campaign poses risks to their health and safety.
The symbolism of a new monument outside Kyrgyzstan’s parliament is hard to miss. Unveiled last April, three bronze-cast heroes push a block of black-clad concrete away from a larger block of white. The black, of course, represents the Kurmanbek Bakiyev era (and some other evils that preceded his administration).
The 11th-12th century church of Saint Paterne in the sleepy hamlet of Bellou-sur-Huisne in France’s western region of Normandy seems like a typical medieval-era edifice in this heavily forested, agricultural area. But there is something special about it: a government-linked foundation based in predominantly Shi’a Muslim Azerbaijan has paid for part of its restoration.
Following a tumultuous roll out, the signs coming out of Uzbekistan suggest that citizens are coming to terms with new regulations restricting the sale of foreign currency. But grudging acceptance of the currency rules doesn’t signal that popular anxiety about the country’s economic future is abating.
In the official narrative of Kazakhstan’s post-Soviet history, President Nursultan Nazarbayev is lauded for fostering widespread prosperity while maintaining inter-ethnic harmony.
With the official outcome of Armenia’s February 18 vote widely seen as a given, attention within the country is instead focusing on the election process itself.
