Field Reports

Since the independence period, the number of holidays in Turkmenistan has been mushrooming. On February 19, Turkmenistan celebrated one of the significant events of the country last Wednesday, on the 19th of February. This occasion brought a delight to Turkmen people as a Flag\'s Day and the Great Turkmenbashi\'s birthday.

The secondary education in Kyrgyzstan is facing a number of problems, most of which are due to the lack of resources. Among these, shortage of qualified teachers and lack of textbooks are the most serious problems. The quality of education is being damaged greatly. Although some measures have been taken to address these problems, the situation remains difficult.

On many occasions in the past, Kazakhstan had been lauded by Western experts as a model of democracy in Central Asia. These words of praise sound hollow in present context. Recent imprisonment of opposition leaders and journalists critical of the regime indicates that so far, as everywhere else in Central Asia, democracy and pluralistic views have not taken root.

Afghanistan still produces up to 70 percent of the world\'s heroin. Poppy cultivation in Afghanistan has had serious implications for the security and economy in the whole region. Now drug abuse is spreading in Afghanistan\'s northern neighbors. The number of domestic consumers of narcotics is rapidly increasing; the drug users are mostly youngsters.

The preparations for the forthcoming presidential elections in the Fall are intensifying in Azerbaijan. The situation related to the Popular Front party (APFP) became the cause of a new scandal. The party registration was first given to an obscure, third faction of the party, but under international pressure, President Aliyev overturned the decision.

To the masses in Kazakhstan, Iraq and the host of problems generated by the threat of a U.S.-led war, seems to be as distant as the Moon. Nonetheless, the impending war is being exploited both by the opposition and the government. Analysts, however, are almost unanimous in asserting that the war will not have a significant impact on Kazakhstan.

The flaws in the referendum conducted in Kyrgyzstan are now beginning to appear, including the use of civil servants and students to promote the government and falsify the results. This has sparked protests from local opposition as well as the NDI, which involved itself in the controversy.

In the poorest of the former Soviet Republics, the income from export of labor is much higher than that from major industries - cotton farming, production of aluminum and hydropower. The amount of foreign currency Tajik seasonal workers bring home every year to support their families in fact exceeds Tajikistan\'s annual State budget.

During the years of independence of post-Soviet Kyrgyzstan, the previously unknown problem of trafficking in human beings emerged, and it is year after year becoming more serious. Due to current economic and social hardships, its geographical location and other conducive factors, Kyrgyzstan has become an increasingly attractive country for traffickers.

Relations between Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan which showed some signs improvement in recent months have turned sour again. On December 28, Uzbek authorities unilaterally closed its border with Kazakhstan without providing plausible reasons. Kazakh officials are extremely cautious not to letting details of talks with their Uzbek counterparts spill to the press.