Parent company | Asia Plus Media Group |
---|---|
Founded | 1995 |
Country of origin | Tajikistan |
Headquarters location | Dushanbe |
Publication types | Tajikistan Economic Review Asia-Plus Blitz Asia Plus |
Nonfiction topics | News |
Official website | Asia-Plus |
Asia-Plus is a privately owned independent news agency based in Dushanbe, Tajikistan.
Asia-Plus news agency was established in 1995 and started its activity in English and in Russian in 1996. [1] It is privately owned [2] and the owner is the Asia Plus Media Group. [1] The agency is based in Dushanbe [3] and started a weekly paper, Asia Plus in 2000. [4] It also publishes Tajikistan Economic Review, a monthly, and Asia-Plus Blitz, a newsletter published in weekdays. [5] It has an independent political leaning. [6] It has received funds from the National Endowment for Democracy. [7]
In June 2012, the website of the agency was cut allegedly by the Tajik authorities. [2] A month later the authorities again banned the website in addition to those of Russia’s RIA Novosti news agency and BBC's website in Russian. [8]
Tajikistan, officially the Republic of Tajikistan, is a mountainous, landlocked country in Central Asia with an area of 143,100 km2 (55,300 sq mi) and an estimated population of 9,537,645 people. It is bordered by Afghanistan to the south, Uzbekistan to the west, Kyrgyzstan to the north and China to the east. The traditional homelands of the Tajik people include present-day Tajikistan as well as parts of Afghanistan and Uzbekistan.
Dushanbe is the capital and largest city of Tajikistan. As of 2019, Dushanbe had a population of 846,400.
Emomali Rahmon is a Tajikistani politician who has served as President of Tajikistan since 1992. His rule is regarded by Human Rights Watch as a dictatorship.
Sunni Islam is, by far, the most widely practiced religion in Tajikistan. Sunni Islam of the Hanafi school is the recognized religious tradition of Tajikistan since 2009. According to a 2009 U.S. State Department release, the population of Tajikistan is 98% Muslim,, with some Sufi orders.
Tajik Air, legally State Unitary Aviation Enterprise, is an airline in Tajikistan. It has its head office at Dushanbe International Airport in Dushanbe. The airline's main hub is at Dushanbe International Airport; in the past, it had also retained a secondary focus city at Khujand's Khudzhand Airport.
The Dushanbe Synagogue, also known as the Bukharian Synagogue, located in Dushanbe, the capital of Tajikistan, was constructed in the 19th century in one of the two Jewish Quarters in Dushanbe at the time. It was part of the Jewish community compound, which also included ritual buildings and a school. In February 2006, the Government of Tajikistan began demolition of the Jewish community compound as part of an urban redevelopment plan designed to make way for a new presidential residence, the Palace of Nations, with adjoining landscaped areas. The demolition of the synagogue was delayed due to international protests and a series of court actions until the end of June 2008, when the old building was finally razed.
Dushanbe International Airport is an airport in Dushanbe, the capital of Tajikistan. It is the main hub for Somon Air and is the home base for Tajik Air, which also has its head office on the property.
Russia–Tajikistan relations is the bilateral relationship between the Russian Federation and Tajikistan.
The Tajik Air and Air Defense Forces is the aerial military service branch of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Tajikistan, which currently consists of 20 aircraft. The force engages in search and rescue missions, and military raids.
Alexander Sodiqov is a political science PhD student at the University of Toronto, who was apprehended by security officials in Tajikistan on June 16, 2014 and charged with treason and espionage.
Umarali Quvvatov was a Tajikistani businessman and politician. He was the leader of the opposition Group 24. He was shot and killed on 5 March 2015 in Istanbul, Turkey.
Maksud Muhidinovich Ibragimov is a Tajikistan-born opposition politician, Chairman of the Russian-registered organization "Youth for the Revival of Tajikistan" and member of the governing board of the opposition coalition New Tajikistan, which includes Group 24.
Buzurgmehr Yorov is a Tajik human rights lawyer and member of the opposition Social Democratic Party of Tajikistan. Throughout the 2000s, serving as the head of the legal firm Sipar, Yorov was involved in a number of high-profile legal cases, representing individuals prosecuted by the government of Tajikistan on charges deemed politically motivated. In 2011, he represented prominent religious figure and former senator Hoji Akbar Turajonzoda when the latter sued the head of the state-backed Council of Ulems for defamation. The case occurred amidst a government-led crackdown against the Turajonzoda brothers who frequently criticized the state religion policy. In 2013, Yorov represented Muhiddin Kabiri, the leader of the Islamic Revival Party and member of the country's parliament who had been sued by the Dushanbe Mayor's Office for criticizing the practice of massive cutting of trees in the capital. In 2014, Yorov represented Fakhriddin Zokirov, another Tajik lawyer who had been arrested on forgery charges, apparently as a retaliation for representing Zayd Saidov, a businessman and politician. He also offered to represent Alexander Sodiqov, a Canada-based PhD student who had been detained by the authorities and charged with spying and treason while conducting research in Tajikistan in June 2014. Sodiqov's family declined the offer, fearing that the outspoken lawyer's affiliation with an opposition party might politicize the case.
The State Committee for National Security is the principal national security and intelligence agency of Tajikistan. Its main responsibilities include internal and border security, counter-intelligence, counter-terrorism, counter-narcotics, fighting organized crime, and surveillance. The chairman of the committee and all of his deputies are appointed by and answerable to the president of Tajikistan. Lieutenant General Saymumin Yatimov has served as the SCNS chairman since September 2, 2010.
Rustam Emomali is the current Chairman of the National Assembly of Tajikistan, Mayor of Dushanbe and the eldest son of president Emomali Rahmon of Tajikistan. He holds the rank of major general and is among the ten most influential individuals in Tajikistan. Rustam Emomali is believed to be prepared by his father to succeed him as the leader of Tajikistan.
Abduhalim Mirzo Nazarzoda was a military leader in the Tajik National Army and the former Deputy Minister of Defense of the Republic of Tajikistan.
The terrorist attack against cyclists in Tajikistan happened on July 29, 2018 (UTC+05:00). Four Western touring cyclists were killed while cycling in the Danghara District, and two more were injured after five Islamist militants rammed them with a car and then got out of the vehicle and stabbed them.
The COVID-19 pandemic in Tajikistan is part of the worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2. The virus was confirmed to have spread to Tajikistan when its index cases, in Dushanbe and Khujand, were confirmed on 30 April 2020.