Central Asia was rediscovered by the outside world after the collapse of the Soviet Union and with the resulting independence of the states Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan in 1991. A multi-ethnic and multilingual region, it is the home of different Turkic, Iranian and European peoples. In spite of certain inter-ethnic clashes in the early 90's, Central Asia succeeded in preserving stability with the exception is Tajikistan, where a civil war erupted in 1992 on regionalist lines causing a huge number of casualties (estimated between 50 and 160 thousand). A peace agreement between the government and the United Tajik Opposition was signed in 1997. Meantime, tension has increased in the Ferghana Valley, considered the bread basket of the region, which is divided between Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
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Central Asia, similar to most post-Soviet areas, witnessed a dramatic decline in economic production which resulted in mass-unemployment and impoverishment. The Soviet experience and the Cold War left behind an industrial infrastructure which is difficult to recycle into a globalized market economy: an Aral Sea bleeding its waters, the radiation-plagued fields of Semipalatinsk, and a war-torn Afghanistan on its doorstep. Politically conservative, the former Soviet-era nomenklatura continues to constitute the ruling elites. Although Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan went through a certain democratisation process in the early 90's, repression of opposition formations and independent media have increased since the mid-90's.
CIMERA currently works on media development and language politics. We offer professional training for journalists and organize regional conferences on current regional concerns. We conduct and supervise research on the situation of the media in the region. Furthermore, by introducing bilingual education in Kyrgyzstan, we favour the integration of marginalized linguistic groups |
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"Zilyonni Bazaar", Dushanbe |
Projects
 CA
Media Project
Bilingual
Education Kyrgyzstan
Research
Media
in Tajikistan
Media
in Kyrgyzstan
CA
Research Network
 Report
on the Media Situation in Uzbekistan
Russian Church in Almaty |
Read more about the region
 Where
is Juma Namangani? Islamist rebels in Central Asia
Vicken Cheterian in: Eurasianet, July 2000
Kyrgyzstan
between elections: times of trouble
Vicken Cheterian in: Eurasianet, June 2000
La
vallée de Ferghana, coeur divisé de l'Asie centrale
Vicken Cheterian in: Le Monde Diplomatique, May 1999
Les
ambitions contrariées de l'Ouzbékistan
Vicken Cheterian in: Le Monde Dipomatique, July 1997
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