Explainers
Clear analysis and context behind the systems, decisions and institutions in the news.
Afterlife of a name: the pro-Kremlin clones of Qora Mergan
Here is the strangest fact in the entire Qora Mergan story: the name outlived the channel, and it changed sides. The original Qora Mergan, active from June to September 2020, was anti-government and, distinctly, anti-Russian.…
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The fallen idol of Jizzakh: what Qora Mergan’s tribute-fixation reveals
A recurring feature in the Qora Mergan archive, easy to miss among the generals and oligarchs, is the landscape of the…
→Riddles in the crossfire: fortune-tellers, muftis and the Qora Mergan universe
Not every thread of the Qora Mergan archive concerned criminal allegations. Some of the channel’s most memorable material was weirder: a…
→Trade with Britain Reaches £2.1 Billion as Ambassador Smart Ends Three-Year Tashkent Mission
British Ambassador Timothy Smart is departing Tashkent after three years, leaving behind a bilateral trade relationship that expanded nearly eightfold, a…
→Notary System Overrides National Law to Bar Visually Impaired Citizens from Basic Services
A visually impaired Tashkent resident was denied a routine power of attorney on July 24 because a 2019 Ministry of Justice…
→Global Multidimensional Poverty Hits 1.2 Billion for First Time Since 2010, as Tajikistan Bucks Regional Trend
The number of people living in acute multidimensional poverty has reached 1.2 billion — a rise of 51.5 million and the…
→China Pledges to Boost Uzbek Imports and Advance Regional Railway During Premier’s Tashkent Visit
Chinese Premier Li Qiang visited Tashkent on 17 October 2026, meeting President Shavkat Mirziyoyev and Prime Minister Abdulla Aripov. Beijing pledged…
→Passports for Podiums: How the rush to naturalize Russian athletes is reshaping Uzbek sport
Uzbekistan has quietly built one of Central Asia's largest rosters of naturalized Russian athletes, spanning rowing, tennis, figure skating, swimming and…
→AIIB Grants to Fund Feasibility Study for Caspian Green Energy Corridor Linking Uzbekistan to Azerbaijan
The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank has signed two grant agreements totaling USD 1.1 million with Azerbaijan to fund early-stage feasibility work…
→Turkmengaz Cuts Gas Exports to Gazprom After Pricing Talks Collapse
Turkmengaz has halted natural gas deliveries to Russia's Gazprom following a breakdown in price negotiations, ending a five-year supply arrangement that…
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