ANKARA, 18 Aug 2005 (IRIN) - The plight of ethnic minorities in Turkmenistan remains bleak, despite claims to the contrary by the Turkmen government during this month's session of the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD).Full report

ANKARA, 2 Aug 2005 (IRIN) - Drug addiction is on the rise in Turkmenistan fuelled by the government's neglect of socioeconomic issues, a Turkmen rights group charged on Tuesday.Full report

ANKARA, 9 Jun 2005 (IRIN) - A recent report on healthcare and human rights in Turkmenistan, published by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, highlights a deteriorating situation in the former Soviet republic. The report urges the international community to put pressure on Ashgabat to institute immediate reforms. Full report

KARSHI, 6 Jun 2005 (IRIN) - Zainab Shokhojaeva, a resident on the Uzbek side of the border town of Tallimarjan in the southern province of Kashkadarya, peers through the barbed wire across her garden and into Turkmenistan. She gazes over the meadows where her family used to graze their cattle, nostalgically recalling the past when her family were better off.Full report

ANKARA, 3 May 2005 (IRIN) - A new report by Amnesty International (AI) has strongly criticised the government of Turkmen President Saparmurat Niyazov for failing to adequately address the ongoing issue of human rights.Full report

ANKARA, 21 Mar 2005 (IRIN) - The office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the government of Turkmenistan have completed the first ever registration of all refugees in Turkmenistan, UNHCR spokesperson Ron Redmond announced on 18 March, in Geneva.Full report

ANKARA, 2 Mar 2005 (IRIN) - A proposed measure by Turkmen President Saparmurat Niyazov to close down all hospitals outside the Turkmen capital, Ashgabat, has drawn sharp criticism from outside observers and activists.Full report

ANKARA, 2 Feb 2005 (IRIN) - The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) has welcomed a decision by the Turkmen parliament to pass legislation banning child labour and guaranteeing freedom from economic exploitation as a right of children.Full report

ANKARA, 18 Jan 2005 (IRIN) - There has been little change over the past year in the one-party hermit state of Turkmenistan, where authoritarian President Saparmurad Niyazov continues to dominate everyday life. Full report

ANKARA, 5 Jan 2005 (IRIN) - Efforts to curtail religious freedom in the reclusive oil-rich state of Turkmenistan continue, with at least seven mosques demolished in 2004 alone, activists told IRIN on Wednesday. Full report

TURKMENISTAN: Focus on ethnic minorities

TURKMENISTAN: Interview with US Ambassador Tracey Ann Jacobson

TURKMENISTAN: Heroin use poses a growing challenge

TURKMENISTAN: Focus on Armenian migrants

TURKMENISTAN: Focus on education