rferl--2020-04-23--Analyst Says Coronavirus Crisis Could Bring More Democracy To Ex-Soviet Space

Anders Aslund , a senior fellow at the Washington-based Atlantic Council think tank , predicts that Russia `` will look very different '' after the coronavirus pandemic , arguing that low oil prices will push Russian society toward democracy .
''Dictatorships find it hard to survive crises such as this one , '' Aslund wrote on April 21 in e-mailed responses to RFE/RL 's questions .
Government around the world have imposed restrictions on businesses and individuals in a bid to curtail the spread of the coronavirus , leading to a widespread economic slowdown and a historic oil-price crash .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ holes and tumbling currencies in countries that rely on revenues from oil and gas exports , including Russia and former Soviet republics such as Azerbaijan , Kazakhstan , and Turkmenistan .
`` The pandemic can profoundly change several of the post-Soviet countries , '' according to Aslund , who wrote that `` low oil prices breed democracy . ''
''Oil prices were low from 1981-2000 , when Russia became and was reasonably democratic and free .
Low oil prices offer new opportunities for freedom and democracy in Russia , '' said Aslund , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ an economic adviser to the governments of Russia , Kyrgyzstan , and Ukraine .
Ex-Soviet countries `` have got used to authoritarian kleptocracy or in some cases disorderly corruption , '' he said .
''Neither is beneficial to the population , who will opt for democracy and freedom if given the opportunity , '' Aslund said , while lower oil prices `` will leave the authoritarians with less resources . ''
By granting regional leaders autonomy in taking measures to tackle the coronavirus crisis , Russian President Vladimir Putin `` seems to be @ @ @ @ @ @ @ measures , while it is exactly in this kind of crisis situation when centralization can be valuable , '' he said .
The regional governors `` have been appointed to take and obey orders from the Kremlin , not to take their own initiatives so they are not appropriate for this situation , '' Aslund wrote .

Anders Aslund, a senior fellow at the Washington-based Atlantic Council think tank, predicts that Russia ''will look very different'' after the coronavirus pandemic, arguing that low oil prices will push Russian society toward democracy.
''Dictatorships find it hard to survive crises such as this one," Aslund wrote on April 21 in e-mailed responses to RFE/RL's questions.
Government around the world have imposed restrictions on businesses and individuals in a bid to curtail the spread of the coronavirus, leading to a widespread economic slowdown and a historic oil-price crash.
The price collapse has left large budget holes and tumbling currencies in countries that rely on revenues from oil and gas exports, including Russia and former Soviet republics such as Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and Turkmenistan.
"The pandemic can profoundly change several of the post-Soviet countries," according to Aslund, who wrote that "low oil prices breed democracy.''
''Oil prices were low from 1981-2000, when Russia became and was reasonably democratic and free. Low oil prices offer new opportunities for freedom and democracy in Russia," said Aslund, a Swedish-born analyst who has served as an economic adviser to the governments of Russia, Kyrgyzstan, and Ukraine.
Ex-Soviet countries "have got used to authoritarian kleptocracy or in some cases disorderly corruption,'' he said.
''Neither is beneficial to the population, who will opt for democracy and freedom if given the opportunity,'' Aslund said, while lower oil prices ''will leave the authoritarians with less resources."
By granting regional leaders autonomy in taking measures to tackle the coronavirus crisis, Russian President Vladimir Putin "seems to be trying to escape the responsibility for austerity measures, while it is exactly in this kind of crisis situation when centralization can be valuable,'' he said.
The regional governors ''have been appointed to take and obey orders from the Kremlin, not to take their own initiatives so they are not appropriate for this situation," Aslund wrote.


rferl--2020-04-23--Chemistry Professor Caught In Ukrainian-Styled 'Breaking Bad' Operation

In a scene eerily reminiscent of the hit TV series about a teacher who decides to manufacture and sell high-grade drugs to provide for his family , a Kyiv chemistry professor has been arrested for allegedly setting up a secret lab to produce methamphetamine and other illegal drugs .
Ukraine 's Security Service ( SBU ) said in a Facebook post dated April 22 , that the unidentified professor , who used to teach chemistry at a university in the capital , had been detained on suspicion of organizing a group to manufacture illegal substances .
`` The group had @ @ @ @ @ @ @ group leader 's place of residence in [ Kyiv ] , and another in a garage of a rented private house in the Kyiv region , '' the SBU statement said , adding that in addition to making his own drugs , the professor used his expertise to instruct others on how to make drugs .
According to the statement , the group had received component chemicals from Asia and Western Europe and distributed the drugs via the Internet .
The SBU said preliminary findings showed group members planned to produce nearly 30 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ million hryvnyas ( $ 275,000 ) at black-market prices .
It added that members of the group , whose number and identities were not disclosed , were officially informed that they are suspected in the illegal production , storage , transportation , and selling of drugs , as well as for theft , misappropriation , and extortion of equipment to illegally fabricate illegal drugs .
The SBU 's video on Facebook was titled Breaking Bad Kyiv-Style : Chemistry Professor Organizes Amphetamine Production .
Breaking Bad was a popular American neo-Western crime drama TV @ @ @ @ @ @ @ chemistry teacher who turned himself into a leading amphetamine producer in Albuquerque , New Mexico , to make money for his family after he was diagnosed with cancer .
Unlike his Ukrainian copycat , White was never caught by the police .
The show , which won 12 Emmy television awards , aired 62 episodes from 2008 to 2013 .

KYIV -- Call it breaking bad, Ukraine style.
In a scene eerily reminiscent of the hit TV series about a teacher who decides to manufacture and sell high-grade drugs to provide for his family, a Kyiv chemistry professor has been arrested for allegedly setting up a secret lab to produce methamphetamine and other illegal drugs.
Ukraine's Security Service (SBU) said in a Facebook post dated April 22, that the unidentified professor, who used to teach chemistry at a university in the capital, had been detained on suspicion of organizing a group to manufacture illegal substances.
"The group had two secret labs, one at the group leader's place of residence in [Kyiv], and another in a garage of a rented private house in the Kyiv region," the SBU statement said, adding that in addition to making his own drugs, the professor used his expertise to instruct others on how to make drugs.
According to the statement, the group had received component chemicals from Asia and Western Europe and distributed the drugs via the Internet.
The SBU said preliminary findings showed group members planned to produce nearly 30 kilograms of psychotropic drugs worth about 7.5 million hryvnyas ($275,000) at black-market prices.
It added that members of the group, whose number and identities were not disclosed, were officially informed that they are suspected in the illegal production, storage, transportation, and selling of drugs, as well as for theft, misappropriation, and extortion of equipment to illegally fabricate illegal drugs.
The SBU's video on Facebook was titled Breaking Bad Kyiv-Style: Chemistry Professor Organizes Amphetamine Production.
Breaking Bad was a popular American neo-Western crime drama TV series about Walter White, a high-school chemistry teacher who turned himself into a leading amphetamine producer in Albuquerque, New Mexico, to make money for his family after he was diagnosed with cancer.
Unlike his Ukrainian copycat, White was never caught by the police.
The show, which won 12 Emmy television awards, aired 62 episodes from 2008 to 2013.


rferl--2020-04-23--Afghan Government Releases More Taliban Prisoners Before Ramadan

Ahead of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan , the Afghan government has released another 55 Taliban prisoners , the National Security Council has said .
Council spokesman Javed Faisal said in a tweet the detainees were released on April 22 from nine provinces -- Paktia , Logar , Badakhshan , Jawzjan , Ghazni , Baghlan , Khost , Paktika , and Maidan Wardak -- as part of `` our efforts to advance peace and fight '' the coronavirus epidemic .
The Western-backed government in Kabul has released more than 480 Taliban inmates since April 8 , while the militants @ @ @ @ @ @ @ personnel they were holding .
A pact signed by the United States and the Taliban on February 29 calls for the Afghan government to release 5,000 Taliban fighters as a confidence-building measure ahead of formal peace talks aimed at ending the 18-year conflict in Afghanistan .
The militant group has vowed to release some 1,000 Afghan government troops and civilian workers it is holding .
The prisoner swap was scheduled to be completed by March 10 , before the start of intra-Afghan peace talks , but it has been delayed by disputes between @ @ @ @ @ @ @ has continued across Afghanistan since the U.S.-Taliban deal was inked in Doha , Qatar .
In a message to mark the start of Ramadan , Afghan President Ashraf Ghani urged the Taliban to agree to stop the violence `` as the coronavirus spreads across the country.
“ ''The government and people of Afghanistan demand that the Taliban accept our call for peace and cease-fire out of respect for the holy month of Ramadan , '' Ghani said .
In a statement , the UN envoy in Afghanistan , Deborah Lyons , encouraged everyone @ @ @ @ @ @ @ `` a global cease-fire to silence the guns and enable all Afghans to come together '' to fight the coronavirus pandemic .
Afghan authorities have reported more than 1,270 cases of COVID-19 , the disease cause by the virus , including 42 deaths .
The authorities have released thousands of detainees , mostly women , juveniles , and sick people , to reduce the risk of coronavirus spreading in prisons .

The education of girls and women is universally accepted in more than 200 countries and territories, including nearly 50 Muslim-majority nations.
But Afghanistan’s hard-line Islamist Taliban rulers have banned teenage girls from attending school after the sixth grade since they returned to power two years ago. The ban was extended in December to women in universities.
Countless protests by Afghans inside the country, pressure from the international community, and lobbying by Muslim scholars and clerics have failed to convince the fundamentalist Taliban leaders to reopen schools.
Experts are divided over whether the ban is rooted in how the Taliban’s interpretation of Islam is shaped by conservative Pashtun tribal customs and cultural practices or if it is prompted by how senior Taliban ideologues interpret Islamic teachings.
Most Taliban leaders are ethnic Pashtun, Sunni Muslim clerics. Many were educated in Deobandi madrasahs in neighboring Pakistan. Deobandism emerged as a puritanical Islamic revivalist movement in 19-century British Colonial India. Based on the Sunni Hanafi school of jurisprudence, it is a prominent strain among Islamists in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Tribal Influences
Sami Yousafzai, a veteran Afghan journalist and commentator, argues that the Taliban restrictions against women are linked to social customs and cultural practices in eastern and southern Afghanistan.
Most Taliban leaders come from various Pashtun rural tribal communities in these regions bordering Pakistan.
"They believe that a woman's place is either inside a house or in a grave," Yousafzai said of the basic Taliban belief influenced by the status of women in the families of clerics and religious leaders in these Pashtun regions.
“Women living in the households of the current Taliban policymakers were never educated and never left their homes,” said Yousafzai, who has tracked the Islamist group since it emerged as a ragtag militia in the southern Afghan province of Kandahar in late 1994. “These women never performed any government or nongovernmental jobs.”
Yousafzai says the Taliban backs policies shaped by this worldview by leaning on Islamic teachings supporting such ideas. He says Taliban leaders rely on sayings attributed to the Prophet Muhammad that discourage women from leaving their homes.
“Their primary belief is that pubescent girls should not leave home under any circumstance,” he said. “This is why they view women leaving home for education or work as engaging in moral corruption.”
In Afghanistan, a Muslim nation of some 40 million people, activists and rights advocates accuse the Taliban of implementing "gender apartheid" by denying women education, work, freedom of movement, and deciding how they can appear in public.
Most Muslims agree that Islam allows women to get an education. Yet the Taliban publicly says that it will allow girls access to education only after ensuring complete gender segregation and other unspecified conditions.
Almost all Afghan secondary schools were gender segregated and universities imposed a strict separation between men and women after the Taliban takeover.
Yousafzai says in conservative and traditional Muslim societies around the world, some clerics also favor restrictions on women's education, work, and their role in public life. But the governments in those countries usually oppose or limit such ideas.
In recent years, Saudi Arabia -- one of the most conservative Sunni Muslim nations -- has allowed women to drive and granted them freedom of movement without a male guardian. These steps are part of a reform and modernity drive by Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman.
The Taliban ban on education has invited universal condemnation from Muslims globally.
“The Taliban's ban on women's education is not rooted in [the Islamic] Shari’a law but rather reflects cultural biases that contradict the teachings of Islam,” said Salam al-Marayati, president of the Muslim Public Affairs Council in the United States.
He said that contrary to Taliban practices, “Islam emphasizes the importance of seeking knowledge and encourages all individuals, regardless of gender, to acquire an education.”
Historical Conflict
But Islamic scholars and those who have attempted to convince the Taliban about reopening girls schools offer a different explanation.
John Mohammad Butt, an Islamic scholar and former BBC broadcaster who is the only Westerner to graduate from India’s Darul Uloom Deoband, argues that the Taliban's policy on girls' education is not tribal but shaped by the century-old conflict over modern education.
“The problem is that girls' education in Afghanistan -- indeed, contemporary education in general -- has generally been introduced in Afghanistan in line with a secular agenda,” he said.
In the 1920s, a coalition of conservative clerics and tribal and community leaders deposed reformist King Amanullah Khan. He wanted to modernize Afghanistan along Turkish leader Kamal Ataturk's secular lines and championed modern education and rights for women.
This opposition to modernity and secularism continued, and conservative clerics opposed women's education and work. It became a key part of the Islamist opposition to the pro-Soviet Afghan communist governments after the April 1978 military coup that ended the Afghan monarchy. The mujahedin accused the communists of spreading immorality by promoting women’s education and empowerment.
“This has led to particular wariness on the part of conservative circles in Afghanistan with regard to girls' education,” Butt said.
'Deep Ideological Conviction'
Obaidullah Baheer, a political science lecturer at the American University of Afghanistan, became part of an effort to rescind the ban by talking to the Taliban last year.
But he says the effort failed because “the ban is a matter of deep ideological conviction” for the current supreme leader of the Taliban, Mullah Haibatullah Akhundzada.
Baheer says that the most prominent Taliban leaders have studied in Pakistani madrasahs and were thus disconnected from village and tribal life.
“They have been indoctrinated by the Deobandi school of thought so that they now enforce the strictest version of Islam on the Afghan population,” he said.
He argues that the ban on girls’ schools is a deliberate policy championed by Akhundzada, who he says has endorsed Taliban Chief Justice Abdul Hakim Haqqani's Arabic language book The Islamic Emirate And Its System. In this book, Haqqani supports a fringe Islamic opinion of preferring the choice of one of the Prophet Muhammad's wives, Sawdah Bint Zam'ah, who chose to stay at home until her death.
Baheer says Haqqani ignores his other wives and other female companions that played an active role in many sectors of society and how they served as students and teachers for men.
“This fringe opinion is not held by all Taliban leaders but is one that the current absolute sovereign, the Taliban emir, seems to be convinced of,” he said.
Butt says that even Haqqani has acknowledged the principle that if there is something that women need to act upon, then that is also something that women need to learn about.
“I hope the Taliban authorities will come to realize in the not-too-distant future that education for women will make Afghan women into better Muslims,” he says. “It will enable them to make a stronger contribution to the well-being of their country.”
Two years after grappling with the issue, Western diplomats appear to be encouraging Afghan conservative and clerical circles to find ways to end the ban.
Tom West, the U.S. special representative for Afghanistan, recently tweeted that Afghan women must be educated and contribute to the economy to help their country stand on its own two feet.
“If change to policies is made, it will be because Afghans have asked for it, not a result of foreign requests,” he wrote.


rferl--2020-04-23--Abkhazia Swears In De Facto President

Abkhazia Swears In De Facto President

Aslan Bzhania , the winner of an election for the de facto presidency in Georgia 's breakaway Abkhazia region , has been sworn in for a five-year term .
At an inauguration ceremony in the regional capital , Sukhumi , on April 23 , Bzhania pledged to work on closer cooperation with Russia .
Moscow recognized Abkhazia and Georgia 's other breakaway region , South Ossetia , as independent states after Russia and Georgia fought a brief war in August 2008 .
Only a handful of other countries , however , have followed the lead of the Kremlin , which @ @ @ @ @ @ @ since .
`` With regard to our agreements , we will work more intensively with brotherly Russia on all aspects of bilateral , equal , and mutually beneficial cooperation , '' Bzhania said .
The vote was the latest effort to sort out the Black Sea region 's government , which has been in flux since a January Supreme Court ruling annulled the election of Raul Khajimba three months earlier .
The ruling sparked violent protests , but Khajimba ultimately stepped down .
Abkhazia declared independence from Georgia in 1992 , a move @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .

Aslan Bzhania, the winner of an election for the de facto presidency in Georgia's breakaway Abkhazia region, has been sworn in for a five-year term.
At an inauguration ceremony in the regional capital, Sukhumi, on April 23, Bzhania pledged to work on closer cooperation with Russia.
Moscow recognized Abkhazia and Georgia's other breakaway region, South Ossetia, as independent states after Russia and Georgia fought a brief war in August 2008.
Only a handful of other countries, however, have followed the lead of the Kremlin, which has kept Russian forces in both regions since.
"With regard to our agreements, we will work more intensively with brotherly Russia on all aspects of bilateral, equal, and mutually beneficial cooperation," Bzhania said.
Bzhania won a March 22 runoff vote that Georgia's foreign minister called "illegal and fully contradicts international law."
The vote was the latest effort to sort out the Black Sea region's government, which has been in flux since a January Supreme Court ruling annulled the election of Raul Khajimba three months earlier.
The ruling sparked violent protests, but Khajimba ultimately stepped down.
Abkhazia declared independence from Georgia in 1992, a move which led to all-out war with Tbilisi.


rferl--2020-04-23--Iranian Commander Threatens U.S. Navy After Trump Tweet

The head of Iran 's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps ( IRGC ) says he has ordered his forces to potentially target the U.S. Navy after President Donald Trump 's tweet threatening to sink Iranian vessels .
Speaking on state television on April 23 , General Hossein Salami warned that his forces `` will answer any action with a decisive , effective , and quick counteraction . ''
`` We have ordered our naval units at sea that if any warships or military units from the naval force of America 's terrorist army wants to jeopardize our commercial vessels or our @ @ @ @ @ @ @ [ U.S. ] warships or naval units , '' Salami said .
Trump tweeted on April 22 that he instructed the U.S. Navy to `` shoot down and destroy any and all Iranian gunboats if they harass our ships at sea . ''
He provided no further details .
Trump 's tweet came after the U.S. Navy said last week that 11 IRGC gunboats had carried out `` dangerous and harassing approaches '' to U.S. Navy and Coast Guard vessels in the Persian Gulf .
Already tense relations between the two countries were @ @ @ @ @ @ @ killed top IRGC commander Qasem Soleimani in January .
On April 22 , the IRGC said it launched a military satellite into orbit after months of failed attempts , further exacerbating the situation .
Western governments have not confirmed the satellite reached orbit , but U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that the launch violated a UN Security Council resolution and every country was now obliged `` to go to the United Nations and evaluate whether this missile launch was consistent '' with the resolution .
On April 23 , Iran summoned @ @ @ @ @ @ @ represents U.S. interests in the Middle Eastern country , to complain about Trump 's threat .
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Musavi said that the Swiss envoy was given a message to pass on to Washington that Iran will strongly defend its maritime rights in the Persian Gulf and respond to any threats , according to the IRIB news agency .
With reporting by AP , AFP , and Reuters

A polytechnic school in Russia’s Tatarstan, a region some 900 kilometers east of Moscow, is using manufacturing facilities that are part of a nearby special economic zone to assemble Iranian attack drones and are increasingly turning to underage students as laborers, many of whom often work in exploitative conditions.
The revelations at Alabuga Polytechnic University raise troubling implications about the lengths that Russian authorities are going to in order to boost the war effort and how the advanced Iranian weaponry -- which is increasingly used to bombard Ukrainian cities and has only recently begun to be manufactured inside Russia -- could contribute to escalating tensions and rising civilian casualties.
The use of underage students as drone factory workers and the details of the manufacturing facilities were first reported by Russian independent media outlets Protokol and Razvorot, which published a series of investigations in July.
Since then, RFE/RL’s Idel.Realities has spoken with students who describe grueling working conditions and interviewed dozens of parents whose children have been enrolled at Alabuga Polytechnic University -- some as young at 15 -- who say that their children were forced to work exceedingly long hours, often without proper breaks or meals, and under hostile conditions that have deeply affected their mental health.
“My son enrolled and 2 1/2 months later he called for me to take him away,” Zhanna, who asked to be identified only by her first name to protect against reprisals for speaking about the operation, told RFE/RL. “He said to me on the phone, ‘Come and get me or I’ll die,’ so I picked him up immediately.”
Zhanna, who asked that her underage son’s name also not be used, says that she sent him from Nizhny Novgorod to study at Alabuga Polytechnic University in 2022 because of its reputation as a leading technical institution inside Russia.
The school offered students -- often between the ages of 15-18 -- an opportunity to get vocational training as part of a dual program that combines a classroom education with practical work experience. Students were also promised an opportunity to work and earn a locally competitive salary of up to 70,000 rubles ($700) a month as part of the work experience program that could further their career growth.
Live Briefing: Russia's Invasion Of Ukraine RFE/RL's Live Briefing gives you all of the latest developments on Russia's full-scale invasion, Kyiv's counteroffensive, Western military aid, global reaction, and the plight of civilians. For all of RFE/RL's coverage of the war in Ukraine, click here.
But, instead, those enrolled were encouraged and in some cases pressured into working at the drone facility, where the salaries of the mostly underage laborers are contingent on meeting tough production quotas.
“This is a textbook definition of what constitutes exploitation,” Sergei Podsytnik, an investigative journalist at Protokol who worked on the series of reports, told RFE/RL. “[Students] assemble drones, with the work taking priority over their studies.”
The pressure to fulfill these quotas has allegedly led to strenuous back-to-back days -- with some shifts lasting up to 15 hours -- with little time for sleep or adequate sustenance. Overtime work is often unpaid, further highlighting potential labor violations. Exhausted students also reported not always meeting their quotas, which led to them not earning the salary initially promised by the school. Many students came from disadvantaged backgrounds and relied on their earnings to cover costs for tuition, room, and board and would send the remainder home.
Other parents, such as Marina, said she decided to take her daughter out of the program when she discovered that she was working in apparent unsafe conditions and that staff from the school had instructed students not to tell their parents about the drone assembly work.
“This was the last straw for me,” Marina, who also asked for her identity to be concealed, told RFE/RL. “This is a dangerous production process that involves dangerous chemicals. They also forbid the kids from telling everything to their parents.”
RFE/RL sent multiple requests for comment to various staff and administrators at Alabuga Polytechnic University but received no replies.
Making Iranian Drones In Russia
The complicated and concerning dynamic at Alabuga Polytechnic University stems from growing military cooperation between Iran and Russia that has accelerated since Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Iran has said it provided drones to Russia before the start of the war, but not since. However, U.S. intelligence officials have warned for months of continued deliveries and deepening cooperation between Moscow and Tehran, saying the two sides were exploring how to set up a manufacturing plant for Iranian drones inside Russia.
According to The Wall Street Journal, an Iranian delegation visited Yelabuga in Tatarstan on January 5, touring a potential site for such a factory at the Alabuga special economic zone close to Alabuga Polytechnic University. U.S. officials released satellite images in April of the plant being built.
Russia already possesses an array of unarmed aerial vehicles, or UAVs, which are used mainly for surveillance and artillery spotting, but has turned increasingly to Tehran for attack drones.
After being forced to abandon Ukrainian territory that its troops captured in the early stretches of the war, Moscow shifted to a strategy of relentless air assaults on Ukrainian cities. These attacks often rely on a combination of cruise missiles and self-detonating drones packed with explosives to knock out electricity and running water for the civilian population in Ukraine.
So far, Iran has provided Russia mostly with so-called "suicide" drones, known as the Shahed-136, that contain a modest amount of explosives that can detonate when the drones crash into targets, military experts say.
In acquiring its own domestic assembly line, Russia could dramatically increase its stockpile of the relatively inexpensive but highly destructive weapons systems.
WATCH: Russia has resorted to using Shahed-136 drones from Iran in its war on Ukraine. Ukraine says it's already downed many of the drones, which work by slamming into their intended target, laden with explosives. Ordinary Ukrainians say they can already recognize the sound of the drones, which use two-stroke engines like lawnmowers or motorbikes. Iran has denied supplying the drones to Russia.
The arrangement also offers substantial economic and political benefits for Iran, which has sought to portray itself as neutral in the Ukraine war. The appearance of Iranian-made drones over Ukrainian cities, however, has triggered threats of new economic sanctions from the West. The United States, the European Union, and the United Kingdom have also all issued rules in recent months designed to cut off the flow of drone components to Russia and Iran.
The Washington Post reported in November 2022, citing unnamed U.S. intelligence officials, that the agreement to deliver Iranian drone schematics and materials for manufacture in Russia resulted from Iranian leaders believing that the arrangement would allow Tehran to avert new sanctions.
Foreign Recruitment And Patriotic Education
Alabuga Polytechnic University is formally not a college. All of its students are officially enrolled at nearby Yelabuga Polytechnic College, with the Alabuga institution existing on paper as a specialized program for students looking to break into high-tech industries.
Currently, about 1,000 students are studying at Alabuga Polytechnic University, with several hundred of them -- most of whom are between the ages of 15 and 17 -- involved in assembling the Iranian drones.
In addition to the work on the drones, there are other signs that point to blurred lines in Russia between the education system and the country’s military amid the war in Ukraine.
According to current and former Alabuga Polytechnic University students, team-building and organized extracurricular activities through the school often take on a “patriotic” character that may be designed to expose students to official government narratives of international events or echo talking points from state television.
Organized paintball games have become a mainstay for students, especially first-year arrivals, in which they are encouraged to compete against one another and then play together against more experienced outside players. Teachers and administration officials regularly refer to paintball as being part of a “patriotic” education needed to complement the technical aspect of their studies.
In one instance, a group of new students competed in paintball as Soviet soldiers against outside players who were dressed as troops from Nazi Germany in a capture-the-flag competition meant to simulate the World War II battle of Stalingrad. According to one student, the Nazi flag contained the compass symbol used by the NATO military alliance instead of the swastika used by Nazi Germany.
Other instances of political teachings from staff are more direct. In a recording obtained by RFE/RL from June 16, a senior administrator can be heard telling the teenagers that NATO launched a hybrid war against Russia back in 2011 and that it has slowly become more overt. The man then goes on to tell students that their hard work and exceeding long days at the drone factory are part of a nationwide struggle against the West and that their patriotism will be rewarded.
Several students and parents identified the man in the recording as Timur Shagivaleev, the director-general of the special economic zone where Alabuga Polytechnic University and the drone factory operate.
Shagivaleev did not respond to RFE/RL’s request for comment.
The man in the recording then goes on to tell students not to take holidays and to continue working “even if it's mom's birthday,” before ending his speech with, “Long live our great country.”
WATCH: Amid a new wave of Russian drone attacks on Ukraine, analysts in Kyiv are gaining useful intelligence from a collection of downed Russian aerial weapons. They have been studying the remains of Iranian Shahed drones and Russian Kinzhal missiles, among others.
Multiple current and former students told RFE/RL that students who work in the drone factory are often praised by staff, while those who have refused or asked to be reassigned due to the high workload are often publicly shamed. In some instances -- according to recordings heard by RFE/RL -- staff even encourage students to bully others who are not deemed “patriotic” enough.
According to Protokol and Razvorot’s investigations, Alabuga Polytechnic University has also turned toward recruiting foreign students to enroll. The majority of them come from African countries, but also from Central Asia and Azerbaijan, where they are promised “world class” salaries as part of the dual-track world experience program.
However, these foreign students are then given low-skill and menial tasks around the campus and the special economic zone, such as janitorial work, and are also paid lower salaries than initially promised.
Written by Reid Standish based on reporting by RFE/RL’s Idel.Realities


rferl--2020-04-23--COVID-19: Anti-Lockdown Protests In Georgia; Watchdog Says Central Asian Governments Failing To Resp

COVID-19: Anti-Lockdown Protests In Georgia; Watchdog Says Central Asian Governments Failing To Respect Rights

The global death toll from the coronavirus is more than 184,000 with more than 2.6 million infections confirmed , causing mass disruptions as governments continue to try to slow the spread of the new respiratory illness .
Dozens of members of Georgia 's opposition Girchi party have rallied in Tbilisi , demanding the repeal of the state of emergency over the coronavirus pandemic after it was extended by one month .
Party leader Zurab Japaridze told reporters on April 23 that the extension would n't change anything , because the situation around the pandemic will not change in one month @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of emergency must be cancelled in order `` to reignite the economy , '' though regulations requiring the wearing of masks outdoors and social distancing may stay in place .
The rally was held at the former hippodrome in the Georgian capital .
Police detained about 10 protesters .
Georgian health authorities said on April 23 that the number of coronavirus cases in the country was 420 , including five deaths .
Human Rights Watch ( HRW ) says governments in Central Asia are failing to respect the rights of their citizens in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The rights group said in a statement on April 23 that while officials in Kazakhstan , Kyrgyzstan , and Uzbekistan have taken `` important steps '' to limit the spread of the outbreak , they have also used the restrictions put in place to target journalists , health-care providers , and activists , and have carried out quarantine measures in ways that have at times proven `` arbitrary and disproportionate . ''
“ All Central Asian governments have obligations to protect their citizens ’ right to health by providing accurate information about COVID-19 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Europe and Central Asia director .
“ Human rights should be respected while the emergency measures are in place , and during any future responses to the virus ... .
They should not use restrictions to muzzle journalists , health-care providers , and others attempting to inform the public or protect against rights violations , ” he added .
HRW said that authorities in Turkmenistan , which along with Tajikistan has yet to acknowledge the existence of COVID-19 cases in their countries , `` have sought to silence medical workers and others speaking @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in the country . ''
The statement notes that the situation in Tajikistan has reached a point where RFE/RL President Jamie Fly sent a letter to Tajik authorities chiding the Health Ministry and other agencies for refusing to answer questions regarding the spread of COVID-19 .
`` By failing to deliver information about COVID-19 and repressing information about it , Turkmenistan and Tajikistan are gravely endangering their citizens ’ health , '' the HRW statement said .
By April 23 , the largest number of registered coronavirus cases in the region was in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and 20 deaths .
In Uzbekistan , the latest number of coronavirus cases reported by the authorities was 1,716 , including seven deaths .
In Kyrgyzstan , there were 631 cases recorded , including eight deaths , as of April 23 .
Bulgaria has closed its border to prevent Bulgarian Turks in Turkey from entering the country during the first days of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan .
The Health Ministry ’ s order applies from midnight on April 23 to April 27 in a bid to prevent travel due to the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 24 .
More than 300,000 Bulgarian citizens live in Turkey .
Most of them are Bulgarian-born ethnic Turks who fled to Turkey in 1989 because of discrimination against the minority group under the former communist regime .
The border closure came in response to information that many Bulgarian Turks in Turkey planned to visit relatives and their ancestral villages and towns in Bulgaria for Ramadan .
Turkey has recorded around 100,000 coronavirus infections and 2,491 deaths , making it one of the hardest hit countries in the world .
Turkish authorities on April @ @ @ @ @ @ @ cities including Ankara and Istanbul .
Mosques will remain closed during Ramadan to stem the spread of the virus .
The Chief Mufti 's Office in Bulgaria announced that mosques would remain closed during Ramadan and services would be broadcast online .
On the recommendation of the European Union , Bulgaria in late March closed the EU 's external borders to third-country nationals .
The Bulgarian Orthodox Church refused to close churches and monasteries for Easter on April 19 .
A new 10,000-bed infectious-diseases hospital is being built near Uzbekistan 's capital , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ pandemic in the Central Asian nation of 32 million .
A project contractor , Enter Engineering , said on April 22 that the medical facility 's first phase in the Zangiota district will be officially opened in early May .
`` The facility is designed both to treat virus-infected residents and to house Uzbek citizens returning home from abroad who require quarantine , '' Shohrukh Sattarov , CEO of Enter Engineering said .
According to the contractor , the remainder of the complex will be completed within a month after the initial opening @ @ @ @ @ @ @ March that they had started building the hospital , following the example of the authorities of the Chinese city of Wuhan , who earlier this year constructed the Huoshenshan Hospital to handle coronavirus patients in less than two weeks .
Enter Engineering is working on the state-commissioned project together with the state railway company .
As of April 23 , the number of coronavirus cases in Uzbekistan was 1,716 , including seven deaths .
In Iran , one of the countries worst hit by the coronavirus pandemic , authorities have closed mosques and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ initial spread of the virus .
President Hassan Rohani said some sites may open on May 4 .
But Iran 's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has already suggested that mass gatherings may be barred throughout Ramadan over the virus .
Iran has reported almost 86,000 infections and up to 5,400 deaths , but critics say the actual numbers could be considerably higher since the information flow is strictly controlled by the authoritarian regime and foreign media access has been all but banned .
With reporting by RFE/RL 's Bulgarian , Georgian , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , Reuters , Oil & Gas.com , Kun.uz , and Gazeta.uz

The global death toll from the coronavirus is more than 184,000 with more than 2.6 million infections confirmed, causing mass disruptions as governments continue to try to slow the spread of the new respiratory illness.
Here's a roundup of COVID-19 developments in RFE/RL's broadcast regions.
Georgia
Dozens of members of Georgia's opposition Girchi party have rallied in Tbilisi, demanding the repeal of the state of emergency over the coronavirus pandemic after it was extended by one month.
Party leader Zurab Japaridze told reporters on April 23 that the extension wouldn't change anything, because the situation around the pandemic will not change in one month.
According to Japaridze, the state of emergency must be cancelled in order "to reignite the economy," though regulations requiring the wearing of masks outdoors and social distancing may stay in place.
The rally was held at the former hippodrome in the Georgian capital. Police detained about 10 protesters.
Georgian health authorities said on April 23 that the number of coronavirus cases in the country was 420, including five deaths.
Central Asia
Human Rights Watch (HRW) says governments in Central Asia are failing to respect the rights of their citizens in their responses to the coronavirus pandemic.
The rights group said in a statement on April 23 that while officials in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan have taken "important steps" to limit the spread of the outbreak, they have also used the restrictions put in place to target journalists, health-care providers, and activists, and have carried out quarantine measures in ways that have at times proven "arbitrary and disproportionate."
“All Central Asian governments have obligations to protect their citizens’ right to health by providing accurate information about COVID-19,” said Hugh Williamson, HRW Europe and Central Asia director.
“Human rights should be respected while the emergency measures are in place, and during any future responses to the virus.... They should not use restrictions to muzzle journalists, health-care providers, and others attempting to inform the public or protect against rights violations,” he added.
HRW said that authorities in Turkmenistan, which along with Tajikistan has yet to acknowledge the existence of COVID-19 cases in their countries, "have sought to silence medical workers and others speaking out about the impact of the virus in the country."
The statement notes that the situation in Tajikistan has reached a point where RFE/RL President Jamie Fly sent a letter to Tajik authorities chiding the Health Ministry and other agencies for refusing to answer questions regarding the spread of COVID-19.
"By failing to deliver information about COVID-19 and repressing information about it, Turkmenistan and Tajikistan are gravely endangering their citizens’ health," the HRW statement said.
By April 23, the largest number of registered coronavirus cases in the region was in Kazakhstan, with 2,207 confirmed positive tests and 20 deaths.
In Uzbekistan, the latest number of coronavirus cases reported by the authorities was 1,716, including seven deaths.
In Kyrgyzstan, there were 631 cases recorded, including eight deaths, as of April 23.
Bulgaria
Bulgaria has closed its border to prevent Bulgarian Turks in Turkey from entering the country during the first days of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
The Health Ministry’s order applies from midnight on April 23 to April 27 in a bid to prevent travel due to the coronavirus pandemic. Ramadan begins on April 24.
More than 300,000 Bulgarian citizens live in Turkey. Most of them are Bulgarian-born ethnic Turks who fled to Turkey in 1989 because of discrimination against the minority group under the former communist regime.
The border closure came in response to information that many Bulgarian Turks in Turkey planned to visit relatives and their ancestral villages and towns in Bulgaria for Ramadan.
Turkey has recorded around 100,000 coronavirus infections and 2,491 deaths, making it one of the hardest hit countries in the world.
Turkish authorities on April 23 implemented a four-day lockdown in 31 cities including Ankara and Istanbul. Mosques will remain closed during Ramadan to stem the spread of the virus.
Bulgaria has 1,097 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 52 deaths.
The Chief Mufti's Office in Bulgaria announced that mosques would remain closed during Ramadan and services would be broadcast online.
On the recommendation of the European Union, Bulgaria in late March closed the EU's external borders to third-country nationals.
The Bulgarian Orthodox Church refused to close churches and monasteries for Easter on April 19.
Uzbekistan
A new 10,000-bed infectious-diseases hospital is being built near Uzbekistan's capital, Tashkent, to help tackle the coronavirus pandemic in the Central Asian nation of 32 million.
A project contractor, Enter Engineering, said on April 22 that the medical facility's first phase in the Zangiota district will be officially opened in early May.
"The facility is designed both to treat virus-infected residents and to house Uzbek citizens returning home from abroad who require quarantine," Shohrukh Sattarov, CEO of Enter Engineering said.
RFE/RL's Coronavirus Crisis Archive Features and analysis, videos, and infographics explore how the COVID-19 pandemic is affecting the countries in our region.
According to the contractor, the remainder of the complex will be completed within a month after the initial opening.
Uzbek health authorities said in late March that they had started building the hospital, following the example of the authorities of the Chinese city of Wuhan, who earlier this year constructed the Huoshenshan Hospital to handle coronavirus patients in less than two weeks.
Enter Engineering is working on the state-commissioned project together with the state railway company.
As of April 23, the number of coronavirus cases in Uzbekistan was 1,716, including seven deaths.
Iran
In Iran, one of the countries worst hit by the coronavirus pandemic, authorities have closed mosques and shrines believed to have contributed to the initial spread of the virus.
President Hassan Rohani said some sites may open on May 4. But Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has already suggested that mass gatherings may be barred throughout Ramadan over the virus.
Iran has reported almost 86,000 infections and up to 5,400 deaths, but critics say the actual numbers could be considerably higher since the information flow is strictly controlled by the authoritarian regime and foreign media access has been all but banned.
With reporting by RFE/RL's Bulgarian, Georgian, Kazakh, Kyrgyz, and Uzbek services, Reuters, Oil&Gas.com, Kun.uz, and Gazeta.uz


rferl--2020-04-24--Moldova's Pro-Moscow President Says Suspension Of Russian Loan Risks Economic Crisis

Moldovan President Igor Dodon has accused the opposition of triggering an economic crisis during the coronavirus pandemic by blocking a 200 million-euro ( $ 215 million ) loan agreement with Russia .
The agreement was ratified by parliament on April 23 , but the Constitutional Court blocked the deal after being petitioned by a pro-European opposition lawmaker .
Prime Minister Ion Chicu said the agreement reached in Moscow last week would help plug a rapidly growing budget deficit that is expected to double because of the coronavirus outbreak , reaching an estimated 7 percent of economic output .
The pro-Western @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that it poses a long-term `` danger '' because of obscure provisions that would channel the money toward unnecessary projects that favor Russian companies .
It has also said that Russia 's motivation in providing the loan is to back the Moscow-friendly Dodon , who plans to run for a second term later this year .
`` The opposition is worried that Moldova will receive a loan of 200 million euros from Russia , '' Dodon said on his official Facebook feed .
`` They would like to provoke a crisis , bring @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to power on this wave , '' Dodon added .
The court 's decision to suspend the deal `` pending a substantive review '' makes the date for drawing funds from the credit uncertain .
It also remains unclear as to when the court will rule on whether the loan is legal or not .
Sandwiched between EU member Romania and Ukraine , Moldova is one of Europe 's poorest countries .
It has reported more than 2,900 coronavirus infections and 80 deaths so far .
With reporting by Reuters , TASS , @ @

Moldovan President Igor Dodon has accused the opposition of triggering an economic crisis during the coronavirus pandemic by blocking a 200 million-euro ($215 million) loan agreement with Russia.
The agreement was ratified by parliament on April 23, but the Constitutional Court blocked the deal after being petitioned by a pro-European opposition lawmaker.
Prime Minister Ion Chicu said the agreement reached in Moscow last week would help plug a rapidly growing budget deficit that is expected to double because of the coronavirus outbreak, reaching an estimated 7 percent of economic output.
The pro-Western opposition has criticized the 10-year loan saying that it poses a long-term "danger" because of obscure provisions that would channel the money toward unnecessary projects that favor Russian companies.
It has also said that Russia's motivation in providing the loan is to back the Moscow-friendly Dodon, who plans to run for a second term later this year.
"The opposition is worried that Moldova will receive a loan of 200 million euros from Russia," Dodon said on his official Facebook feed.
"They would like to provoke a crisis, bring people to the street, and return to power on this wave," Dodon added.
The court's decision to suspend the deal "pending a substantive review" makes the date for drawing funds from the credit uncertain. It also remains unclear as to when the court will rule on whether the loan is legal or not.
Sandwiched between EU member Romania and Ukraine, Moldova is one of Europe's poorest countries.
It has reported more than 2,900 coronavirus infections and 80 deaths so far.
With reporting by Reuters, TASS, and unimedia.md


rferl--2020-04-24--Taliban Rejects Afghan Cease-Fire Offer During Ramadan

The Taliban has rejected a Ramadan cease-fire offer from the Afghan government , saying such a move is `` not rational '' amid disagreements over the peace process .
The offer was made by President Ashraf Ghani on April 23 ahead of the start of Islam 's holy month of Ramadan as Afghanistan battles the growing coronavirus pandemic .
Taliban spokesman Suhail Shaheen rejected the offer , saying the militants will keep fighting because of the ongoing disagreements with the government over a potential peace deal as well as a delayed prisoner exchange .
`` Asking for ceasefire is not @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on Twitter late on April 23 as he accused the government of putting prisoners ' lives at risk during the pandemic .
A landmark deal signed by the United States and the Taliban on February 29 calls for the Afghan government to release 5,000 Taliban fighters as a confidence-building measure ahead of formal peace talks aimed at ending the 18-year conflict in Afghanistan .
The Afghan government released another 55 Taliban prisoners on April 22 .
National Security Council spokesman Javed Faisal said in a tweet that the detainees were released as part @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and fight '' the coronavirus epidemic .
The Western-backed government in Kabul has released more than 480 Taliban inmates since April 8 , while the militants have freed 60 Afghan security and defense personnel they were holding .
The militant group has pledged to release some 1,000 Afghan government troops and civilian workers it is holding .
The prisoner swap was scheduled to be completed by March 10 , before the start of intra-Afghan peace talks , but it has been delayed by disputes between the sides .
Meanwhile , deadly fighting has @ @ @ @ @ @ @ was inked in Doha , Qatar .
Afghan authorities have reported more than 1,270 cases of COVID-19 , the disease caused by the virus , including 42 deaths .
Authorities have released thousands of detainees , mostly women , juveniles , and sick people , to reduce the risk of the coronavirus spreading in prisons .
With reporting by AP , AFP , Reuters , and dpa


rferl--2020-04-24--COVID-19: Uzbekistan May Take Billions In Loans To Tackle Pandemic

The global death toll from the coronavirus is more than 191,000 with over 2.7 million infections confirmed , causing mass @ @ @ @ @ try to slow the spread of the new respiratory illness .
Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoev @ @ @ @ @ will allow the Central Asian nation to take $ 3.1 billion from international financial institutions @ @ @ @ @ to reduce the effects of the coronavirus outbreak .
According to a presidential decree that @ @ @ @ @ database of state legislaiton on April 24 , preliminary agreements have been secured for loans @ @ @ @ @ the Asian Development Bank , the Islamic Development Bank , the European Bank for Reconstruction @ @ @ @ @ Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank .
Deputy Prime Minister Jamshid Qochqorov told reporters a day earlier @ @ @ @ @ is also expecting to receive $ 375 million from the International Monetary Fund to combat @ @ @ @ @ .
As of April 24 , the number of registered coronavirus cases in Uzbekistan was @ @ @ @ @ including seven deaths .

A former top FBI counterintelligence agent pleaded guilty to charges related to his work for notorious Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska, changing his plea after federal prosecutors filed new, reduced charges of conspiring to violate U.S. sanctions on Russia by working for the billionaire industrialist.
The move by Charles McGonigal, made on August 15 before a federal judge in New York City, ends a prosecution that had stunned the FBI, where McGonigal had investigated Russian influence operations for years while climbing the bureau’s ranks.
The 55-year-old also still faces a separate set of foreign agent charges in Washington, D.C., related to work he did for Albanian officials.
McGonigal, who retired as head counterintelligence in the FBI's New York bureau in 2018, was originally indicted in January by a grand jury on more serious charges of money laundering and violating U.S. sanctions.
Prosecutors alleged that McGonigal and a former Russian diplomat with whom he was associated, were paid more than $200,000 to do work for Deripaska, a wealthy Russian metals tycoon who has long been seen as a Kremlin insider. Deripaska was hit with sanctions by the U.S. Treasury Department in 2018.
U.S. authorities said McGonigal was hired to dig up negative information on Vladimir Potanin, a rival oligarch to Deripaska. McGonigal and the former diplomat, Sergei Shestakov, also worked to try and get Deripaska removed from U.S. sanctions lists.
Shestakov has pleaded not guilty to the more serious charges than had been originally filed against McGonigal.
They "attempted to conceal Deripaska's involvement by, among other means, not directly naming Deripaska in electronic communications, using shell companies as counterparties in the contract that outlined the services to be performed, using a forged signature on that contract, and using the same shell companies to send and receive payment from Deripaska," the Justice Department said in a press release after McGonigal entered his plea.
McGonigal could receive up to five years in prison when he is sentenced in December.
The separate case filed in Washington, D.C., by federal prosecutors centers on work McGonigal allegedly did on behalf of a former Albanian intelligence officer, for which he was paid $225,000.
McGonigal also allegedly lied to the FBI about his contacts with foreign nationals and foreign travel while he was still employed by the bureau.
Deripaska also faces charges of violating U.S. sanctions through real estate deals and a complicated scheme under which he allegedly arranged for his girlfriend to travel to the United States to give birth to two of their children.


rferl--2020-04-24--Tajikistan Tells Farmers To Avoid Ramadan Fast, Cites Disease And Need To Work

Tajik President Emomali Rahmon has urged farmers in the predominately Muslim country not to fast during the holy month of Ramadan so they can stay healthy and work the fields .
The Central Asian nation claims not to have any coronavirus infections , but Rahmon said on April 23 that fasting makes people `` vulnerable to infection from infectious diseases . ''
`` Although this disease is not registered in our country , this does not mean that we should be careless and sit idle , '' Rahmon wrote on the eve of the Islamic holy month .
Despite claiming @ @ @ @ @ @ @ has closed its borders and taken other steps including closing mosques to keep the virus from spreading .
Citing Tajikistan 's pro-government religious authorities , Rahmon asserted fasting harms `` farmers , livestock breeders , and those who work hard.
” '' I urge everyone working in the fields ... in the name of their health and that of their families , ensuring their households ' welfare , to use this dispensation and delay the fast until a more favorable time , '' Rahmon said .
The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom @ @ @ @ @ @ @ particular concern '' for restrictions and crackdowns on religion .
“ The government of Tajikistan seeks to meticulously control Muslim religious practice , regulating even small details of who may express religious belief , at what age , when , where , and how , ” it said in its 2019 report on religious freedom .
The Ramadan message focusing on food security comes as the former Soviet republic has asked international donors for emergency aid to help the country deal with the economic impact of the global coronavirus pandemic .
Tajikistan is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ pay for imports -- including some food items -- as remittances from migrant laborers in Russia slump due to the pandemic .
Kazakhstan has also enforced quotas on wheat exports .
Around 65 percent of the Tajik workforce is involved in agriculture .
With reporting by AFP and Reuters

Tajik President Emomali Rahmon has urged farmers in the predominately Muslim country not to fast during the holy month of Ramadan so they can stay healthy and work the fields.
The Central Asian nation claims not to have any coronavirus infections, but Rahmon said on April 23 that fasting makes people "vulnerable to infection from infectious diseases."
"Although this disease is not registered in our country, this does not mean that we should be careless and sit idle," Rahmon wrote on the eve of the Islamic holy month.
Despite claiming to have no COVID-19 cases, Tajikistan has closed its borders and taken other steps including closing mosques to keep the virus from spreading.
Citing Tajikistan's pro-government religious authorities, Rahmon asserted fasting harms "farmers, livestock breeders, and those who work hard.”
"I urge everyone working in the fields...in the name of their health and that of their families, ensuring their households' welfare, to use this dispensation and delay the fast until a more favorable time," Rahmon said.
The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom identifies Tajikistan as a "country of particular concern" for restrictions and crackdowns on religion.
“The government of Tajikistan seeks to meticulously control Muslim religious practice, regulating even small details of who may express religious belief, at what age, when, where, and how,” it said in its 2019 report on religious freedom.
The Ramadan message focusing on food security comes as the former Soviet republic has asked international donors for emergency aid to help the country deal with the economic impact of the global coronavirus pandemic.
Tajikistan is likely to suffer foreign currency problems to pay for imports -- including some food items -- as remittances from migrant laborers in Russia slump due to the pandemic. Kazakhstan has also enforced quotas on wheat exports.
Around 65 percent of the Tajik workforce is involved in agriculture.
With reporting by AFP and Reuters


rferl--2020-04-24--Armenia Commemorates Victims Of Ottoman-Era Killings Amid Coronavirus Lockdown

Armenia turned off street lights and church bells rang across the country late on April 23 in an altered commemoration to the victims of the World War I-era mass killings of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire .
A torch-lit procession traditionally held each year in Yerevan on the eve of April 24 was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic and access was closed to the Tsitsernakaberd Memorial Complex , where normally throngs of people would pay their respects to the victims of the tragedy .
As beams of blue light radiated into sky from the hilltop memorial that dominates the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in their homes .
Many lit candles or mobile telephone flashlights at windows .
The government said that only the country ’ s top political and spiritual leaders will lay flowers at Tsitsernakaberd .
The 105th anniversary “ of the Armenian Genocide is commemorated in accordance with a protocol forced on us by the pandemic , ” President Armen Sarkisian said in a statement .
`` We remember our victims all the time and everywhere , no matter where in the world we are .
We pray for them in our souls and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ he said .
On April 24 , Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian and the head of the Armenian Church , Catholicos Garegin II , will lay flowers at the memorial .
Last month , Armenia declared a state of emergency and imposed a nationwide lockdown to slow the spread of infections .
The government has reported 1,401 coronavirus cases and 24 deaths .
During and immediately after World War I , as many as 1.5 million Armenians were killed or deported from Anatolia , in what Armenians call `` the Great Crime . ''
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ than 30 countries consider the killings genocide .
As the successor state to the Ottoman Empire , Turkey objects to the use of the word genocide and describes the killings as `` the events of 1915 . ''
Ankara recognizes about 500,000 Armenians who died as a result of civil strife , disease , and starvation rather than a planned Ottoman government effort to annihilate Armenians .
Turkey also points out that hundreds of thousands of Muslims died in Anatolia at the time due to combat , starvation , cold , and disease @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian has condemned what he called crimes against "civilization" and demanded an apology from Turkey as the country, amid coronavirus restrictions, marked the 105th anniversary of the World War I-era massacre of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire.

"The Armenian genocide perpetrated by the Ottoman Empire was a crime not only against our ethnic identity but also against human civilization," Pashinian declared on April 24 in a televised address to the nation broadcast live from Yerevan's Tsitsernakabert Memorial Complex, where normally throngs of people would pay their respect to the victims of the tragedy.

Pashinian, along with President Armen Sarkisian, parliament speaker Ararat Mirzoyan, and Catholicos Garegin II, the head of the Armenian Apostolic Church, visited the hilltop memorial separately, observing social-distancing rules aimed at stopping the spread of the virus in the country.

"More than a century has passed but the consequences of the genocide have not been eliminated," Pashinian said. "Turkey has not yet apologized for what it did."

Both Pashinian and Sarkisian thanked the three dozen countries, including the United States, France, Germany, and Russia, whose parliaments or governments have recognized the Armenian genocide.

Commemorations started late on April 23 when lights were turned off and church bells rang in an altered commemoration to the victims of the mass killing of Armenians.
A torch-lit procession traditionally held each year in Yerevan on the eve of April 24 was canceled due to the coronavirus epidemic, which has officially infected more than 1,590 people in Armenia and led to 27 deaths.
Last month, Armenia declared a state of emergency and imposed a nationwide lockdown to slow the spread of infections.

During and immediately after World War I, as many as 1.5 million Armenians were killed or deported from Anatolia, in what Armenians call "The Great Crime." Many historians, Armenia, and more than 30 countries consider the killings genocide.

As the successor state to the Ottoman Empire, Turkey objects to the use of the word genocide and describes the killings as "The Events of 1915."

Ankara says that about 500,000 Armenians died as a result of civil strife, disease, and starvation rather than a planned Ottoman government effort to annihilate them. Turkey also asserts that hundreds of thousands of Muslims died in Anatolia at the time due to combat, starvation, cold, and disease.
With reporting by AFP


rferl--2020-04-24--Georgia Support Package To Buffer Expected 4 Percent Economic Contraction

Georgia has announced a 3.5-billion-lari ( $ 1.1 billion ) support package aimed at shoring up the country ’ s economy , which is expected to contract 4 percent this year because of the coronavirus pandemic .
More than 2 billion laris provided in the package will go toward supporting businesses and the wider economy , Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia said on April 24 .
Another 1 billion laris will go toward welfare support , and 350 million laris is included for healthcare and medical needs .
Gakharia presented the plan to his government on April 24 , saying the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and lose 1.8 billion laris in revenue .
The government had projected 4.5 percent growth in 2020 .
The support measures draw on $ 3 billion of emergency funding to be provided by international financial institutions and donors announced on April 14 .
Georgia had appealed to the donors for to help it balance its budget for this year .
Georgia earlier this week extended its state of emergency until May 22 .
It includes a curfew from 9 p.m. until 6 a.m. , the closure of restaurants , cafes and most shops @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and a ban on gatherings of more than three people .
Grocery stores , pharmacies , and petrol stations remain open .
A nationwide ban on driving private vehicles will end April 27 , and other restrictions will be removed gradually , Gakharia said .
The South Caucasus country of about 4 million people has so far reported 431 confirmed cases of the coronavirus , with five deaths .

Georgia has announced a 3.5 billion-lari ($1.1 billion) support package aimed at shoring up the country's economy, which is expected to contract 4 percent this year because of the coronavirus pandemic.
More than 2 billion laris provided in the package will go toward supporting businesses and the wider economy, Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia said on April 24.
Another 1 billion laris will go toward welfare support, and 350 million laris is included for health-care and medical needs.
Gakharia presented the plan to his government on April 24, saying the economy was expected to shrink 4 percent and lose 1.8 billion laris in revenue. The government had projected 4.5 percent growth in 2020.
The support measures draw on $3 billion of emergency funding to be provided by international financial institutions and donors announced on April 14. Georgia had appealed to the donors for help in balancing its budget for this year.
Georgia earlier this week extended its state of emergency until May 22. It includes a curfew from 9 p.m. until 6 a.m., the closure of restaurants, cafes and most shops, a suspension of public transport, and a ban on gatherings of more than three people. Grocery stores, pharmacies, and gas stations remain open.
A nationwide ban on driving private vehicles will end on April 27, and other restrictions will be removed gradually, Gakharia said.
The South Caucasus country of about 4 million people has so far reported 431 confirmed cases of the coronavirus, with five deaths.
With reporting by Reuters


rferl--2020-04-24--Ukraine’s Job Offer To Saakashvili Angers Georgia

TBILISI/KYIV -- The government of Georgia , led by former President Mikheil Saakashvili 's longtime foes , has voiced objection to his possible appointment to the post of deputy prime minister of Ukraine , saying such a move would negatively affect relations between the two countries.  Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia said in Tbilisi on April 24 that it was `` absolutely unacceptable '' for Ukraine to appoint to a top post a person who has been convicted in his native Georgia and is wanted on charges of abuse of power.  `` If such a decision is made @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for consultations , at a minimum , ” Gakharia told journalists.  In Kyiv , Ukrainian lawmakers representing the ruling Servant of the People party said they were divided over the government 's proposal to give Saakashvili the post of deputy prime minister in charge of reforms.  Saakashvili , whose appointment needs to be approved by parliament , told reporters that President Volodymyr Zelenskiy had asked him to conduct talks with the International Monetary Fund ( IMF ) .  Ukraine , which desperately needs IMF loans to shore up its economy @ @ @ @ @ @ @ face `` the most difficult social and economic test since it won independence , '' he said.  If Saakashvili 's appointment is approved , it would mark a remarkable political comeback for the 52-year-old , who served as Georgian president from 2004 to 2013. In Georgia , he has been prosecuted by the government that came to power after his party 's defeat in 2012 parliamentary elections .
Saakashvili was sentenced in 2018 to a total of nine years in prison in absentia after being convicted of abuse of power in two @ @ @ @ @ @ @ he was wanted in his native country for allegedly authorizing a plot to kill an opposition politician who died in Britain in 2008.  Saakashvili , who has rejected all charges as politically motivated , started a new political career in Ukraine in 2015 , when he was granted Ukrainian citizenship and appointed to the Odesa governor 's post by Zelenskiy ’ s predecessor , Petro Poroshenko.  But when relations between Poroshenko and Saakashvili soured over reform efforts and the fight against corruption , the Ukrainian president in 2016 fired him as @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Saakashvili created the Movement of New Forces opposition party and Poroshenko issued a decree that stripped him of his Ukrainian citizenship , which was reinstated by Zelenskiy after his inauguration last year.  Ukraine and Georgia are seeking closer ties with the West , including membership in NATO , and both have strained relations with Russia , which has been involved in wars in both countries .
With reporting by Ukrayinska pravda , UNIAN , Interfax , dpa , and AP

TBILISI/KYIV -- The government of Georgia, led by former President Mikheil Saakashvili's longtime foes, has voiced objection to his possible appointment to the post of deputy prime minister of Ukraine, saying such a move would negatively affect relations between the two countries.

Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia said in Tbilisi on April 24 that it was "absolutely unacceptable" for Ukraine to appoint to a top post a person who has been convicted in his native Georgia and is wanted on charges of abuse of power.

"If such a decision is made we would recall our ambassador from Kyiv for consultations, at a minimum,” Gakharia told journalists.

In Kyiv, Ukrainian lawmakers representing the ruling Servant of the People party said they were divided over the government's proposal to give Saakashvili the post of deputy prime minister in charge of reforms.

Saakashvili, whose appointment needs to be approved by parliament, told reporters that President Volodymyr Zelenskiy had asked him to conduct talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Ukraine, which desperately needs IMF loans to shore up its economy amid the coronavirus pandemic, is to face "the most difficult social and economic test since it won independence," he said.

If Saakashvili's appointment is approved, it would mark a remarkable political comeback for the 52-year-old, who served as Georgian president from 2004 to 2013.
In Georgia, he has been prosecuted by the government that came to power after his party's defeat in 2012 parliamentary elections.
Saakashvili was sentenced in 2018 to a total of nine years in prison in absentia after being convicted of abuse of power in two separate cases.

Prosecutors also said that he was wanted in his native country for allegedly authorizing a plot to kill an opposition politician who died in Britain in 2008.

Saakashvili, who has rejected all charges as politically motivated, started a new political career in Ukraine in 2015, when he was granted Ukrainian citizenship and appointed to the Odesa governor's post by Zelenskiy’s predecessor, Petro Poroshenko.

But when relations between Poroshenko and Saakashvili soured over reform efforts and the fight against corruption, the Ukrainian president in 2016 fired him as governor.

In 2017, Saakashvili created the Movement of New Forces opposition party and Poroshenko issued a decree that stripped him of his Ukrainian citizenship, which was reinstated by Zelenskiy after his inauguration last year.

Ukraine and Georgia are seeking closer ties with the West, including membership in NATO, and both have strained relations with Russia, which has been involved in wars in both countries.
With reporting by Ukrayinska pravda, UNIAN, Interfax, dpa, and AP


rferl--2020-04-24--U.S., EU Welcome Full Acquittal Of Azerbaijani Politician, Rights Defender

The United States and European Union have welcomed the full acquittal in Azerbaijan of a leading human rights defender and an opposition leader .
  Ilqar Mammadov , chairman of the Republican Alternative Party ( ReAL ) , and Rasul Cafarov , a prominent human rights defender and board member of ReAL , were acquitted by the Azerbaijani Supreme Court on April 23 after serving years in prison on charges that they and their supporters said were politically motivated.  In welcoming the action , the U.S. Embassy in Baku said in a statement on April 24 that Washington @ @ @ @ @ @ @ such as ending the intimidation and detention of journalists , civil society activists , and members of the political opposition who exercise their freedom of expression .
``   `` We remain open to continued dialogue and engagement on these and other issues for the benefit of both our peoples , '' the statement said.  The EU also greeted the court 's decision to acquit the two men and said that it `` expects Azerbaijan to live up to its international commitments .
``  '' This judgement , which overturns @ @ @ @ @ @ @ step that finally fully implements the respective decisions of the European Court of Human Rights .
The European Union expects Azerbaijan to live up to its international commitments and to continue to implement the remaining decisions of the European Court of Human Rights , '' the EU statement said. Mammadov , who served more than five years of a seven-year prison term , fought for his full acquittal since his early release in August 2018.  He was detained in February 2013 and charged with helping stoke unrest in the town of Ismayilli @ @ @ @ @ @ @ sentenced to seven years in jail in March 2014 .
Mammadov and his supporters insisted the case against him was politically motivated.  Cafarov was arrested in August 2014 and in April 2015 he was sentenced to 6 1/2 years in prison after a court in Baku found him guilty of tax evasion , illegal entrepreneurship , and abuse of office .
He denied the charges , saying they were politically motivated .
  Cafarov was granted early release in March 2016 and worked on his full acquittal since then.  Critics @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the energy-rich South Caucasus state frequently jail opposition activists , reporters , human rights defenders , and civil society advocates without grounds in an effort to silence dissent.  Aliyev , who has ruled Azerbaijan since shortly before his father 's death in 2003 , has rejected the criticism.

The United States and European Union have welcomed the full acquittal in Azerbaijan of a leading human rights defender and an opposition leader.

Ilqar Mammadov, chairman of the Republican Alternative Party (ReAL), and Rasul Cafarov, a prominent human rights defender and board member of ReAL, were acquitted by the Azerbaijani Supreme Court on April 23 after serving years in prison on charges that they and their supporters said were politically motivated.

In welcoming the action, the U.S. Embassy in Baku said in a statement on April 24 that Washington "would welcome further positive steps, such as ending the intimidation and detention of journalists, civil society activists, and members of the political opposition who exercise their freedom of expression."

"We remain open to continued dialogue and engagement on these and other issues for the benefit of both our peoples," the statement said.

The EU also greeted the court's decision to acquit the two men and said that it "expects Azerbaijan to live up to its international commitments."
"This judgement, which overturns their previous convictions, is a welcome step that finally fully implements the respective decisions of the European Court of Human Rights. The European Union expects Azerbaijan to live up to its international commitments and to continue to implement the remaining decisions of the European Court of Human Rights," the EU statement said.
Mammadov, who served more than five years of a seven-year prison term, fought for his full acquittal since his early release in August 2018.

He was detained in February 2013 and charged with helping stoke unrest in the town of Ismayilli, northwest of Baku. He was sentenced to seven years in jail in March 2014. Mammadov and his supporters insisted the case against him was politically motivated.

Cafarov was arrested in August 2014 and in April 2015 he was sentenced to 6 1/2 years in prison after a court in Baku found him guilty of tax evasion, illegal entrepreneurship, and abuse of office. He denied the charges, saying they were politically motivated.

Cafarov was granted early release in March 2016 and worked on his full acquittal since then.

Critics of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev say authorities of the energy-rich South Caucasus state frequently jail opposition activists, reporters, human rights defenders, and civil society advocates without grounds in an effort to silence dissent.

Aliyev, who has ruled Azerbaijan since shortly before his father's death in 2003, has rejected the criticism.


rferl--2020-04-24--U.K. Says Iranian Military Satellite Launch 'Of Significant Concern'

Britain says it is concerned over Iran 's launching of a military satellite and urged Tehran to uphold a United Nations resolution on refraining from such activities .
`` Reports that Iran has carried out a satellite launch using ballistic-missile technology are of significant concern and inconsistent with UN Security Council Resolution 2231 , '' the Foreign Office said in a statement on April 24 .
After months of failed attempts , Iran 's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps ( IRGC ) announced on April 22 that it had launched a military satellite into orbit .
The IRGC said on its @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of 425 kilometers above the Earth 's surface .
`` The UN has called upon Iran not to undertake any activity related to ballistic missiles designed to be capable of delivering nuclear weapons , '' the British statement said .
`` Iran must abide by this , '' the Foreign Office said , adding that it had `` significant and long-standing concerns '' about Tehran 's ballistic-missile program , which poses a threat to regional security .
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on April 22 that `` Iran needs to be @ @ @ @ @ @ @ . ''
Iran has repeatedly denied that it is pursuing a nuclear arms program and that such launches are cover for ballistic-missile development .
In a tweet on April 24 , Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif reiterated Iran 's position that its missiles are not `` designed '' to carry nuclear arms , as required by the UN Resolution 2231 .
`` US has been bullying all against UNSC Resolution 2231 since 2017 ...
Neither ( Europe or the United States ) can lecture Iran based on flimsy misreadings of UNSCR 2231 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
`` Iran neither has nukes nor missiles 'DESIGNED to be capable of carrying ' such horrific arms . ''
With reporting by AFP and Reuters


rferl--2020-04-24--Russian Central Bank Lowers Key Rate, Says Economy May Shrink Up To 6 Percent

Russia 's central bank has lowered its key interest rate by half a percentage point to 5.5 percent , the lowest level in six years , to help ease the economic impact of the coronavirus outbreak .
The Bank of Russia said on April 24 that because of the pandemic and plunging oil prices , the country 's resource-dependent economy will shrink by 4 percent to 6 percent this year , compared with a previous expectation of growth between 1.5 percent and 2 percent .
The bank said that it expected growth to recover next year to 2.8-4.8 percent , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
`` The situation has changed dramatically '' since the board last met in March , with `` significant restrictive measures '' introduced worldwide slowing down the economy , the bank said .
Separately , bank Chairwoman Elvira Nabiullina said gross domestic product may slip up to 8 percent in the second quarter .
`` Although there will be a recovery of the economy in 2021 , it will not fully compensate for the economic decline in 2020 , '' she also said Russia has recorded 68,622 confirmed cases of the coronavirus , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to April 24 , and 615 deaths in total .
More than 2.55 million people have been tested in the country , with about 2.7 percent of those testing positive , according to the federal anti-coronavirus crisis center .

Russia's central bank has lowered its key interest rate by half a percentage point to 5.5 percent, the lowest level in six years, to help ease the economic impact of the coronavirus outbreak.
The Bank of Russia said on April 24 that because of the pandemic and plunging oil prices, the country's resource-dependent economy will shrink by 4 percent to 6 percent this year, compared with a previous expectation of growth between 1.5 percent and 2 percent.
The bank said that it expected growth to recover next year to 2.8-4.8 percent, before slowing to 1.5-3.5 percent in 2022.
"The situation has changed dramatically" since the board last met in March, with "significant restrictive measures" introduced worldwide slowing down the economy, the bank said.
Separately, bank Chairwoman Elvira Nabiullina said gross domestic product may slip up to 8 percent in the second quarter.
"Although there will be a recovery of the economy in 2021, it will not fully compensate for the economic decline in 2020," she also said
Russia has recorded 68,622 confirmed cases of the coronavirus, including 5,849 new cases from April 23 to April 24, and 615 deaths in total.
More than 2.55 million people have been tested in the country, with about 2.7 percent of those testing positive, according to the federal anti-coronavirus crisis center.


rferl--2020-04-24--Despite Criticism, Putin Signs Bill Changing Date For End Of WWII

Despite criticism from his human rights council , Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed into law a bill on marking the end of the World War II on September 3 , a day later than the date recognized by most countries .
The decree , signed on April 24 , appeared on the government ’ s online database of state legislation .
The end of World War II is internationally accepted as September 2 , 1945 , the day on which Japan formally surrendered .
But the legislation , which was also approved by Russia 's State Duma and Federation @ @ @ @ @ @ @ be marked as the day on which World War II ended in Russia .
That was the day on which forces from the former Soviet Union defeated Japanese troops in `` a decisive contribution to end '' the war .
Japan and Russia have never signed a peace treaty to formally end the war because of a dispute over the Kurile Islands , which Soviet troops seized at the end of WWII .
Last week , the Presidential Council for Human Rights ( SPCh ) issued a statement calling the move `` a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , September 3 is already marked in the country as the Day of Solidarity in the Fight against Terrorism to honor hundreds of victims of the 2004 Beslan school siege .
`` In our mind , decisions on marking memorial days must unite , not divide people .
Moving the Day of Military Glory from September 2 to September 3 will not be understood by relatives of those killed in that monstrous terrorist act [ in Beslan ] , '' the statement said .
The Day of Solidarity in the Fight against Terrorism @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in Russia on September 3 since 2005 .
On September 1 , 2004 , some three dozen Chechen militants took more than 1,200 people hostage at a school in Beslan , North Ossetia .
Two days later , Russian forces stormed the school and 334 people , including 186 children , were killed in the violence .

Despite criticism from his human rights council, Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed into law a bill on marking the end of the World War II on September 3, a day later than the date recognized by most countries.
The decree, signed on April 24, appeared on the government’s online database of state legislation.
The end of World War II is internationally accepted as September 2, 1945, the day on which Japan formally surrendered.
But the legislation, which was also approved by Russia's State Duma and Federation Council, says that September 3 must be marked as the day on which World War II ended in Russia. That was the day on which forces from the former Soviet Union defeated Japanese troops in "a decisive contribution to end" the war. Japan and Russia have never signed a peace treaty to formally end the war because of a dispute over the Kurile Islands, which Soviet troops seized at the end of WWII.
Last week, the Presidential Council for Human Rights (SPCh) issued a statement calling the move "a mistake."
According to the SPCh, September 3 is already marked in the country as the Day of Solidarity in the Fight against Terrorism to honor hundreds of victims of the 2004 Beslan school siege.
"In our mind, decisions on marking memorial days must unite, not divide people. Moving the Day of Military Glory from September 2 to September 3 will not be understood by relatives of those killed in that monstrous terrorist act [in Beslan]," the statement said.
The Day of Solidarity in the Fight against Terrorism to commemorate Beslan victims has been marked in Russia on September 3 since 2005.
On September 1, 2004, some three dozen Chechen militants took more than 1,200 people hostage at a school in Beslan, North Ossetia.
Two days later, Russian forces stormed the school and 334 people, including 186 children, were killed in the violence.


rferl--2020-04-24--Pashinian Urges Turkey To Apologize As Armenia Commemorates Victims Of Ottoman-Era Killings

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian has condemned what he called crimes against `` civilization '' and demanded an apology from Turkey as the country , amid coronavirus restrictions , marked the 105th anniversary of the World War I-era massacre of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire .
  `` The Armenian genocide perpetrated by the Ottoman Empire was a crime not only against our ethnic identity but also against human civilization , '' Pashinian declared on April 24 in a televised address to the nation broadcast live from Yerevan 's Tsitsernakabert Memorial Complex , where normally throngs of people would @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the tragedy.  Pashinian , along with President Armen Sarkisian , parliament speaker Ararat Mirzoyan , and Catholicos Garegin II , the head of the Armenian Apostolic Church , visited the hilltop memorial separately , observing social-distancing rules aimed at stopping the spread of the virus in the country.  `` More than a century has passed but the consequences of the genocide have not been eliminated , '' Pashinian said .
`` Turkey has not yet apologized for what it did . ''
 Both Pashinian and Sarkisian thanked the three dozen @ @ @ @ @ @ @ France , Germany , and Russia , whose parliaments or governments have recognized the Armenian genocide.  Commemorations started late on April 23 when lights were turned off and church bells rang in an altered commemoration to the victims of the mass killing of Armenians. A torch-lit procession traditionally held each year in Yerevan on the eve of April 24 was canceled due to the coronavirus epidemic , which has officially infected more than 1,590 people in Armenia and led to 27 deaths .
Last month , Armenia declared a state of emergency @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the spread of infections .
 During and immediately after World War I , as many as 1.5 million Armenians were killed or deported from Anatolia , in what Armenians call `` The Great Crime . ''
Many historians , Armenia , and more than 30 countries consider the killings genocide.  As the successor state to the Ottoman Empire , Turkey objects to the use of the word genocide and describes the killings as `` The Events of 1915 .
``   Ankara says that about 500,000 Armenians died as a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and starvation rather than a planned Ottoman government effort to annihilate them .
Turkey also asserts that hundreds of thousands of Muslims died in Anatolia at the time due to combat , starvation , cold , and disease.


rferl--2020-04-25--Fresh Supplies Delivered To Joint U.S.-Russian Space Station Crew

A Russian spacecraft loaded with fresh supplies as well as photographs and mementos to be used to mark upcoming World War II victory commemorations has successfully docked with the International Space Station ( ISS ) .
The Russian Progress 75 resupply ship was met by the ISS 's three-man crew -- U.S. astronaut Chris Cassidy and Russians Anatoly Ivanishin and Ivan Vagner -- and will remain docked at the station for seven months .
The robotic freighter will also be on hand to help welcome SpaceX 's Crew Dragon capsule on its first-ever crewed flight , scheduled to take place @ @ @ @ @ @ @ be the first orbital human spaceflight to launch from the United States since NASA 's space-shuttle fleet was retired in July 2011 .
The Progress 75 launch is also being used for a special commemorative campaign to mark the 75th anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe , which Russia celebrates on May 9 .
Russians were invited to send pictures and names of relatives who died in the war to Moscow 's space agency , Roskosmos , and the items will be displayed as part of the country 's @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on reporting by dpa and TASS

A Russian spacecraft loaded with fresh supplies as well as photographs and mementos to be used to mark upcoming World War II victory commemorations has successfully docked with the International Space Station (ISS).
The Russian Progress 75 resupply ship was met by the ISS's three-man crew -- U.S. astronaut Chris Cassidy and Russians Anatoly Ivanishin and Ivan Vagner -- and will remain docked at the station for seven months.
The robotic freighter will also be on hand to help welcome SpaceX's Crew Dragon capsule on its first-ever crewed flight, scheduled to take place on May 27.
That flight will be the first orbital human spaceflight to launch from the United States since NASA's space-shuttle fleet was retired in July 2011.
The Progress 75 launch is also being used for a special commemorative campaign to mark the 75th anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe, which Russia celebrates on May 9.
Russians were invited to send pictures and names of relatives who died in the war to Moscow's space agency, Roskosmos, and the items will be displayed as part of the country's "Immortal Regiment" campaign.
Based on reporting by dpa and TASS


rferl--2020-04-25--Rohani Tells Iran's Military To Remain Vigilant After Threats Exchanged With U.S.

President Hassan Rohani has called on Iran 's armed forces to seek regional stability while maintaining vigilance against `` provocations . ''
The comments on April 24 came after days of rising tensions between Iran and the United States centered on threats involving the two countries ' ships in the Persian Gulf .
Rohani was quoted by state television as telling his defense minister that the country must “ carefully follow strategies ensuring the sustainable stability of the region while maintaining vigilance and an authoritative presence in the area . ''
State television reported that Rohani also spoke with the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Guards Corps ( IRGC ) , Major General Hossein Salami , referring to `` provocative actions by foreigners in the region and the need to maintain vigilance against these moves . ''
Salami said on April 23 he had ordered his forces to target U.S. Navy ships if they `` jeopardize our commercial vessels , '' warning that they `` will answer any action by a decisive , effective , and quick counteraction . ''
President Donald Trump tweeted the day before that he had instructed the U.S. Navy to fire on any @ @ @ @ @ @ @ sea .
Earlier this month , the U.S. military said 11 IRGC naval vessels came close to U.S. ships in the gulf , calling the moves `` dangerous and provocative . ''
Tehran blamed the United States for the incident .
On April 23 , Iran summoned the Swiss ambassador to Tehran , who represents U.S. interests in the Middle Eastern country , to complain about Trump 's threat .
Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Musavi said that the Swiss envoy was given a message to pass on to Washington that Iran will strongly @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Gulf and respond to any threats , according to the IRIB news agency .
Antagonism between Iran and the United States has sharpened since 2018 , when Trump withdrew from a nuclear deal with six world powers and reimposed crippling sanctions .
In January top IRGC commander Qasem Soleimani was killed in a U.S. drone strike in Iraq , and Iran retaliated by firing missiles at bases in Iraq where U.S. troops were stationed .
The IRGC further stoked tensions on April 22 with the announcement of the launch of the country 's @ @ @ @ @ @ @ announcement drew protests from Washington , London , and Paris .


rferl--2020-04-25--Reporters Without Borders Concerned About Editorial Interference At Vedomosti

Reporters Without Borders ( RSF ) says it is concerned about interference into the editorial decisions at Vedomosti that journalists at the business daily say undermine trust in the publication .
Editors of the Moscow newspaper have been under pressure to change the newspaper 's editorial line since it was bought in March , RSF said in a news release on April 24 .
RSF called the interference `` a new blow to independent journalism in Russia '' and a further step in the takeover of the Russian media by people close to the government .
As an example , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ from publishing polls from the Levada Center or mentioning its name after some of its polls irritated the Kremlin .
Jeanne Cavelier , head of the Eastern Europe and Central Asia office of RSF , said the organization denounced this kind of pressure and stands by the editorial staff .
Journalists at Vedomosti this week publicly accused acting Editor in Chief Andrei Shmarov of imposing pro-Kremlin censorship and suggested the board of directors replace him .
In an editorial posted on the newspaper 's website , the journalists complained that Shmarov had banned @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Changes of this kind undermine trust in the publication , '' the editorial said .
Vedomosti 's media reporter had earlier complained that Shmarov banned negative coverage of President Vladimir Putin 's plans to change the constitution to allow him to extend his rule until 2036 .
She said anyone who flouted the ban would be fired .
Shmarov told Reuters he had not threatened to fire anyone and that his editorial decisions were his own , not the result of any instructions given by anyone else , including the government .
Vedomosti @ @ @ @ @ @ @ he had been accused of banning , he added .

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) says it is concerned about interference into the editorial decisions at Vedomosti that journalists at the business daily say undermine trust in the publication.
Editors of the Moscow newspaper have been under pressure to change the newspaper's editorial line since it was bought in March, RSF said in a news release on April 24.
RSF called the interference "a new blow to independent journalism in Russia" and a further step in the takeover of the Russian media by people close to the government.
As an example, RSF said the daily was recently barred from publishing polls from the Levada Center or mentioning its name after some of its polls irritated the Kremlin.
Jeanne Cavelier, head of the Eastern Europe and Central Asia office of RSF, said the organization denounced this kind of pressure and stands by the editorial staff.
Journalists at Vedomosti this week publicly accused acting Editor in Chief Andrei Shmarov of imposing pro-Kremlin censorship and suggested the board of directors replace him.
In an editorial posted on the newspaper's website, the journalists complained that Shmarov had banned the publication of Levada polls.
"Changes of this kind undermine trust in the publication," the editorial said.
Vedomosti's media reporter had earlier complained that Shmarov banned negative coverage of President Vladimir Putin's plans to change the constitution to allow him to extend his rule until 2036. She said anyone who flouted the ban would be fired.
Shmarov told Reuters he had not threatened to fire anyone and that his editorial decisions were his own, not the result of any instructions given by anyone else, including the government.
Vedomosti continues publishing news items on subjects that he had been accused of banning, he added.
Based on reporting by Reuters