The fate of 57 helicopters and aircraft that Uzbekistan possesses, and Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers want returned remains up in the air, The Caspian Post reports citing Eurasianet.
A Taliban spokesperson, quoted by the Kabul Times on September 11, claimed that Tashkent had agreed to return the helicopters. Soon after the report’s publication, the Uzbek Foreign Ministry denied it. “Such reports do not correspond to reality,” the state-connected Gazeta.uz outlet quoted ministry representative Akhror Burkhanov as saying. The disputed copters and aircraft were flown to Uzbekistan by soldiers loyal to the ousted republican Afghan government before the Taliban’s return to power in August 2021 amid the hasty withdrawal of American forces from the country. Taliban authorities insist that the military hardware is rightfully Afghanistan’s. But Uzbekistan, to date, has balked at assenting to Kabul’s demands, maintaining that the equipment is US property. In 2024, US Ambassador to Uzbekistan Jonathan Henick affirmed that the weaponry was “never Afghan, it was American.” The equipment under dispute includes Embraer EMB 314 Super Tucano light attack aircraft, UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters. Taliban representatives say the return of the weaponry by Uzbekistan would mark “a significant step in … boosting ties between the two neighboring countries.” In a separate development, Taliban officials announced on September 13 that Afghanistan and the United States had agreed on a “detainee” exchange. The Taliban statement did not provide any further details but cast the exchange as a step toward normalizing relations. The Taliban also released a photo showing the Trump administration’s top hostage negotiator, Adam Boehler, meeting with Taliban Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi. The United States does not recognize the Taliban government. Muttaqi, speaking to journalists on September 12, reiterated Afghanistan’s demand for the return of the helicopters and planes in Uzbekistan, and called for the lifting of international sanctions on the Taliban regime.
In case you missed it in the Caucasus …
Armenia will be reducing defense spending in the coming fiscal year. Answering questions in parliament on September 10, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said expenditures experienced a “disproportionate” spike in 2025 caused to the implementation of “international defense programs and debt servicing,” according to a report published by Armenia Today. The report quoted Pashinyan as explaining; “we considered it appropriate to repay the loans that were intended for defense needs and which we were supposed to repay in 2030 or 2035 ahead of schedule in order to reduce the future debt burden.” The country’s defense budget for 2025 is about $1.7 billion, marking a 20 percent increase over the previous year’s allocation. Though spending will be lower in the 2026 budget, Pashinyan stated that systematic growth in Armenia’s military capabilities will be maintained. Meanwhile, the Armenian Defense Ministry has advanced draft legislation to reduce the length of service for draftees to 18 months from the current 24-month tour, starting with the summer of 2026.
Georgia has experienced sharp declines in democratic standards in 2025, according to annual rankings published by the Sweden-based International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance. The watchdog groups measured the performance of governments in four major areas - representation, rights, rule of law and participation. The Georgian Dream government’s numbers crashed across all four areas, the report notes. It placed Georgia alongside Belarus and Russia among the leading states in the European area that smother “civil society and political opposition.” It also states, “curbs on impartial public administration and the media have precipitated declines in predictable enforcement and civil liberties” in Georgia. Elsewhere, the rankings also show a marked decline in Kyrgyzstan. “Under Sadyr Japarov’s presidency, there have been declines in Access to Justice, Civil Liberties, Credible Elections, Political Equality, Predictable Enforcement, and Personal Integrity and Security, reflecting the centralization of power in the presidency and restrictions on civil society and independent media.”
Meanwhile, across the Caspian…
Just days after Kazakhstani President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev announced plans to set up a sovereign digital assets fund and introduce a Digital Code, Kyrgyzstan’s parliament on September 10 passed legislative amendments that legalize stablecoins and provide for the creation of a sovereign digital assets fund. Also on September 10, Uzbekistan’s crypto assets regulator announced plans to recognize stablecoins as legal tender.
Kyrgyzstan is taking a tentative step toward construction of a nuclear power plant. During parliamentary discussion September 9, Deputy Minister of Energy Emilbek Ysmanov said that a Kyrgyz delegation is expected to travel to Moscow on September 25 to discuss nuclear energy issues with Russian experts. Depending on the outcome of those discussions, the government will prepare a proposal for parliamentary consideration, the KyrTag news agency reported. During the same parliamentary session, MPs noted the Energy Ministry has withheld information about water levels in the Toktogul Reservoir, raising concerns about a looming water shortage that could cause problems for electricity generation.
Officials in southern Kyrgyzstan have floated the idea of renaming the city of Jalal-Abad to Manas. Jalal-Abad Mayor Ernisbek Ormokov proposed the name-change during a City Council session on September 3. Since then, the Kyrgyz parliament has approved the measure on September 10, and it now awaits the president’s signature.
Officials in Uzbekistan want citizens to get out, spend money and have a good time! According to local media reports, the country’s Agency for Strategic Reforms is pushing for the adoption of a resolution to establish state-subsidized entertainment districts in towns and cities with populations of 50,000 or higher. According to the draft plan, up to 320 areas would receive designation as entertainment districts over the next five years, enabling bars, restaurants and stores to remain open 24 hours a day.
Remittances to Uzbekistan reached an unprecedented $12.1 billion in the first eight months of 2025. The number stood at $8.2 billion two months ago. Given that autumn is the peak season for remittances sent home by labor migrants, the overall total for 2025 is expected to easily beat the one-year record of $14.8 billion established last year.
Tajikistan has sent a large shipment of humanitarian aid to neighboring Afghanistan to assist victims of earthquakes in late August and early September. According to a statement issued by Tajik President Emomali Rahmon’s press service, a
carrying over 3,000 tons of food, clothing and other essentials departed for Afghanistan on September 8. Relations between Tajikistan and Afghanistan have been prickly since the Taliban’s return to power in 2021. Rahmon’s statement made it clear that Dushanbe is looking to gain some diplomatic goodwill from the aid shipment. “This step is a clear manifestation of the compassion of the people of Tajikistan to the brotherly people of Afghanistan,” the statement read.
And another thing…
Turkmenistan has shown signs lately of wanting to open up to the outside world and participate in emerging trade networks, but the government in Ashgabat seems to be having a hard time breaking bad habits. A report published by the opposition news website, Chronicles of Turkmenistan, states that doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals are being forced into the fields to help with the cotton harvest in September. “The Health Department of Lebap Velayat set a cotton-picking norm of 45 kilograms per day for doctors, nurses, orderlies, technical workers of hospitals and clinics in the region,” according to the report. “In the infectious diseases hospital of Turkmenabat, doctors are required to go to pick cotton even after a night shift.” Doctors reportedly can hire substitutes to pick cotton, the report says, adding that during the harvest season, up to two-thirds of some doctors’ salaries go to paying others to perform field labor. The Turkmen government’s reputation for arbitrariness was also reinforced by a recent report by RFE/RL report in which 15 employees at an airport in the northern city of Dashoguz were fired for dancing in front of a portrait of the country’s nominal president, Serdar Berdymukhamedov. Turkmenistan is known for maintaining an extensive cult of personality centering on Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov, the country’s paramount leader, and his son Serdar. The incident that led to the firings occurred in mid-August, according to the RFE/RL report. “On August 15, airport employees celebrated a colleague’s birthday during working hours by dancing near the building in front of a portrait of President Serdar Berdymukhamedov. One of them posted the video on his TikTok page,” the report quoted a source as saying. The dancing was deemed an affront to the image of the president and everyone in the video was subsequently identified by state security services officers and fired. The individual who posted the video reportedly spent 15 days in jail.
