A PHOTO SLIDESHOW BY DAVID TRILLING This year, Bishkek’s holiday season stretched for an entire month, extending from the December 8 Muslim festival of Kurbon Ait -- the Feast of the Sacrifice, known as Eid al-Adha in Arabic -- through the Russian Orthodox Christmas on January 7.

BY SVETLA MARINOVA The ongoing dispute between Russia and Ukraine over natural gas exports is likely to end up spurring efforts to establish alternate, more reliable export routes to serve the European Union, experts and officials predict.

BY KAMAL NAZER YASIN For the first time since the early days of the Islamic Republic of Iran, the country’s supreme spiritual leader has plunged into partisan politics. The development, some experts speculate, could be an indicator that the time for compromise with the international community on Iran’s nuclear program has passed.

The minimum wage and state pensions in Turkmenistan have increased by 10 percent as of January 1.

Remittances to Tajikistan’s remote eastern autonomous region of Gorno-Badakhshan have fallen by 50 percent in just three months, an official from the Tajik National Bank revealed.

Small business owners in Uzbekistan could be exempt from paying income tax for five years, UzReport.com reported January 7.

Tajik and Uzbek officials are trying to work out a deal to allow the resumption of Turkmen electricity supplies to beleaguered Tajikistan.

A delegation from the United Arab Emirates is aiming to boost bilateral trade and investment ties during a visit to Turkmenistan.

BY KAMAL NAZER YASIN For the first time since the early days of the Islamic Republic of Iran, the country’s supreme spiritual leader has plunged into partisan politics. The development, some experts speculate, could be an indicator that the time for compromise with the international community on Iran’s nuclear program has passed.

BY JOSHUA KUCERA Turkey is pursuing a go-slow diplomatic line in the Caucasus and Central Asia, stressing a "complementary" policy, in which Ankara strives to retain its strong strategic relationship with the United States and European Union while at the same time cultivating wider ties with Russia.

One of Kazakhstan’s leading banks, Kazkommertsbank, is claiming that it weathered the crisis which ravaged the country’s financial sector in late 2008.

Uzbekistan’s penchant for charging transit fees on anything that moves in or out of Tajikistan has been extended to trucks and buses.

A correspondent for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty working in Turkmenistan has been warned that he will face retribution, if he continues reporting for the broadcaster’s Turkmen service.

A leading Tajik political analyst is calling on the government to carry out urgent reforms in the Central Asian nation’s beleaguered agricultural sector. A collectivized approach is no longer viable, the expert contends.

Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov has appointed Murad Sapargeldiyevich Nazarov Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Turkmenistan to China, Turkmenistan.ru reported January 5.

A delegation of Kazakhstani politicians was scheduled to arrive in Turkey on January 6 to hold a series of "informal meetings," the Kazinform news agency reported.