The Majlis podcast is back in 2018 and the latest session takes a look at Tajik-Uzbek relations.
Uzbek Prime Minister Abdullo Aripov visited Tajikistan on January 10-11 to meet with top Tajik officials in the latest sign of warming ties between the two countries since Shavkat Mirziyoev became Uzbekistan's president in late 2016.
One of the announcements from Aripov's trip was that Mirziyoev would visit sometime this spring, the first visit to Tajikistan by an Uzbek president since first President Islam Karimov went there in June 2000.
That was also the only official visit to Tajikistan by an Uzbek president except for attendances at summits of multinational organizations (and even the June 2000 official visit was an extension of Karimov's trip to Dushanbe for a summit of the now-defunct Central Asian Economic Union).
Muhammad Tahir, RFE/RL's media-relations manager, moderated a discussion on the history of Tajik-Uzbek relations and how those ties have been changing since September 2016.
Participating in the discussion were two journalists who have been covering Central Asia for many years. From Almaty, Kazakhstan, EurasiaNet correspondent Joanna Lillis joined the talk. From Germany, where she is enjoying a brief vacation, freelance correspondent Edda Schlager took part. I had a couple of things to say also.
Listen to the podcast above or subscribe to the Majlis on iTunes.
