OSH, Kyrgyzstan -- At the moment, the situation in the Fergana Valley, and especially Andijan, has calmed down a little. The primary concern at the moment is the number of refugees in the south. Bishkek-based independent KOORT TV reported on Tuesday that Hizb-e Tahrir members were able to cross the border and had entered Kyrgyzstan along with other refugees. The latter, by the way, are reportedly saying they will not return to Uzbekistan.
Several people from other areas of the Uzbek part of the Fergana Valley, i.e. the Namangan and Fergana regions, report they have heard nothing about the riots in Andijan, except for a few people who managed to catch clips from Russian news channels and/or other international TV networks. They said the Uzbek authorities have pulled the plug on all foreign mass media, whether broadcast, electronic, and/or print.
At the moment, there is more tension in Kyrgyzstan because authorities here are far more lenient and less inclined toward censorship and any other type of oppression of their own people. Therefore, TV and radio stations and newspapers in Kyrgyzstan are free to print and broadcast news about Uzbekistan.
Monitoring of the Kyrgyz and Uzbek mass media gives one the impression that Kyrgyz nationals know much more than the people in Uzbekistan itself, and in fact know the whole story.
Independent journalist Almurad Kasym filed this report from Osh, Kyrgyzstan in the Fergana Valley bordering Uzbekistan.
