CACI Online Forum: Religion and the Secular State in Central Asia: The Examples of Kyrgyzstan and Turkmenistan

Monday 15 June 2020 / 16:00 - 17:00 / 10am EDT

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This event marks the publication of two Silk Road Papers on the state-religion relationships in Central Asia, a study of Kyrgyzstan by Johan Engvall and one on Turkmenistan by Victoria Clement. This forms part of the ongoing research effort on secular governance, religion and politics at the Central Asia-Caucasus Institute & Silk Road Studies Program Joint Center, and follows the publication of studies on Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan.

Johan Engvall’s study of Kyrgyzstan’s experience is timely given that country’s experience, starting with a more permissive atmosphere that subsequently aligned itself with policies in the rest of the region. Victoria Clement’s study of Turkmenistan is the first treatment of the subject to appear in print and sheds light on the similarities of Turkmenistan’s approach with the rest of Central Asia as well as its specificities.

The speakers are; Victoria Clement, Eurasia Regional Analyst at the Center For Advanced Operational Culture Learning, Marine Corps University, and Johan Engvall, Senior Research Fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute. The forum will be moderated by Svante E. Cornell, Director at the Central Asia-Caucasus Institute at AFPC.

The event will be live-streamed on the Central Asia-Caucasus Institute’s YouTube page and will be available on their website.