Global Voices Online

Bonnie Boyd notes that Turkmenistan's isolation on the world stage seems to decrease under new president Berdymukhamedov. Meanwhile, Turkmen national Merdjen is having bad flashbacks of totalitarian rule in her current home Bishkek, where the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit is held at highest security levels.

Posted by Ben Paarmann

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The View from Baku comments on today's presidential election in Azerbaijan. The blog says that a second term in office for the incumbent, Ilham Aliyev, is a foregone conclusion. The blog also speculates on Aliyev's likely successor when his second and final term in office is over.

Herron Family News reports from Azerbaijan on the eve of tomorrow's presidential election. The blog says that interest in the vote is low and the level of campaigning activity was meager. However, it says that plans to install webcams in polling stations did see the light of day although currently the site is password-protected. Nevertheless, the authorities in Baku says that use of the Internet in such a way is a first for Europe. The blog agrees, but takes exception to the idea that Azerbaijan can be considered European.

Afghan blogger and journalist, Baktash Siawash, writes [fa] that UK wants to make a deal with Taliban but the USA considers to negotiate with “good Taliban” and fight with “bad ones”.