The BBC’s presence in Uzbekistan has been boosted with the accreditation of Avaz Takhirov as the BBC’s correspondent based in Tashkent.
Khayrullo Ubaydullaev, BBC News Uzbek Editor, says: “Avaz Takhirov will reinforce the reporting of the developments inside Uzbekistan to the BBC’s global weekly audience of more than 340 million people.”
Diloram Ibrahimova, BBC News Uzbek editor, adds: “Avaz, who is fluent in Russian and English, has an in-depth knowledge of the Uzbek language and a thorough understanding of Uzbek history and traditions. He will be a great asset as the BBC’s Uzbekistan correspondent.”
At its launch in 1994, the BBC Uzbek Service announced two objectives: to bring Uzbekistan to the world, and the world to Uzbekistan. This accreditation ensures that news from the Uzbek-speaking world, now reinforced with direct reporting from Uzbekistan, will have an even greater impact and visibility across the full range of BBC News global platforms in more than 40 languages.
In a move that has been welcomed by international organisations, the Uzbekistan authorities recently unblocked several websites including bbc.com/uzbek. Following the signing of a memorandum of understanding on editorial collaboration between the BBC and Uzbekistan’s popular TV channel Sevimli TV, BBC Uzbek journalists have been working with the channel on a number of projects.
BBC News Uzbek offers content tailored for Uzbek-speakers in Uzbekistan as well as Afghanistan and the rest of the world, and is one of the largest international news providers in the region. In addition to the website bbc.com/uzbek, BBC News Uzbek connects with audiences via Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, Twitter and Odnoklassniki as well as Telegram. The BBC’s 10-minute TV news bulletin for Uzbek-speakers in Afghanistan has a weekly audience of 1.8 million.
BBC News Uzbek is part of the BBC World Service, which broadcasts globally in many different local languages, and by analogue and digital media.