Tajikistan visa problems

Hi everyone,
I am a UK national whose application for a Tajikistan tourist visa was rejected. I wanted to share my experiences with you. I have filed a complaint with the Tajikistan Embassy in the UK and the Tajikistan Foreign Ministry, but they did not reply to my emails.
This is the timeline:
5 February: I submitted my application together with the only document requested (a copy of my passport details page). This was 2 weeks and 4 days in advance of my planned departure date (23 February). The official Tajikistan Ministry of Foreign Affairs website states: “it is recommended to apply for a visa two weeks before the trip”.
6 February: I was asked for a better-quality scanned copy of my passport which I submitted on 7 February.
9 February: I was asked for my flight ticket and hotel reservation which I submitted on 9 February.
13 February: I was asked for an invitation letter and provided with a link. (The link didn’t work. There was the following message in Russian: Страница не найдена.)
13 February: I emailed back explaining that I was travelling independently. Furthermore I pointed out that the link provided didn’t work. My email was not answered.
13 February: my visa application status changed to ‘assessed’.
14 February: my visa application status changed to ‘approval in progress’.
20 February: With my booked flight only 3 days away, I had heard nothing, so I emailed and messaged the Tajikistan Ministry of Foreign Affairs asking for an update about my visa and received no reply from the Ministry. I used the email address and the contact form provided on the official Tajikistan e-visa website. (I followed the following instruction on that website: “Send a message to Main Consular Department by filling and sending the form below or by writing an e-mail …”). In reply to the contact form message I got an automatic message saying “We will get in touch soon”. No-one ever got in touch from the Ministry. I had copied the Tajikistan Embassy in the UK into the same email; they asked me to contact their consular section which I did the next day but their consular section never replied.
21 February: With my booked flight only 2 days away, I had still heard nothing, so I again emailed and messaged the Tajikistan Ministry of Foreign Affairs asking for an update and again received no reply. I again used the email address and the contact form provided on the official Tajikistan e-visa website. In reply to the contact form message I got another automatic message saying “We will get in touch soon”. No-one ever got in touch. I copied into the same email the Tajikistan Embassy in the UK consular section who again never replied.
22 February: I cancelled my flights. I was charged a cancellation fee of $126.33.
6 March: my visa application status changed to ‘rejected’ (despite the previous status being ‘approval in progress’).
The total cost to me was $156.33: my flight cancellation fee ($126.33) plus the visa fee ($30).
I am experienced in travelling in the former USSR. I studied in Moscow for a semester and have visited all the former Soviet republics except Tajikistan and Turkmenistan. I had hoped – and still hope – to visit all the former Soviet republics. I am very disappointed not to have been able to visit Tajikistan, to have spent $156.33 and got nothing in return, and not to have received any response to my multiple emails and messages to the Tajikistan Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
I hope the above is helpful for other British nationals considering travel to Tajikistan.