Last week at Central Asian Voices, Martha Brill Olcott wrote that we have expected Central Asian Republics to assimilate Western concerns, but not the other way around. In short, by grafting human rights concerns onto Realist theory, we made a checklist of activities we want Central Asian states to accomplish, but have ignored the prime domestic drivers […]
In last week's entry on Tajikistan, I summarized what I considered to be the potential foreign policy fallout of President Rakhmon's name change and most of all, his directive that others also have their surnames recorded in official documents with the Russianized ending removed. Some great insights came out of the comments: First, the issue of the […]
The poet Rumi, who is celebrated now in American poetry circles for his poems of love, would be 800 this year. Jalal ad-Din Rumi was born in the year B.C.E. 1207 (that's a politically-correct A.D., more or less) in what is now Afghanistan; his family moved from Afghanistan during the Mongol invasions, travelling through Central Asia to […]
Just a six-month partial review of media and human rights issues in Uzbekistan: March 26, 2007: Ferghana.ru reports that yet another journalist with international ties is being prosecuted in Uzbekistan. Die Deutsche Welle journalist Natalya Bushuyeva has had criminal charges pressed for income tax evasion over the last five years. Ms. Bushuyeva is also being charged […]
Last week, President of Tajikistan Ehmomahli Rakhmonov announced that he wanted to return to the traditional (non-Slavic) spelling and pronunciation of his name. Today, President Rakhmon dictated that the entire nation will follow him in this move. New birth certificates, graduation papers, and other official documents will now be issued in non-Slavic spellings, whatever the preference […]
The International Helsinki Federation on Human Rights regularly comments on Central Asia's humanitarian issues. So far I’ve just glanced through the report and the Country Studies for each state look much more specific and useful than the general pages on Central Asia. One reason the general pages are not as good: domestic policies in the different states really […]
Kazakhstan's medical services have been under fire recently for the deplorable medically-assisted spread of HIV virus among 96 schoolchildren via transfusions. Eight schoolchildren in the region of Shymkent have already died. Kazakhstan's Health Minister, Yerbolat Dosaev, and the Southern Kazakhstan governor Bolat Jylkyshiev, were dismissed. Twenty-one doctors and medical officials are on trial, and other medical staff […]
I was looking for a Central Asian game that didn't have to do with the “Great Game” in Central Asia. Instead of one, I found many–or really, Amira did. Her blog, The Golden Road to Samarqand (now added to Blogroll at right), has a series on Central Asian bone games. Since her account is part intercultural journey and part — the Hoyle's of […]
Bruce Pannier writes about current tensions over Manas Air Force Base near Bishkek for RFE/RL. With the Kharsi-Khanabad AFB closed in Uzbekistan, Manas is more important than before. One thing I did not realize right away: the USAF shares this airport with Kyrgyzstan's private use, which has to add to the tension there. In September 2006, […]
The reason for warmer ties between Pakistan and Uzbekistan were noted by Sanobar Shermatova at Ferghana.ru: Where Tashkent is concerned, the Afghani civil strife and relations with Pakistan are inseparable from the problem of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan. Advancement of relations with these two countries made for a weakening of Islamic gunmen. Tashkent and Islamabad […]
Mongolia's strong relationship with Japan received a new boost this month when Japan announced a new USD 1.5 million project to aid urban migrants in Bayanhogar, Choyr, and Erdenat. Mongolia's population has been urbanizing rapidly. Many of these new urbanites live in temporary settlements and need employment and business opportunities. Japan's new grant provides funds, technical support and guidance […]
Several development banks have recently come to Tajikistan, planning to invest in Tajikstan's energy security‚ which Tajikistan really needs. Last year, energy distribution problems precipitated a closure of Dushanbe's bakeries; the resulting bread riot (really a woman's sit-down demonstration) underscored the past-due need for energy infrastructure investment in Tajikistan. At neweurasia.net, Gulru has written this winter has been […]
See this map of bird migration patterns, courtesy of BBC: then imagine that these lines are kind of blurred, because birds, after all, do not read maps and do not march in single file. Instead, these lines demarcate a range of individual flights that are a little more widespread. Then consider that birds bypass whole […]
One strength of the English language has been its incredible ability to assimilate any noun from any language–and then, through mispronunciation, claim it for itself. This characteristic is undisputably useful, but can also institutionalize translation errors. The yurt is not a yurt. Yurt means “homeland”. Wikipedia says: In Kazakh (and Uyghur) the term for the structure is kiyiz uy (úøіÃ· үù‚ lit. […]
Constitutional Crisis to Prime Minister Crisis, continued. . . . Though the first two assassinations of legislators were alarming, the third execution, of Akmatbaev, has been the most troublesome for Kyrgyzstan's domestic order. During the incident, after Mr. Akmatbaev had been killed, Prime Minister Kulov came to the prison and negotiated the release of hostages […]