· July, 2007

Stories about Central Asia & Caucasus from July, 2007

Afghanistan: Korean hostage crisis

  31 July 2007

Eugene Echo is keeping up with the latest developments in the Korean hostage crisis in Afghanistan and complains about the lack of attention given to the story by US media.

Kyrgyzstan: HIV scandal

  31 July 2007

Bonnie Boyd reports of a scandal in southern Kyrgyzstan in which nine children have contracted HIV/Aids due to medical and institutional negligence.

Caucasus: Attitudes towards NGOs

  31 July 2007

Social Science in the Caucasus unveils some figures on how people in the three countries Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia perceive non-governmental organisations.

Armenia: Digging holes

  31 July 2007

Many bloggers attended a protest in Armenia's capital Yerevan where people voiced their dismay at a new construction site in the city's center: a huge hole is being dug 300 meters away from the municipal authorities – but no one, not even the mayor, knows what's really going on there....

Kyrgyzstan: Mourning

  31 July 2007

Noise, a blogger originally from Kyrgyzstan, is saddened to learn about the deaths of the icons of world cinematography Bergman and Antonioni: “We will install a projector and a screen in our yard today, and will show their films to everyone.”

Kyrgyzstan: Issyk-Kul

  31 July 2007

morrire posts pictures from her visit to the southern shore of Issyk-Kul, one of the biggest high-altitude lakes in the world – and favourite holiday destination for Kyrgyzstani citizens.

Uzbekistan: Digital boom?

  31 July 2007

Jamiyat translates an article which gives the impression that the use of internet and mobile telecommunication is growing rapidly in Uzbekistan.

Central Asia: Expert interview

  31 July 2007

James of neweurasia interviews Central Asia specialist Dr. Eric McGlinchey – the topics of the long conversation include radical Islam, Russian influence, the regime in Uzbekistan, and Kyrgyzstan's development.

Global Voices in Persian Takes off

Global Voices in Persian finally takes off officially. It started its first baby steps in June and a few of its translations have already been republished on a few sites including a very popular one, Gooya.com and the Iranian Digg,Balatarin. On good days we get around 350 hits and 250...

Korea: On the kidnapped Koreans

  30 July 2007

Robert Koehler at The Marmot's Hole follows up on a series of posts looking at the plight of the 23 Korean missionaries—now on hunger strike—recently taken for hostage in Afghanistan in ‘My personal view on the current hostage crisis,’ an answer to his question: “why would 23 men and mostly...

Armenia: Getting rid of old cars

  26 July 2007

A new rule is set to remove taxis older than 10 years from the streets in Armenia. While this has already led to an outcry of taxi drivers afraid to loose their jobs, not everyone is unhappy about the news: Christian Garbis says that the new regulation will help improve...

Uzbekistan: Social capital

  26 July 2007

Rowan Wagner sheds some light on the Uzbek “gap” – a (usually) gender-based group of people that meets up regularly to share experience, practical tips, and gossip.

Tajikistan: Buzkashi

  26 July 2007

Men on horseback playing a football-like game with a goat carcass instead of a ball? Erik Petersson took some breathtaking photos during a Buzkashi game in Tajikistan.

Turkmenistan: 2021

  25 July 2007

Abdul Gamid asks his readers to think about Turkmenistan's future: “How will our country be in 2021?”.

Kyrgyzstan: Sealing off the capital

  25 July 2007

Asel reports that the Kyrgyz authorities are planning to impose harsh restrictions on entering the capital Bishkek during the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in August.

About our Central Asia & Caucasus coverage

Nurbek Bekmurzaev
Nurbek Bekmurzaev is the Central Asia editor. Email him story ideas or volunteer to write.

Arzu Geybullayeva
Arzu Geybullayeva is the South Caucasus editor. Email her story ideas or volunteer to write.