· May, 2009

Stories about Central Asia & Caucasus from May, 2009

Afghanistan: Aid Money Used Badly

  30 May 2009

Colla reviews the first report by the Office of the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, which noted that the military command overseeing $15bn in US military aid cannot be sure the money is being managed effectively.

Mongolia: Wiretapping to be discussed

  30 May 2009

Bilguun informs the readers that the Mongolian Parliament is to discuss possible changes to the Communications law, which includes legalizing wiretapping of mobile communication for law enforcement purposes.

Kazakhstan: Special Report by BNE

  30 May 2009

Elina Galperin reviews the special report on Kazakhstan, which is especially interesting right now as the country is closely tied to world markets and is therefore struggling.

Azerbaijan: Toyland

  29 May 2009

Fighting windmills? Take a pill introduces its readers to “toy,” the local word for wedding, and comments on the role marriage plays in society in Azerbaijan.

Azerbaijan: Republic Day

  28 May 2009

Sheki, Azerbaijan marks the anniversary of the first republic declared in Azerbaijan by looking back at the significance of the event, and also looking forwards.

Armenia: Yerevan sails into election week

  26 May 2009

Responding to a tweet sent out an hour earlier, Global Voices Online's Caucasus editor photographs and comments on the appearance of what might be the latest obstacle placed in the way of the Armenian opposition ahead of this weekend's municipal election — a replica of a 13th century ship.

Armenia: Nationalist Revisionism, Deception

  25 May 2009

Unzipped comments on the the appearance of election campaign posters for the Armenian Revolutionary Federation — Dashnaktsutyun (ARF-D) ahead of this weekend's municipal vote in Yerevan. The blog notes that the party appears to be pushing its position on relations with Azerbaijan and Turkey to voters and even uses photographs...

Azerbaijan: Pork in a Christian village

  25 May 2009

27 Months in Azerbaijan pays a visit to the Christian village of Nic in Azerbaijan to partake in eating the best pork available in the largely Moslem country. Meanwhile, Post-Soviet Euphoria or Sins against Democracy? notes that the prohibition on eating pork exists in both the Bible and the Koran.

Armenia: Belated election blogging

  23 May 2009

Unzipped says that the incumbent Mayor of Yerevan, Gagik Beglarian [AM], has started blogging ahead of next week's municipal election in the Armenian capital. However, the blog wonders why the blog has appeared only a week before the potentially controversial vote, but also says that with comments so far heaping...

Armenia: Eurovision Bribes

  22 May 2009

Adding to the existing controversy surrounding this year's Eurovision international song contest, In Mutatione Fortitudo says that Russian bloggers have been receiving emails from an Armenian offering payment for publishing an article accusing Azerbaijan of bribing various competition juries.

Armenia: Jethro Tull in Yerevan

  22 May 2009

A day before their concert in Yerevan, Armenia, Global Voices Online's Caucasus editor interviews Ian Anderson from the legendary British folk-rock band, Jethro Tull.

Kazakhstan: Languages and Perspectives

  22 May 2009

Thousand-pa reflects on the situation around state, Russian and English languages in Kazakhstan – how affordable it is to study them, and knowledge of which of them is economically more beneficial.

Afghanistan: Taliban's War Statistics

  22 May 2009

Colla says the Taliban has issued detailed statistics for its operations in Afghanistan during the month of April, and finds that the figures they produce make interesting reading.

Kazakhstan: Tortures Continued

  22 May 2009

KZBlog writes about the visit of Manfred Nowak, the UN Human Rights Council’s Special Rapporteur on Torture, to Kazakhstan, during which he noted that prison conditions have improved, yet urged officials to stop beatings, asphyxiation and other “techniques” used to get confessions from suspects.

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.