Stories about Central Asia & Caucasus from April, 2011
Serbia: Bloggers Discuss Plans to Erect Monument to Late Azeri President
One of Belgrade's nicest parks has recently got renovated - thanks, partially, to a donation of 2 million euros by the Azerbaijani government. The news that has been stirring controversy these past few weeks among Serbian bloggers is the condition for this gift: in return for the donation, a monument to Heydar Aliyev, the former president of Azerbaijan, will have to be erected in the park.
Azerbaijan: Royal Wedding Frenzy
Scary Azeri offers her own acerbic take on tomorrow's Royal Wedding between Prince William and Kate Middleton. Despite a reported close friendship with the groom's Uncle, Prince Andrew, the blog says that Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev doesn't appear to be among those invited and also comments on media coverage of...
Armenia: Pseudo-patriotism and flag burning
Unzipped comments on the creation of a Facebook page by some students in Armenia calling for the “virtual burning” of the flags of Azerbaijan and Turkey. The blog says it considers the move one that can only lead to more hatred between Armenia and its two estranged neighbors and is...
Afghanistan: Opium production for 2011 set to rise
Nick Fielding reports that opium production in Afghanistan for 2011 is likely to increase, although overall cultivation for the entire country is expected to decrease slightly.
Tajikistan: Women between a rock and a hard place
Christya Riedel writes about gender issues in Tajikistan and about difficulties that women are facing there – rules for weddings, violence, denied property rights after a divorce.
Armenia-Turkey: Suffering on both sides
Journalist in Turkey comments on the anniversary of the 1915 massacre and deportation of ethnic Armenians in Ottoman Turkey and says that it was commemorated for the second time in Istanbul this year. It also criticizes the approach taken by activists in the Armenian Diaspora towards the WWI events which...
Azerbaijan: Talysh socks
The Labors of Other Men posts photographs of Talysh socks, traditional woolen footwear that can be ordered online in order to support community development in and around the southern Azerbaijani city of Lankaran.
Central Asia: “Cyber Chaikhana,” Book Written by Bloggers
"Cyber Chaikhana" is a book project about Central Asian bloggers and their perceptions of their region, culture and everyday life. Edited by Christopher Schwartz and published by HIVOS, the book is a collection of narratives written by the bloggers at NewEurasia.net, the Central Asian blogging network. The aim of the project is to reach out to both the Central Asian (Russian speaking) and global audiences.
Azerbaijan: Protest to demand journalist's release
Mark Grigorian [RU] posts photographs of today's protest demonstration outside the Azerbaijani Embassy in London in support of imprisoned journalist and Amnesty International prisoner of conscience Eynulla Fatullayev. Marking the forth anniversary since his arrest, the blog notes that when the European Court of Human Rights ruled that he was...
Kazakhstan: Bloggers Keep an Eye on Floods as Official Media Keep Quiet
Two large cities in Kazakhstan are suffering from major floods, situated in the centers of two provinces – Uralsk in the western part of the country and Ust-Kamenogorsk in the east. Official media and many private publications have not provided a full picture of the disaster, and the real scope of damage is not being told. Bloggers have led the coverage of the situation, taking field trips with photo and video cameras, and providing assistance to the people.
Central Asia: Finalists of BarCamp Ideas Market
Global Voices has already provided an overview of BarCamp Central Asia, which took place on 15-17 April, 2011 in Almaty, Kazakhstan. In this post we would like to give our readers a closer look at online projects, developed by young bloggers and IT specialists from Central Asia. BarCamp Ideas Market - a special section of the event was dedicated to new ideas and future Internet trends in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan.
Kazakhstan, Russia: Photos of Baikonur
At Russia Blog, Anton Verstakov's photos from Baikonur, a city in Kazakhstan, rented and administered by Russia, home to the Baikonur Cosmodrome.
Azerbaijan: The ‘Terror’ of Tiny Town
Tamada Tales comments on the detention of a small child and her mother at an opposition protest in Baku on Sunday. Captured on video uploaded to YouTube and shared online, the blog wonders what ‘havoc’ could possible be wreaked upon the Azerbaijani capital by the girl.
Central Asia: Ideas and Innovations of BarCamp Central Asia
The fourth educational non-commercial conference for professionals in social media (BarCamp Central Asia) took place in Almaty, Kazakhstan, 15-17 April, 2011, bringing together journalists and bloggers, IT and media specialists, web-developers and everyone connected with the Internet and new media.
Kyrgyzstan: Authorities ponder on confiscation of the mobile operator
It appears that Kyrgyzstan’s leading mobile operator MegaCom is about to be confiscated by the government, amidst an ongoing political and law enforcement scandal related to the company, Malika reports.
Turkmenistan: Rights activist isolated in psychiatric hospital
Amangelen Shapudakov, an 80-year-old activist, has been forcibly confined to a pyschiatric hospital by Turkmen authorities after he accused a local official of corruption during an interview with RFE/RL, Schwartz writes.
Turkmenistan: Crackdown on Turkish schools
As Turkmenistan’s authorities quietly move to shut down the system of Turkish secondary schools, Annasoltan communicates with an alum of one of these schools to get an insider’s view.
Kyrgyzstan: Interview with shirin Aitmatova
Sabina interviews Shirin Aitmatova, a Kyrgyz MP and an active online social media activist, discussing poetry and politics.
Armenia: Internet Penetration
Despite government claims of 47.1 percent, Social Science in the Caucasus analyzes its 2010 household survey to assess the real level of Internet penetration in Armenia and especially as it relates to mobile access.
Uzbekistan: President's daughter sues French publication
Joshua Foust opines on the news that the daughter of Uzbekistan’s authoritarian ruler Islam Karimov filed suit against the French website Rue89.com over an article that identified her father as a dictator and characterized her charity work as an attempt to whitewash the Uzbek repressive regime.
Russia: Interviews With Miriam Dobson, Thomas de Waal, Christopher Ward
Sean Guillory of Sean's Russia Blog interviews authors Miriam Dobson (“Khrushchev’s Cold Summer: Gulag Returnees, Crime, and the Fate of Reform After Stalin”), Thomas de Waal (“The Caucasus: An Introduction”) and Christopher Ward (“Brezhnev’s Folly: The Building of BAM and Late Soviet Socialism”) for New Books in Russia and Eurasia.
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