· August, 2013

Stories about Central Asia & Caucasus from August, 2013

Kyrgyzstan to Become a ‘Beam of Light’ in the ‘Dark’ Region?

  27 August 2013

Blogger Bektour Iskender suggests [ru] that “free” Kyrgyzstan should allow citizens of the less free nations in Central Asia, particularly Turkmenistan, to stay in the country visa-free: OK, we have [visa-free regime] for citizens of 44 developed nations. This is great. However, I believe that Kyrgyzstan as the most free country...

Kazakhstan: Script Reform Is ‘Hardly Possible at All’

  27 August 2013

As Kazakhstan prepares for a highly controversial shift from Cyrillic script to Latin alphabet, its netizens are keen to note that a similar reform implemented years ago by Uzbekistan has not been very successful. Reflecting on her recent trip to Uzbekistan, Margarita Bocharova writes [ru]: It was also very interesting...

Kazakhstan Eyes 2022 Winter Olympics

  26 August 2013

Almaty, Kazakhstan's largest city and the former capital, will be bidding for the 2022 Winter Olympics. However, blogger Politolog warns [ru] that the event might prove too costly for the oil-rich nation. Another blogger, Ylya, weighs [ru] the country's chances to win the bid to host the Games in nine years.

Young Kyrgyz and Tajiks Learn to Blog

  26 August 2013

More than 20 young activists from the Central Asian nations of Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan are learning the basics of blogging at a summer school in northern Tajikistan. Rustam Gulov reports [ru] on Blogiston.tj that participants at the summer school learn to use social media to contribute to public debates on...

Uzbek Authorities Seek to Control Bloggers

  18 August 2013

The authorities in Uzbekistan are seeking to impose strict controls on the country's bloggers. Alisher Abdugofurov on Registan.net shares his opinion about why this is happening in a society where there are not many bloggers to start with.

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.