Stories about Central Asia & Caucasus from September, 2013
“You Can Kick Female Flight Attendants” in Kazakhstan
A former government official in Kazakhstan recently kicked a female flight attendant, reportedly because she did not speak Kazakh. The story has caused a stir on social media. Blogger Pivovar offers [ru] the most interesting and most widely shared Twitter posts on this incident, such as the one below: Казахстан-2013: бить...
Tajik President's Reelection Bid Finds Support Online
With less than six weeks to go before presidential elections, Tajikistan's incumbent leader has found unexpected support from some bloggers.
Kyrgyzstan: “It is Impossible to Propagandize Homosexuality”
Prominent Kyrgyzstani blogger Bektour Iskander reflects [ru] on on the recent law banning gay ‘propaganda’ in Russia and speculations that some Kyrgyz human-rights NGOs are engaged in such propaganda: It is impossible to propagandize homosexuality. Because a heterosexual cannot turn into a gay, even if she/he communicates with hundreds of...
“Fetishization of Somoni” Continues in Tajikistan
As Tajikistan's president unveils yet another statue of national icon Ismoil Somoni, blogger Tomiris criticizes [ru] monument monoculture in the country: Don't we have other historical figures to erect statues to? Was Somoni really the only one of its kind? I understand that this fetishization of Somoni is a political...
Busting Myths about Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan is not part of the Middle East; Kazakhs do not have Chinese blood in their veins; and not everything about Kazakhstan is bad. Blogger busts (part 1, part 2) [ru] common myths about the oil-rich Central Asian nation.
With Outcome Foretold, Tajik Elections Spark Online Ridicule
In the run-up to presidential vote in Tajikistan, netizens ridicule the country's incumbent president, opposition leaders, and electoral process.
Disagreements over 2010 Ethnic Violence still Troubling Kyrgyzstan
Attacks on a film festival screening a documentary about a prominent ethnic Uzbek human rights activist are a sore reminder that ethnic relations in Kyrgyzstan are still highly charged.
“A Woman Can Only Become President When Men Die Out in Tajikistan”
The upcoming presidential elections in Tajikistan promise to be anything but boring. For the first time in the country's history, a woman is running for its highest political office.
Exclusive: “We Will Start a War” – Kyrgyz Thugs Threaten Canadian Gold Miners
An explosive new video, exclusively translated into English by Global Voices, appears to show local criminals haggling for a cut of Kyrgyzstan's gold with a foreign company.
Tajikistan's Ubiquitous and ‘Irreplaceable’ Leader
As in most other Central Asian countries, the portraits of the president are everywhere in Tajikistan. Blogger Rustam Gulov (aka Teocrat) believes [ru] that these portraits serve a political purpose: [The portraits] are all parts of a giant machine designed to convince the people in Tajikistan that this person [the president] is...
“Central Asia is Watching [Syria] Too”
As the United States and Russia spar over the way ahead in Syria, the governments in Central Asia are following the situation closely, writes Nathan Barrick on Registan.net: Russia chooses to focus on the perspective that the Syrian government is fighting a battle against Islamic extremists and this message likely resonates...
Kyrgyzstan Plagued by Bubonic Media Coverage
Last month an incident of bubonic plague in Kyrgyzstan sparked sensationalist coverage, particularly in the Russian media. Now the chances of an epidemic have been discounted, netizens appeal for calm.
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