Stories about Kazakhstan
25 June 2017
Kazakhs Ridicule ‘Self-Made Man’ Puff Portrait of Presidential Grandson
"While the man toils towards the welfare of Kazakhstan, his policies are something that every prominent person can emulate."
3 June 2017
From Kazakhstan, A Tale of Famine and Flight
"I was six years old. My uncles, my father’s younger brothers, led me by the hand. We walked by night and slept by day."
30 May 2017
Kazakhstan Is Preparing to Effectively Ban Political Opposition
The banning of independent candidates at presidential elections is yet another blow to hopes of a democratic future.
28 May 2017
Lost in Translation in Central Asia: My Tokol's Car Is a Toyota
A Kyrgyz or Kazakh man's 'younger wife' is like 'a cow without horns'. She suffers social stigma and enjoys few rights.
18 April 2017
Kazakhstan's Great Alphabetical Distraction
Kazakhstan's veteran leader suddenly seems to think the country's long-planned transition to a Latin alphabet is very pressing indeed. The country's social media users want to know why.
31 March 2017
Back in the USSR?: Critics Say Draft Legislation Puts State Above Rights in Kazakhstan
"Can we designate people that leave their rubbish bags lying around outside their apartment doors enemies of state interests and remove their citizenships?"
23 March 2017
Is Kazakhstan's President a Dictator? You Decide.
In a recent discussion with a hand-picked selection of journalists, Nazarbayev took pains to explain why Asian societies aren't always suited to democracy.
7 March 2017
Silicon Valley Giant Uber Caught up in Kazakhstan Wooden Stool Scandal
"Uber. Are you completely nuts? Is this what a Californian startup looks like?"
26 February 2017
Meet Kyrgyzstan, a Haven for Central Asian Reporters Amid Love and Strife
"I do not feel borders, my base is Kyrgyzstan, but I am reporting on Central Asia."
19 February 2017
Whale-Themed ‘Suicide Groups’ Present Opportunity for Internet Crackdown in Central Asia
Despite no clear link to actual suicides in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, authorities are dreaming up restrictions.
30 December 2016
Central Asia in 2016: The More Things Change…?
"Why do they mess about? They should just appoint themselves immortals and pass a law banning death from visiting them."
29 December 2016
‘The Long Arms of the Kremlin?': Kazakh Man Goes to Prison for Insulting Vladimir Putin on Facebook
With traditional media in the country heavily restricted, social media is an obvious forum for information warfare between the Kazakh nationalists and ethnic Russians.
20 December 2016
Kazakh TV Channel Famed for Fake News in Hot Water after Fake Interview
The interview with a self-promoting Kazakh news presenter that never happened was quickly disowned by the purported interviewer.
16 December 2016
Social Media Sites Blocked in Kazakhstan on 25th Anniversary of Independence
Activists reported that Facebook, YouTube, and other social media websites were inaccessible in Kazakhstan on Friday, the 25th anniversary of the country's independence from the Soviet Union.
28 November 2016
Internet Freedom Declines in Russia and Ukraine, Improves in Belarus
Russia, Belarus and the Central Asian states were all rated "not free" in Freedom House's 2016 "Freedom on the Web" report.
25 November 2016
Kyrgyzstan's President and the Little Personality Cult that Couldn't
"Atambayev, father of the nation? No, he's some kind of surrogate."
2 November 2016
Viewed from Central Asia, US Democracy Is Looking More and More Like the Region's Own Version
Clinton the Second or Trump the Great? The choices look pretty familiar to observers from one of the world's most authoritarian regions.
1 November 2016
Halloween: Ghoulish Fun or Grand Western Conspiracy?
Devil face-masks are no damned joke in certain corners of the former Soviet Union.
29 October 2016
100 Years of Beauty in Central Asia and the Caucasus
Countries that shared a similar existence under the Kremlin's yoke found in their national wardrobes rich sources of self-expression.
6 October 2016
Boy Bands, Ballet and Battles over Masculinity in Central Asia
"They shouldn't come here. We are for national traditions, wherein a man is a man, and a woman is a woman."
