Stories about Central Asia & Caucasus from December, 2007
Tajiksitan: Parliament against witches
Tajikistan is trying to put a spell on witchcraft and fortune-telling. Actually, this comes as a no-surprise to many Tajiks after all those strange laws that have been passed one after another by our parliament. The bill on witchery is also part of the “Cultural Revolution” in Tajikistan, started earlier...
Armenia: Hiking in the Mountains
Armenia and me posts a photograph and an account of a recent hiking trip in the snow covered mountains north of the Armenian capital.
Armenia: Election Differences
The Armenian Observer features a guest post by a Swiss ex-pat worker in Armenia who compares how elections are conducted in Europe with how they are conducted here in the South Caucasus.
Kyrgyzstan: Christmas Cheer
Steve LeVine says that the Kyrgyzs are turning to a can't miss tourist grabber — Santa Claus — after a Swedish consultancy bureau stated that Kygyz mountains are the best possible destination where Santa can live.
Kazakhstan: Artpologist Project Presentation
Daniel reports on the presentation of an artistic project, completed by him and a number of Kazakhstani artists, called “Transformation of Space in Almaty”.
Kyrgyzstan: Teaching finance
Bboyd reacts on the predicted unemployment catastrophe among young people in the developing countries, and gives some recommendations for the aid organizations on how to fight it.
Afghanistan: Tribalism, a true enemy
Sanjar opines that the reason Iraq and Afghanistan remain unsettled battlefields isn't that our two civilizations can't agree on the nature of God, but because they can't agree on the nature of man.
Armenia: Another Blogger Outraged at Azerbaijan Event
Blogian weighs into the controversy that surrounded the opening of a Days of Azerbaijan funded by the British Embassy in Yerevan earlier this week. Supporting the action of those bloggers who protested the event in person, Simon says that such an event is unthinkable on the second anniversary of the...
Kazakhstan: New Pipeline, a Putin's Victory
Steve LeVine reports that Vladimir Putin won another round in the European pipeline war, as Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan signed a final agreement agreeing to build a new natural gas pipeline to Europe. Meanwhile Washington is bickering over who will lead American policy on the issue.
Uzbekistan: 2007 in Retrospect
Libertad reviews major event in Uzbekistan in 2007, pointing out a topic that deserves more attention than others – pre-election process in Uzbekistan.
Kyrgyzstan: Weeding the Tulip Garden
Bboyd reviews the parliamentary elections in Kyrgyzstan, saying that instead of a diverse planting of ideas and leadership, Kyrgyzstan’s legislature will have a kind of political desert for ideas and institutions.
Afghanistan: Taliban Call
Sanjar reports that Taliban leader Mullah Omar on Tuesday called on foreign forces to withdraw from Afghanistan.
Kazakhstan: Blogosphere’s Self-Reflection
Recently, the Kazakhstani blogosphere has suddenly become interested in what the blogs really are and what sort of impact they have. Bloggers produced series of posts on this topic approximately at the same time. It is difficult to say for sure what was the reason for such wave of self-reflection...
Georgia: Authoritarian Tendencies
Resistance Georgia comments on the latest report by the International Crisis Group (ICG) which concludes that Georgia is veering towards authoritarianism. The pro-opposition blog thanks the ICG for using such words when the international community is reluctant to do so.
Armenia: Robinson Crusoe in Kurdish
Kurdistan and Hayastan — Hand in Hand posts a scan of the front page of the Kurdish translation of Daniel Dafoe's classic book, Robinson Crusoe. The book was translated and published in the Kurmanji dialect of Kurdish in 1936.
Armenia: Media Protest
The Armenian Observer reports on a protest staged to support a regional TV station in Gyumri, Armenia's second largest city. The station is facing continued pressure from the local authorities as next year's presidential election draws closer.
Armenia: Dram Politics
The Armenian Economist is unhappy with the way the media and other bloggers have reported on the appreciation of the Armenian Dram against the US Dollar. In particular, says David, the issue is instead hijacked for political purposes.
Georgia: Election Cartoons
One refreshing addition to the Georgian blogosphere as the January election approaches is Georgia Ink, the blog of cartoonist Vladimir Shioshvili. With elections in the South Caucasus generally tense, Shioshvili injects some humor into proceedings by asking, for example, why was the State of Emergency lifted at 7pm on 7...
Georgia: Media Ownership
As the 5 January presidential election in Georgia approaches, the pro-opposition Resistance Georgia blog raises some important questions about ownership of the media in the former Soviet republic.
Kazakhstan: 2007 – Filthy Politics and Grapes of Wrath
The passing year was rich in shaking news and political scandals in Kazakhstan, all of which have been finding reflection in the blogosphere’s reactions and online debates. Many of those events will find their place in the history textbooks of the future, and life may never remain the same after...
Kazakhstan: The country's strike-back
Ben reviews the developments in Kazakhstan in 2007, focusing on the energy issues and Kazakh government's rising resource nationalism.
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