Latest posts by Alexander Sodiqov from September, 2012
Tajikistan: Power Plant as a Symbol
Wouldn't this facility, featuring the world's tallest dam, become the most important symbol of our republic? Wouldn't it characterize us, as a state, better than a monument in [the country's capital] Dushanbe or the flag on the world's tallest flagpole?
Kyrgyzstan: Virtual Farming, Real Harvest
You can now grow real organic vegetables and raise livestock online. Caravanistan reports about a new project [ru] in Kyrgyzstan which allows users to purchase a plot of land or an animal on a virtual farm. The proceeds then go to real farmers who do the work and supply the users with vegetables...
Tajikistan: ‘Blogosphere is a Democracy’
The blogosphere is a democracy. Blogs give anyone and everyone a voice on the World Wide Web. This is a real voice which can be heard all over the world…
Tajikistan: Singer Praising Putin Draws Anger
Since the beginning of the year, Tajik singer Tolibjon Kurbonkhonov has recorded three songs that extol the virtues of Russian president Vladimir Putin. The songs have become hits on YouTube and made the singer famous in Russia. Back in Tajikistan, however, the songs anger Kurbonkhonov's compatriots who accuse him of "sycophancy" and "disgracing the country".
Turkmenistan: The End of One-Party Rule
[The second political party] has formally brought to end Turkmenistan’s twenty-year-old system of single party rule. The question is whether it [has] brought it to an end really, and that remains to be seen. Annasoltan on NewEurasia.net suggests there is little substance behind the recent establishment of the second political party in Turkmenistan.
Kyrgyzstan: Two Years After the Conflict
Much like physical marks the conflict left on the city, the damage left in individual lives and on the city as a community is healing in many places—and where it doesn’t heal, it seems at least to fade into the background of other scars, other challenges. Noah Tucker on Registan.net...
Tajikistan: Xenophobia on Facebook
[O]ur society – to be more exact, that part of our society which has internet access and actively uses social networks – is increasingly witnessing the expansion and strengthening of unhealthy nationalist beliefs. Blogger Harsavor ponders [ru] the rise of xenophobia in Tajikistan, particularly among the country's Facebook users.
Tajikistan: Bribes and Neckties in Universities
Now students pay bribes to be admitted to universities, study only to get their [diplomas], but happily wear neckties to classes… Temur Mengliev summarizes [ru] the changes that have taken place within Tajikistan's colleges and universities over the recent years.
