Alexander Sodiqov · December, 2012

Latest posts by Alexander Sodiqov from December, 2012

Uzbekistan's Boring TV

  24 December 2012

What's the most boring thing in the world? Waiting for a bus? Attending a philosophy class at a university? Elections in Belarus? No! The most boring thing in the world is Uzbek television!

Kazakhstan to Switch to Latin Script

  19 December 2012

Following years of intense debates, Kazakhstan is finally set to abandon Cyrillic script in favor of the Latin alphabet by 2025. It appears that the alphabet is still a very divisive issue in the country (see, for example, hundreds of comments under this blog [ru]). Michael Hancock-Parmer writes on Registan.net: I have reservations...

Independent Turkmen Website Hacked

  18 December 2012

Chronicles of Turkmenistan (www.chrono-tm.org), the website run by Turkmen human rights activists in exile, has been hacked [ru] for the third time this year and remains down. Catherine Fitzpatrick on Different Stans blog suggests that the “way too important” website was hacked by “Turkmen Secret Police”. She also lists alternative social media where the...

Power of Rumor in Turkmenistan

  15 December 2012

In Turkmenistan, where it is almost impossible to access any news other than those reported by state-run media, rumors have unusual power. A recent Facebook post [tr] about an ‘imminent’ collapse of the US dollar has created panic among the country's Internet users, with some people rushing to exchange their dollars for local...

Kazakhstan: Looking Strong, Acting Weak?

  15 December 2012

[A]n unnecessary attack on Kazakhstan’s still-fledgling political opposition is not the behavior of a growing, confident, young, dynamic country, which is what Kazakhstan clearly wants to be. It is the behavior of a weak, insecure, terribly afraid regime. Which could potentially be dangerous in the long run...

Uzbek Theater Stages a Multicultural Play

  10 December 2012

Just imagine, it is a classic Norwegian play, staged [in Uzbekistan] by a Turkmen director, featuring Uzbek, Russian, and American actors, staged in Russian, with support from the Indian Academy of Dramatic Arts - you cannot miss this cultural 'mix'!

Mock Bride-Kidnapping in Kyrgyz Capital

  9 December 2012

[D]espite the [girl's] cries for help and the clearly illegal and rude behavior of [the purported abductors], not a single person rushed to help [the girl] or called the police... Several young men watched the incident with interest. Some men discussed: "What is it? [Bride kidnapping]? It means there will be a wedding!"