Latest posts by Alexander Sodiqov from December, 2012
Tajikistan Blocks 130 Websites
Hurray! [Tajikistan is] ahead of the rest of the world again! Where else do they block more than 130 websites at once?
Uzbekistan's Boring TV
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
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...
Tajiks and Uzbeks Disagree on Birthplace of Poet
The dispute over the birthplace of the Poet Rudaki [whom both Uzbekistan and Tajikistan claim "as one of their own"] is heating up and may soon lead to wine-throwing and fist-fights...
Independent Turkmen Website Hacked
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...
Power of Rumor in Turkmenistan
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...
Kazakhstan: Looking Strong, Acting Weak?
[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
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
[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!"
Searching for Chingis Khan's Tomb in Mongolia
[M]any assume that [Chingis Khan] must have been buried with a huge amount of treasure which would have an immense historical - to say nothing of monetary - value.
