Latest posts by Alexander Sodiqov from October, 2013
Young People Revel In Halloween Fun in Kyrgyzstan
While debates over the appropriateness of participating in Halloween fun rage in Tajikistan, young people in the neighboring Kyrgyzstan revel in Halloween festivities. The country's most popular blogging platform has published [ru] a map of all venues organizing Halloween festivities in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan's capital. Dozens of people dressed up in zombie...
Kazakhstanis Divided on Whether Home Is Really Best
A debate about why some Kazakhstanis stay in their country while others choose to emigrate has unfolded online. It started after Daniyar posted his “What Is Keeping You in Kazakhstan?” [ru] on yvizion.kz. The blogger identified seven main reasons why he preferred to stay in the country: #1. Великая история… #2....
Yelling and Fist-banging at UN Review of Uzbekistan's Torture Record
Authorities in Uzbekistan prefer to deal with allegations of torture, forced sterilization of women, and use of slave labor to harvest cotton primarily through yelling and insulting experts.
Kazakhstan's Soviet Mosaics: “Ghosts of an Epoch Gone By”
In a post titled “The Walls Are Crying”, a blogger reflects [ru] on Kazakhstan's slowly disappearing Soviet artistic mosaics that once adorned housing blocks and industrial facilities across the country: Many of these works of art died along with the buildings which they adorned. Some are being destroyed. But many mosaics...
Tajik Official Plagiarizes Story Extolling President
Social media users in Tajikistan have caught an education official-cum-ardent supporter of the incumbent president plagiarizing. In his recent article “Why I Am Voting for [President] Emomali Rahmon” [ru] Ilkhomjon Khamidov extolled the country's veteran president who is seeking to secure a re-election in the November 6 vote. After the article...
Tajikistan Introduces Controversial “Ethics Code” For Internet Users
As Tajikistan adopts ethical guidelines for the users of internet services and personal electronic devices, netizens fear that he authorities might use the document to control free expression.
‘Politics is a Men-Only Game': Female Candidate Quits Presidential Race in Tajikistan
Saddened by the failure of Tajikistan's female presidential candidate to enter the race, netizens are pessimistic about the country's future. Some say they will boycott the vote and emigrate.
Jump off the Bridge! The Tajik President's Motorcade is Coming
A recent incident in the capital of Tajikistan has revealed how much the country's netizens hate presidential motorcades.
Tajikistan: Voters Are Entitled to Know if Candidates are ‘Full’ or ‘Hungry’
As Global Voices reported, some netizens say they will vote for the incumbent president during November 6 elections in Tajikistan because a “full leader is better than a hungry one”. Reflecting on this, Salimi Aioubzod suggests [tj] it is “sad” that voters in the country are more concerned about how...
“Without Papers You Are Nobody” in Kyrgyzstan
Hundreds of people living in Kyrgyzstan do not have the country's identity documents. This makes these people ‘invisible’ to the authorities, as Diana Rahmanova writes [ru]: In essence, you can say, “Here I am. I exist. I live. Here. Here is my body, my face. Look at me. I am not...