Alexander Sodiqov

Latest posts by Alexander Sodiqov

Patients in Uzbekistan “Have Nobody to Rely on Except for God”

  8 February 2014

On Registan.net, Gulnoza Saidazimova paints a bleak picture of the healthcare system in Uzbekistan (part one, part two): [The system is so inadequate and outdated that] a wealthy few head to foreign countries for medical treatment, drawing on their own savings and often those of their close relatives, whereas the majority poor can...

Photos Uzbek Authorities Do Not Want You To See

  31 January 2014

EurasiaNet.org presents “Twenty Photos Uzbekistan Does Not Want You to See“, a collection of black-and-white images by photojournalist Timur Karpov. The photos were removed [ru] from a group exhibition at Tashkent's House of Photography two hours before the beginning of the show on January 25, apparently because they were deemed to be “undermining” national pride....

“Disaster” for Supporters of Ukraine Protests in Uzbekistan

  31 January 2014

On January 29, police in Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan, detained eight individuals for picketing the Ukrainian embassy in support of Euromaidan protesters. Those arrested for holding an unsanctioned rally included a prominent photographer Umida Akhmedova, photojournalist Timur Karpov, and culture blogger Alex Ulko. Following the activists’ arrest, blogging platform NewEurasia.net asserted: What happens when you mix...

Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan: Trip to the Dying Aral Sea

  28 January 2014

The Aral Sea lying between Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan was once one of the world's four largest lakes. Over the last five decades, however, the sea has lost over 90 percent of its original size, mainly as a result of disastrous irrigation projects which diverted rivers feeding it. On the Caravanistan travel...

Qaraqalpaqstan, the ‘Forgotten Stan’ of Central Asia

  28 January 2014

Qaraqalpaqstan (or Karakalpakstan) is one of the least-known “stans” of Central Asia. Part of Uzbekistan, this region is a true gem for a curious traveler. On the Caravanistan blog, Steven writes about this “forgotten stan”: …Living under the shadow cast by the desiccation of the Aral Sea, this little-known stan has gotten...

Hero or No Hero? Opinions Split Over Jailed Tajik Tycoon

  5 January 2014

A court in Tajikistan has recently sentenced a former minister and emerging opposition leader to 26 years in prison on charges seen as politically motivated. Since his arrest in May 2013, Zayd Saidov has become a symbol of resistance to the repressive state for many opposition activists, journalists, and intellectuals in the...

Search Engine Suggests Kazakhstan is a “Satan's Den”

  24 December 2013

Popular web search engines often have bizarre autocomplete suggestions. Kazakhstani blogger Fyodor Kovalyov writes [ru]: Сейчас решил узнать о наиболее значимых событиях уходящего года, произошедших в разных городах Казахстана, и пришёл в тихий ужас – если верить поисковой системе Yandex.kz, то мы живём, как минимум, в логове сатаны! I have just...

In Tajikistan Protest Occurs Online

  14 December 2013

While many people in Tajikistan are unhappy about the country's dire economic situation and political leadership, public protest is rare in the country. The fear of inevitable punishment by the state, the weakness of political opposition, and the memories of the 1992-1997 civil war make the likelihood of mass protest...

VIDEO: Young Men Are Forced to Join Army in Tajikistan

  14 December 2013

As Tajikistan's military faces a struggle to get enough volunteer conscripts, recruitment officers often rely on illegal practices in drafting military-age men into the army. One of the most common among such practices is “oblava” which involves “military press gangs making sweeps of city streets, bazaars and bus stations, rounding up...

Czechoslovakia's Architectural Heritage in Kyrgyzstan

  14 December 2013

Karina Ditkovskaya writes [ru] about a unique architectural heritage left by volunteer construction workers from Czechoslovakia in Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan: In the 1920s a commune of volunteers from Czechoslovakia built a whole district of Bishkek. Now, after almost one hundred years, this area of Kyrgyzstan's capital city stands out due...

Uzbekistan's “Twitter Warrior” Gulnara Karimova Is Back

  22 November 2013

After disappearing from Twitter yesterday, Gulnara Karimova, the daughter of Uzbekistan's “enduring dictator“, has returned to the micro-blogging service. In a flurry of angry tweets, Gulnara is blaming [ru] her mother for using intimidation and arbitrary arrests against her colleagues, allies, and business partners. Gulnara also suggests that her mother is...