Ben Paarmann

Latest posts by Ben Paarmann

Azerbaijan: Soviet Funk

  21 August 2007

English Russia posts a vintage video of famous Soviet-era singer Muslim Magomaev. The clip, besides showcasing a great example of Soviet funk music, also features a lot of footage of Azerbaijan's capital Baku made during these times.

Armenia: Sport fights

  21 August 2007

Both Zarchka and Onnik Krikorian originally expected to see exciting basketball games when they went to see the matches Glendale-Istanbul and Yerevan-Cairo respectively: But unfortunately, both games, which are part of the 4th Pan-Armenian Games, were the scene of fist fights between the opposing teams, casting a negative shadow on...

Kazakhstan: No surprises

  20 August 2007

KZBlog reports that the ruling Nur-Otan party of President Nazarbayev has reason to celebrate their landslide in Kazakhstan's parliamentary elections while the opposition is refuting the poll result.

Uzbekistan: Against Tajik plans

  20 August 2007

Uzbekistan stands out to loose most if Tajikistan was to go ahead with the construction of new hydro-power plants. The two rivers in question, Syr Darya and Amu Darya, provide most of the water for Uzbekistan's cotton sector. Jamiyat wonders about the potential consequences.

Georgia: Offensive

  20 August 2007

After the alleged Russian attack on one of its radio stations, Georgia seems determined to move the case up to the UN, reports Joshua Foust at Registan.net.

Armenia: Genocide notes

  18 August 2007

The quest for the acknowledgement of the Armenian genocide might prevent seeking an explanation for why it happened. Join Onnik Krikorian for several interesting thoughts on the issue of the Armenian genocide.

Kyrgyzstan: Meet the summit press

  18 August 2007

Joshua Kucera was one of 500 journalists who covered the SCO summit in Kyrgyzstan's capital Bishkek. The Kyrgyz hosts provided the journalists with all they could wish for, except one, rather important thing: information.

Georgia: IDPs

  18 August 2007

Steady State says that in Georgia, Internally Displaced People from the Abkhazia war are now being evicted from their temporary shelters. At the same time, the Caucasian country spends record sums on its military.

Kazakhstan: Elections

  18 August 2007

Sean Roberts analyses the importance of today's parliamentary elections in Kazakhstan, and finds that the real results of the poll will only be clear over the course of the next year.

Armenia: Orphanage

  16 August 2007

Thomas of Follow the Way posts photos taken by Lilit Abrahamyan. They depict the daily life in an orphanage for mentally handicapped kids near Armenia's capital Yerevan.

Kyrgyzstan: Let the show begin

  16 August 2007

Mirsulzhan Namazaliev provides a comprehensive summary of Livejournal coverage of the opening of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Kyrgyzstan, including links to many first-hand photo reports.

Kazakhstan: Exhibition

  16 August 2007

The blogging artists of Artpologist have successfully opened their exhibition about the changing face of Kazakhstan's southern capital Almaty. Daniel has some thoughts on how it all went (photos here). Not bad at all, according to the first press reviews coming in.

Turkmenistan: Reaching out

  16 August 2007

Bonnie Boyd notes that Turkmenistan's isolation on the world stage seems to decrease under new president Berdymukhamedov. Meanwhile, Turkmen national Merdjen is having bad flashbacks of totalitarian rule in her current home Bishkek, where the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit is held at highest security levels.