Stories from Quick Reads and Governance
Winning a million Lira won't get you far in today's Turkey, but its worth celebrating anyway
The amount may have meant a lot in 2011 when the show first premiered on Turkish television, but in 2023, the amount isn't likely to go too far.
Azerbaijan continues to keep its land borders closed, citing COVID-19 as a concern
Three years on, while the world, including Azerbaijan, lifted most, if not all, pandemic-related restrictions, Azerbaijan continues to keep its land borders closed for passenger traffic, citing the pandemic as a threat.
Yevgeny Prigozhin died in a plane crash. Did Russians know who he was?
In a poll conducted in Russia three weeks after the mutiny of Yevgeny Prigozhin and his Wagner group, only a third of respondents (33%) said they knew about “the military crisis that occurred in Russia on June 24.”
In Azerbaijan, couriers are facing intimidation and arrests at the hands of the state
The recent wave of arrests and persecution are linked to the changes adopted to Article 27 of the Law on Traffic in December 2022.
These women are fighting back on the continued destruction of Turkey's Akbelen forest
Some 300 organizations have rallied behind the residents' call to stop any mining activities and deforestation in the area in a statement issued on July 28.
Russian diplomats react to a new law on language in Kyrgyzstan, bringing back colonial past
The Kyrgyz language is an integral part of national identity. It is vital for the survival of Kyrgyz people as a separate ethnic group and Kyrgyzstan as a nation.
Mongolia turns to its dinosaurs in an attempt to attract more tourists
Out of 400 species of dinosaurs discovered so far, 80 came from southern Mongolia, where they lived in the Cretaceous period of the Mesozoic era.
Turkmenistan unveils its first ‘smart’ city, named after the former president
Arkadag’s future remains unclear given the government’s authoritarian and bizarre rules for its potential residents.
And then there were none — how political parties are disappearing in Azerbaijan
Opposition political parties have long struggled in Azerbaijan, faced with arrests, detentions, financial hurdles, or persecution of their members.
About 47,000 Russian soldiers died during the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine
In just 15 months of fighting in Ukraine, three times more Russian soldiers have died than Soviet troops did over 10 years in Afghanistan.
Kyrgyzstan's highest court sides with a female activist and allows the use of the matronymic
People in Kyrgyzstan can now add an appendage to their first names that derive from their mothers’ names.
Chişinău hosted the largest LGBTQ+ march in the history of Moldova
The march this year focused on advocating for the rights of the LGBTQ+ community in Moldova to have their marriages legally recognized.
Ashes on their foreheads: Forest fires in Kazakhstan expose pervasive corruption and government’s fake promises
Over the past three years alone, four large forest fires have occurred in the north and east of Kazakhstan, causing the destruction of more than 100,000 hectares of forests.
President Erdoğan's obsession with childbirth expands past Turkey's borders
Independent economists say under existing economic conditions and salaries, it is nearly impossible to support five children in Azerbaijan.
Tajikistan's government adds another colossal building to its tally
Tajikistan building all these buildings is all the more striking given the fact that it is the poorest country in Central Asia.
Kyrgyzstan's YouTube sensation, D Billions, kicks off its global concert tour
D Billions, which stands for billion smiles, has already reached its ambitious goals of putting a smile on billion people's faces through their YouTube videos.
Negotiations for Moldova's accession to the EU could commence this year
The EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, made an impactful statement suggesting that Moldova could potentially become an EU member despite the unresolved Transnistria conflict.
In Azerbaijan, violence against LGBTQ+ people continues unabated
According to ILGA Europe, an international non-governmental organization advocating for LGBTQ+ rights and freedoms, Azerbaijan occupies the last place among 49 countries on the organization's Rainbow Index consecutively for three years in a row.
Moldova refused to use language constructed by Soviet cultural policy
The Moldovan language was constructed during the early Soviet cultural policy. Now, the parliament changed its name to Romanian because they are practically identical languages.
Women in Turkey march to mark International Women's Day, despite state pressure
Meanwhile, opposition parties promised this was the last women's march under heavy police presence and bans.
In Turkey telecommunications watchdog blocks access to popular website Ekşi Sözlük
On February 7, another popular social media platform, Twitter was briefly blocked by the authorities on similar grounds.