Stories from Quick Reads and Tajikistan
Tajikistan’s president’s son is the man behind the national football team’s success at the Asian Cup
The national team’s heroics will breathe confidence and optimism into everyone implementing the national football development program called “Orzu-2026” (Dream-2026).
Uzbekistan celebrates reformist Jadid movement in the new documentary
It seems the Jadids' return to the public space will be long-term with the government using their legacy as means of inspiration.
Meet Central Asia’s giant and wildly expensive Arashan sheep
Arashan sheep’s low number, impressive size, and the fast speed at which they grow has made them one of the most sought after commodities on the Central Asian animal market.
If adopted, Tajikistan’s draft law on bloggers will do more harm than good
In the last few years, the country has recorded significant backsliding with regards to freedom of expression as well as overall political freedoms.
Kyrgyzstan's national game, kok-boru, continues to attract new fans around the world
The turning point for kok-boru’s popularity beyond Central Asia came with the first World Nomad Games (WNG) hosted by Kyrgyzstan in 2014.
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.
Tributes to Alexander Sodiqov from Toronto, Canada
This post is part of our campaign #FreeAlexSodiqov: GV Author Detained in Tajikistan. Three weeks to the day since Global Voices author Alexander Sodiqov was arrested in Khorog, Tajikistan, his wife, Musharraf, has seen him only once. Although it has been presumed that Alex — conducting academic research at the...
Solidarity from Ankara for Alexander Sodiqov's Release
This post is part of our campaign #FreeAlexSodiqov: GV Author Detained in Tajikistan. Messages of support continue to pour in for Alexander Sodiqov, the Global Voices community member wrongfully detained by local authorities in Khorog, Tajikistan on June 16, while carrying out academic research. Global Voices is grateful to Dr....
Tajikistan's GBAO Region – an Incredible Place
In the last few weeks Global Voices has published and republished several articles about the unlawful arrest of our community member Alexander Sodiqov. Those pieces are here, here, here and here. But the Pamir region (known administratively as Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region, or GBAO) where Alex was conducting academic research is not...
Man Arrested for ‘Insulting’ Tajik President on Facebook
Security agencies in Tajikistan have detained a Facebook user on charges of “insulting” the country's president. According to a local news agency, the 30-year-old man was arrested [ru] after posting “slanderous” images and texts on the social networking website.
Army Drafters “Do Not Give a Damn About the President” in Tajikistan
In mid-February 2014, the president of Tajikistan ordered [ru] that recruitment offices stop using “illegal practices” in drafting young men into the army. Blogger Rustam Gulov who has written much about illegal drafting techniques in Tajikistan suggests [ru] that the president's order has not really changed anything: A lot of...
Tajikistan Celebrates the Beginning of Spring
On March 20-21, people in Tajikistan celebrate Navruz (Nowruz), an ancient festival that marks the beginning of spring and is often referred to as the “Persian New Year”. Icekandar congratulates [ru] the readers of his blog: Here comes Navruz, the best and most cheerful holiday! This holiday is not like...
Letters From Tajikistan: We Are Different, But We Have Much In Common
A unique book has been published in Tajikistan. Loki explains [ru] how the book, Letters from Tajikistan, differs from everything else that has been produced in the country: The book is a collection of letters written by people who either live in Tajikistan or have visited the country. The authors...
Voices Against Women's Day Remain Rare in Tajikistan
As Tajikistan celebrates the International Women's Day (re-branded as Mother's Day in the country in 2009), social media help amplify the rare voices that speak against the holiday. Writing on his personal website, prominent religious leader and politician Hoji Akbar Turajonzoda urges [tj] Tajiks not to celebrate on March 8: Celebrating Mother's Day or...
Winter in Tajik Capital, the “Worst City in Asia”
An expat blogger writes about how she spent winter in Dushanbe, the capital of Tajikistan. I spent most of the coldest times huddled next to the space heater (pechka), cup of tea in hand. Some mornings everything in the kitchen froze. I once tried to pour hot water into a...
Tajikistan's Tastiest Blogs
There are three blogs in Tajikistan that are a must read for anyone interested in Tajik cuisine. Tajik Restaurant [Tarabkhonai Tojiki] [tj] shares cook-it-yourself videos and recipes of popular Tajik dishes. Suhailo's Cooking Diary [Daftari pukhtu-pazhoi Suhailo] [tj] teaches its readers to bake pastries popular in the country. Finally, Osh...
Soviet-era Monuments and Slogans in Tajik Capital “Should Stay”
Over the last two decades, the authorities in Dushanbe have dismantled most of the Soviet-era monuments and huge political slogans on rooftops which had all been an important feature of the cityscape before 1991. However, as Radio Ozodi reports [tj], Tajikistan's capital has preserved a handful of Soviet statues, slogans, and signs...
An “Increasingly Uncertain” Future for Central Asia's Fergana Valley
On the Caravanistan blog, Cycloscope writes about radioactive landfill sites in the Fergana Valley, a region “absurdly divided between Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan”: Unaware of the dangers of radioactivity, the locals take the equipment in the old abandoned mines and sell them as scrap, risking not only their own lives...
Tajik Team at Olympics Opening Ceremony Included a Russian “Tourist”
Following the Olympics opening ceremony, many people in Tajikistan were shocked to find out [ru] that one of the individuals who walked into the ceremony in Sochi alongside Tajik athletes under their nation's flag had little to do with the country. Vladimir Vladimirov, a Russian entrepreneur and member of a municipal...
Tajik Bloggers Ask to Meet With President
Every year, the president of Tajikistan meets with selected members of the national intelligentsia in Dushanbe, in late March. These meetings normally feature long speeches by the president followed by endless praise of his work and his answers to carefully scripted questions from the audience. As the authorities begin [ru]...
Tajikistan: Welcome to the “Facebook Republic of Pitzostan”
A government committee in charge of enforcing language regulations in Tajikistan has recently caused many laughs by insisting that the word “pizza” should be replaced with “pitzo” on restaurant signs in the country's capital. According to the committee's chair, “pitzo” sounds more “Tajik”. #Tajikistan has officially renamed pizza “pitzo”. For...
