Stories about Central Asia & Caucasus from April, 2008
Soviet History: Samizdat Anniversary
Window on Eurasia writes about the 40th anniversary of the launch of the Soviet samizdat publication, the Chronicle of Current Events.
Armenia: Norwegians Abroad
Armenia and Me, the blog of an expat Norwegian in the country, reports on stumbling upon a bus crewed by 11 fellow countrymen and women touring the Middle East, Central Asia, and the Caucasus. The blog posts photographs of a brief excursion with the Strangeways crew who also have a...
Kazakhstan: Bloggers Discuss Elites and Economics
Plitical intra-elite battles and anti-corruption crusades both remain hot topics on the agenda of Kazakhstani blogosphere, but speculations over the looming global food crisis and its implications for Central Asia made the bloggers cover this issue in their discussions. Ehot wonders, what will Kazakhstan be looking like if the food...
Kyrgyzstan: An Anxious April
A next to last week of April started from the unexpected fall of temperature. A lot of bloggers posted the photographs of the frozen greenery and the trees under snow. Yanagi presented the beautiful photos of the leaves under snow in her blog. red_ptero called [ru] this fall of temperature...
Kazakhstan: Kyrgyz Protest against Concessions to Kazakhstan
Adam reports that hundreds of people marched in Kyrgyzstan to protest against a government decision approving the handover of four Soviet-era tourist complexes on Lake Issyk Kul to Kazakhstan.
Uzbekistan: UK for sanctions suspension
Nick reports that UK is going to back the suspension of EU sanctions against Uzbekistan.
Kazakhstan: Kids at Banks
Adam tells that numbers of children of high-ranking officials among Kazakhstan’s bankers have grown.
Armenia: Revolutionary Youth Movement
Unzipped reports on what appears to be an offshoot of the Sksela youth movement. Faced with some internal criticism on its pro-radical opposition leanings, the Now (Hima) movement has been established. The blog posts video of its first action staged in support of what some consider to be political prisoners...
Armenia: Torchlight Procession
Life in Armenia posts an account and photographs from last week's torchlight procession held on the eve of the 93rd Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide in Ottoman Turkey. The blog says that the march brought a much needed sense of unity to Armenia after the recent post-election unrest that left...
Armenia: Art School Online
Kyle’s Journey in Armenia, a Peace Corps Blog, proudly announces the launch of an Internet site for the Koghb Art School. The move is not only part of work to help gain the school exposure, but also part of a project to make rural communities self-sustainable.
Armenia: Fashion Zombies
Life Around Me is puzzled by the apparent obsession displayed by many Armenian girls and women in changing their appearance to match foreign ideas of fashion and beauty. In particular, the blog says that the current trend of wearing artificial-looking and colored contact lenses has turned many of them into...
Georgia: Parliamentary Election Digest
TOL Georgia reports on the latest developments in the run-up to next month's parliamentary election in Georgia. In the first of three posts, the blog comments on news that the country's parliamentary speaker, Nino Burjanadze, appears to have temporarily retired from active politics ahead of the vote. Meanwhile, the president's...
Armenia: Government U-Turn
Unzipped comments on news that the Armenian government has backed down in its attempts to prevent a congress by supporters of the former president and radical opposition leader from being staged in the capital, Yerevan. The u-turn happened after the organizers of the congress instead looked to Tbilisi, capital of...
Armenia: Sirusho in London
Unzipped: Gay Armenia reports on the visit to London by Armenia's entry to the Eurovision Song Contest, Sirusho. The blog notes that the young Armenian singer is one of the favorites to win the international song contest.
UK: Armenian Genocide March
Unzipped posts video, photographs and an account of a march staged by the London-Armenian community remembering the 1.5 million Armenians who died during the 1915 Armenian Genocide in Ottoman Turkey. The blogger from Armenia now living in the United Kingdom says the march reminded him to some extent of the...
Kazakhstan: Eurasian Media Forum
Arman opines on the Eurasian Media Forum, a large conference masterminded and organized by the Kazakhstan president’s elder daughter, Dariga Nazarbayeva.
Turkmenistan: Tatars Diaspora in Turkmenistran
Abdulgamid writes a post about a website, dedicated to the life of Tatar diaspora in Turkmenistan, an overwhelmingly mono-ethnic country.
Kyrgyzstan: Jazz Fest Photos
Elena presents the photographs from the second and third day of the International Jazz Festival in Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan.
Afghanistan: Karzai Lives to Rule Kabul for Another Day
Joshua Foust opines on the essense and consequences of the Taliban militants’ attack on Afghanistan president Karzai during the Mujahideen Day parade.
Afghanistan: A Battle of Will
Sanjar reflects on how long is the Afghan insurgency going to take and says that the war challenges the will of international community, the will of Afghans and finally the will of Taliban and insurgents.
Turkmenistan: How many Turkmens are there?
Maciula presents results of his net searching, aim of which was to find out how many Turmens live in the world.
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