Translation of Nuraika’s post (RUS)

Our tour group had the good fortune to attend a tour of Dushanbe’s Ismailite center. The city is one of six in the world where members of this Shia sect have their own cultural center. The other five are located in London, Lisbon, Vancouver, Dubai and Toronto. Developed by Canadian firm Farouk Noormohamed Design Associates, the project took into account elements of local culture, architecture and traditions. Read the full story »

Something I think is interesting: almost every citizen of former Soviet countries can find home items produced during the days of the USSR. Amazingly, there is usually a price written on them. This caused a funny exchange between my mother and I: “Prices haven’t changed in years?” I asked. “Yeah,” she replied somberly. “They haven’t.”

Translation of Nuraika’s post (RUS)

By a fortuitous twist of fate, I got to visit the Nurek Reservoir. The city of Nurek was founded on the site of a “kishlak” (village) that was razed to make way for the Nurek hydroelectric station. The road to Nurek took us between 1.5 and 2 hours. Parts of it are currently under construction, and we saw Chinese workers all along the way. Read the full story »

Some people might be surprised to discover that I’m a religious person. I find great beauty in Tajikistan’s Islamic tradition, something very sublime. Here are some photos that I took which I feel capture my feelings.

People have always been tempted to know their future, which is why they’ve turned to fortune-tellers. Today it’s hard to imagine anyone taking it seriously because of all our scientific progress and our materialistic outlook, but there was an incident I heard about in a small town in southern Kazakhstan that shows how alive and well the tradition still is.

A 15-year-old girl ran away from her home after a fight with her mother. After she was gone for a few days, her relatives began to worry. Usually in such situations, people go to the police, but this family decided to solve their problem by visiting a local fortune-teller. This is when the story takes a twist.

The fortune-teller told the family that the girl had been kidnapped by strangers, and that there was another girl from the neighborhood who was involved in the crime. The parents lost their heads. They captured an innocent girl and tortured her into making a confession. Fortunately, she managed to escape and tell the police, who arrested the family and the fortune-teller.

The story would be funny if it wasn’t true. Worst of all, it could have had a happy ending, because the girl who ran away ended up coming home alive and well.

Translation of Meirjan’s post (KAZ, RUS)

The Institute for Central Asian Studies was founded in China in the 1960s to study the region’s economic and political life. Its work consists of documenting ethnic diversity, researching local cultures, their histories, religions, education systems, science and technology.

In recent years, the work of the institute has become increasingly easy, since the Internet and satellite systems allow employees to quickly access necessary information and monitor other countries’ internal affairs. In the future, China’s strategic plans will utilize the work of such institutes. Read the full story »

Editor’s note: Since the Niyazov era, Turkmenistan has seen itself as the rejuvenator of the Turkic language family. neweurasia’s Timur Niroomand doesn’t think this ambition is mad, but he sees important lessons arising from the history of the Turkic languages’ historical rival, Farsi. [Note: pictured on the left is Mahmud of Ghazni's court. Click on it to read more about the history of the Ghaznavnids.]

“Henceforth I shall not die, alive I shall remain, For I was he who spread the seeds of speech again.” — Firdowsi

Annasoltan initiated this post series, “Typography is Destiny”, to explore the many upheavals, both past and present, that surround Turkmenistan’s alphabet. Who would have thought that something so simple could be so controversial and politicized? And yet, script is indeed so fundamental to societies, because if language is the key to identity, then the alphabet is the key to language.

But there’s a bigger story beyond the Turkmen alphabet. History shows that analogous to the adventures of the Turkmen alphabet have been the travails of Persian script. The story begins with the Ghaznavid Dynasty, led by Mahmud Ghaznawi, who conquered of much of the Turkic Samanids that succeeded the Arabo-Farsic Abbasids. Mahmud’s foresight about the power of the written word, and the powerful role of government behind it, serves as a foil for today’s leadership in Turkmenistan.

Read the full story »

It’s not a big surprise when world stars visit Central Asia. Unfortunately, most of them perform at the very private events. neweurasia has already reported on them, and among examples of greed and indifference to their fans of a host-country are Jennifer Lopez and Britney Spears.

Fortunately, there are popular bands willing to spread their message to the people of our region with a huge assistance of organizations and governmental bodies. Last year Uzbekistanis enjoyed few concerts by American bands sponsored by the U.S. State Department and different American NGOs.

This September the author of this post had a great time touring with Brazzaville, American rock band, while they were in Uzbekistan bringing their sound across Uzbekistan for series of concerts.

Before coming to our country they had already visited Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and headed to Armenia after visiting Uzbekistan.

This tour became a reality because of the support of the U.S. Embassy in Tashkent and Performing Arts Initiative that helps to develop an appreciation of American culture and values in foreign audiences, and through these programs, American performers also learn to value other cultures.

neweurasia is pleased to offer our readers an interview with David Arthur Brown, the founder of Brazzaville, about their Central Asian tour. Read the full story »

Translation of Meirjan’s post (KAZ, RUS)

Editor’s note: “Allazhar” is a film about the 1986 December riots in Almaty.

1986. A lot of water under the bridge. In our country, we still don’t have access to all the footage, on- or off-line. Recently, however, user Torap posted the whole thing on Kultegin, a social network for Kazakhs from China. It was later reposted in five segments on China’s largest video-sharing site, www.56.com. It bothers me: why is the film only being distributed this way? Who is interested in suppressing it? Read the full story »

Editor’s note: In the ruins of Osh, the meaning of June’s terrible events are contested not only at the level of voting and rhetoric, but on the very walls. Guest blogger Mary Pole reports on the battle being fought through graffiti for the heart and soul of a torn city. “A glaring reminder of the violence is painted on walls in and around Osh, despite recent attempts to paint over the markings,” she writes.

As reconstruction picks up pace, winter approaches and June’s conflict is described publicly as ‘war’ or more commonly ‘unrest’, collective remembrance of the events takes on a different tone.

A glaring reminder of the violence is painted on walls in and around Osh, despite recent attempts to paint over the markings. An examination of this and writing and drawings painted in the months following the events in which as many as 4000 people may have died reveal the contested narratives of conflict.

Read the full story »