Somebody help me understand the logic in the Kyrgyz justice system’s actions. Another 17 ethnic Uzbeks were sentenced to life-long imprisonment by a rural court and two were sentenced to 25-year-old conviction for allegedly killing 16 people and destroying several vehicles. This is only a case in a number of cases where ethnic Uzbeks were imprisoned for life or for long periods for alleged killing of other citizens.

The logic that I am failing to understand here is the fact that Human Rights Watch highlighted police’s and army’s involvement in the June massacre and brutality power-wielders employed to put down the riot. Although HRW says Uzbeks started the skirmish, it was mainly the ethnic Uzbek section of the population of Kyrgyzstan that suffered most, according to foreign mass media. Why not investigate into these cases and see whether the mono-ethnic (yes, Kyrgyz ethnic) army and police have employed “disproportionate force” during the upheaval? On the other hand, Bakiyev-appointed Osh Mayor Melis Myrzakhmatov told Kommersant newspaper in August that “I know one thing: Uzbeks encroached upon the sovereignty of Kyrgyzstan. We have repulsed them.” Could somebody please ask how the repulsion was exercised and what were the consequences? Could someday please inquire whether the slaughtered women and elderly were encroaching on the Kyrgyz sovereignty as well? Could somebody please ask whether the orphaned children were part of the “separation” masterminds? Read the full story »

I’ll let the song speak for itself. (KANYKEI - Kara Chan / КАНЫКЕЙ - Кара Чан)

Kiptchak Mosque in Ashgabat. Photograph by Flickr user bestoy (CC-usage).

Editor’s note: Turkmen Islam has long been renowned as a private and not particularly fervent affair. However, the situation is rapidly changing, particularly among Turkmenistan’s young. neweurasia’s Annasoltan goes on a journey, exploring the reasons behind — and challenges to — the müezzin’s siren song.

For a long time in Turkmenistan, Islam’s appeal was limited to older people, especially from rural areas, or among the families of clergy. But now 19 years into our nation’s independence, that picture is changing. Every Friday, the devout flock to the Ertogrul Gazi Mosque on Ashgabat’s Shevchenko Street, and among them, much to my surprise, are many of the young. Mostly boys, of course, but also some girls. The same is happening all over the country; two mosques in Balkanabad, in western Turkmenistan, even say they cannot accommodate all the believers.

Read the full story »

Translation of Ekaterina’s post (RUS)

On 17 November, the first court hearing regarding the events of 7 April took place. 28 individuals are being tried in a case involving 60 volumes of reports. 6 of the defendants are still at large, including former president Kurmanbek Bakiev.

Even before the trial, human rights activists and journalists voiced serious security concerns. In the corridors, people could be heard whispering that they were weary of being present at such events. It is no accident that many civilian representatives refused to attend, saying their safety was not adequately guaranteed. They were right… Read the full story »

Translation of sabinareingold’s post (RUS)

In Parts 1 and 2, I wrote about the hardships facing the inhabitants of Ak-Zhar. In Part 3, I will try to get to the root of the problem: why are these people forced to live in conditions that can hardly be described as suitable for habitation?

A Double-Edged Sword

The residents of Ak-Zhar are trying to fight for the right to live on land they seized illegally several years ago. Their main goal is to have the land privatized, but this is currently impossible, because a businessman, not the government, owns it. Read the full story »

Pelting politicians with eggs and shoes is a tradition around the world: Tony Blair by anti-war protesters, Baronness Warsi by supporters of Anjem Choudary, BNP leader Nick Griffin by anti-racists, and most famously, George W. Bush in Iraq. If this is a sign of being a free society, then a recent incident in Kazakhstan may tell something about our nation’s political health.

Vladimir Kozlov, leader of the unregistered Algha (Forward) opposition party and who recently declared that he would be running for president, was at a meeting at the National Press Club in Almaty with the Communist Party of Kazakhstan when a group of young men who described themseves as the “Zheltoksan movement” hurled eggs at them.

“Every nation must have its own president and our president has to speak Kazakh,” said one Zheltoksan member, according to media reports.

Read the full story »

Translation of Ekaterina’s post (RUS)

On 10 November, exactly one month after parliamentary elections took place in Kyrgyastan, the fifth Zhogorku Kenesh met for the first time. The session was held, as it will be in the future, in the newly reconstructed White House building. The assembly hall, which was previously used for ceremonies involving the president, has been refurnished as a conference hall for the deputies, each one of whom received a large, comfortable chair and a new HP laptop.

The day would not have been complete without a demonstration, which took place in front of the White House gates and lasted all day. Read the full story »

Editor’s note: Turkmenistan is pressing ahead with its bizarre Olympic Village, but now with the apparent approval of many international sports figures, including some from international Olympic officialdom. neweurasia’s Annasoltan reports.

In October, I reported on the Turkmen government’s intentions to build an Olympic Village despite the fact that the country has not been shortlisted for the Olympics during the next 28 years. Registan.net’s Michael Hancock raised an important doubt:

Having read the [official Turkmen press release, "City of Olympic Wonders", from 12.09.2010], there’s no clear connection between this building project and the actual International Olympics. While the name of the various buildings of the complex revolve around the Olympics, I don’t think anyone is supposed to think they actually expect the Olympics to just show up.

Actually, according to the official media, that’s sort of what happened last week.

Read the full story »

Two reports from RFE/RL. First, the newly-elected parliament, about which I pondered last week and which was supposed to convene this past Friday, has now been scheduled to convene on 10 November. This appears to be due to ongoing complaints about the election results.

And second, Bakiyev is now set to be tried in absentia beginning 15 November. This is likely to develop into a huge story (notwithstanding, of course, the fact that it was originally supposed to start on 25 October). My own feeling is that it could potentially stir up some trouble between southern and northern Kyrgyz, with the latter generally in support of the action (considering the fact that they overthrew him).

If so, then there’s the possibility that Kyrgyz nationalism will increase, buttressed from some unlikely quarters, precisely because it would be useful to mend fences between the two groups. My fear is that minorities will suffer as a result due to their handiness as, well, scapegoats. But these are just my two soms, and perhaps simplistic ones at that. More importantly, I just hope that I’m wrong.

Last week, British ex-MEP and author, Jonathan Aitken, came to Astana and met our president, during which he announced his plan to write a new book about Kazakhstan. Remember that in 2009 Aitken wrote a biography of Nazarbayev that was very much in favor of him, even asserting in the introduction that the president is the one most responsible for the success of post-independence Kazakhstan. Here’s what he said last week about Nazarbayev:

My personal impression is that Kazakhstan is a miracle. No one knew anything about your republic just 20 years ago. But today the whole global community is talking about your success. Nursultan Nazarbayev played not a lesser role in the world history than Churchill in the history of Britain.

“The President of Kazakhstan became a world politician when he voluntarily relinquished a powerful nuclear arsenal. I had the honor of personally witnessing how warmly Nursultan Nazarbayev was greeted at the nuclear security summit in Washington. He was in the spotlight.”

Meanwhile, Nazarbayev’s former son-in-law, Rahat Aliev, condemned a president in his own book, Godfather-in-Law, in which he examined many corrupt and criminal activities attributed to the president. There’s actually nothing new in there, but this is the first time it’s ever been put together in a coherent manner. Aliev gives deep insight into the autocratic system in our country. Anyone distributing and reading the book can be charged with criminal liability.