Stories about Central Asia & Caucasus from July, 2011
Armenia: The Barber of Ashtarak
Ianyan pays a visit to Ashtarak, a small city just outside Yerevan, the Armenian capital, and a local barber's shop. The blog posts photographs and a brief account of the...
Kyrgyzstan: Government Bans News Websites from the Election Campaign
Ahead of the presidential elections to be held in Kyrgyzstan on 30 October, 2011, the Central Elections Committee (CEC) came out with a controversial decision, barring web-based news media from taking part in the campaign. Eleven news sites were denied accreditation to inform voters on the pre-election developments.
Armenia: Nationalist links alleged after Utøya attacks
Unzipped comments on claims that Anders Behring Breivik, the Norwegian responsible for the 22 July terrorist attacks in Oslo and Utøya which killed at least 76 people, had online connections...
Azerbaijan: Fascinated by Georgia
Şüarımız GƏLƏCƏK! [AZ] travels to Georgia and becomes charmed by the beauty and “scent of democracy” the country offers in the region. The blogger notes that while his home country...
Tajikistan: Minors prohibited from visiting places of religious worship
Avicenna says that minors in Tajikistan are prohibited from going to mosques, churches and sinagogues, as the parliament have unanimously approved a bill “On the responsibility of parents for their...
Afghanistan: How aid ends up financing mansions in Dubai
Nick Fielding reviews a new Afghanistan reconstruction report, which investigates the scandal of large US currency exports from Afghanistan to private bank accounts due to ineffective aid coordination, inconsistent Afghan...
Georgia: Diversity in motion
Unable to visit each other's country because of the still unresolved conflict over the disputed territory of Nagorno Karabakh, Reader in Baku comments on meeting with Armenians on neutral ground...
Eastern Europe: Dairy Farming in Fashion
Matthew Rojansky at Scraps of Moscow follows the lead of “The Cynical Dairy Farmer's Guide to the New Middle East” by constructing a dairy farmers guide to the Former Soviet...
Armenia: Uproar Over Head of Church's Remarks
Angered by remarks made by the the country's spiritual leader about the upkeep of churches and monasteries, some Armenians are using social networking sites such as Facebook to call for his resignation.
Armenia: Corruption
With Armenia ranking 123 out of 178 countries in a 2010 Transparency International report measuring corruption, Life in the Caucasus, a blog maintained by a Peace Corps volunteer in the...
Azerbaijan: Release Jabbar Savalan Campaign
Amnesty International has launched an online campaign calling for the release of Jabbar Savalan, a young activist in Azerbaijan who made calls on Facebook for pro-democracy protests in the oil-rich...
Tajikistan: The BBC reporter released
The Tajikistan authorities have released BBC journalist Urunboy Usmonov from custody. “The international community’s appeal have been heard”, writes Tomyris.
Kyrgyzstan: Library receives grant for catalogues and digitization
Emerson reports that a Western donor organization awarded the Kyrgyzstan's largest library a generous grant to re-catalogue and digitize its rare book holdings.
Afghanistan: Taliban killing civilians with IEDs
Nick Fielding reports that civilian deaths in Afghanistan increased by 15 per cent in 2011, pointing out that the dramatic growth was mainly due to the use of landmine-like improvised...
Afghanistan: Book offers diplomatic insights
Nick Fielding briefly reviews a book by Britain's former ambassador in Afghanistan, Sherard Cowper-Coles, and says that it is stuffed with fascinating material.
Armenia: Impressions of Georgia
Ianyan posts photographs and its impressions of a recent visit to Georgia, Armenia's northern neighbor. Global Chaos, another Armenian blog, also does the same.
Azerbaijan: Culinary Competition
Scary Azeri comments on the tendency for her fellow Azerbaijanis living in England to outdo each other when it comes to preparing meals for get-togethers. The blog says that this...
Turkmenistan: Israel's trip over geopolitics
Few observers are aware of Israel’s strange diplomatic dance with Turkmenistan, which has involved the Tel Aviv’s attempts to court Ashgabat as a potential lever against Iran, Emerson reports.
Kazakhstan: WordPress banned because of two blogs
Information about the WordPress ban in Kazakhstan is slowly trickling out. On 15 July, it was revealed that the ban is ostensibly due to two WordPress blogs that fell afoul...
Uzbekistan: World-known brands to denounce child labor
Wal-Mart, Macy’s, Eileen Fisher, Nautica, Gear for Sports, The Jones Group, Liz Claiborne and Nike are among the first companies to sign a pledge boycotting the use of Uzbekistan-sourced cotton...
Kazkahstan: The Sting of Criticism
KZBlog reports that famous singer Sting, who was scheduled to play for the Kazakh president's birthday and the Day of Astana (capital of Kazakhstan) festivities, cancelled his engagement after Amnesty...
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