Kyrgyz Women Take to Hijab
Region: KazakhstanIslamic dress becomes more popular in previously secular urban communities. By Asyl Osmonalieva For the last six months, 17 year-old Zarina Barinova has worn a Muslim-style headscarf whenever she goes out in northern Kyrgyzstan’s Chui province. A confident and outspoken student from the town of Karabalta, Barinova defies the common stereotype in Kyrgyzstan... more
Views: 1164Brutal Attack on Kazak Journalist
Region: KazakhstanColleague says assault on Lukpan Ahmedyarov meant as strong message to anyone thinking of voicing dissent. By Saule Mukhametrakhimova Media organisations in Kazakstan and abroad have urged the authorities to launch an immediate investigation into a near-fatal attack on Lukpan Ahmedyarov, a reporter in the northwest of the country. Ahmedyarov, who reports for the Uralskaya Nede... more
Views: 951Kazakstan: More Parties, No Real Pluralism
Region: Kazakhstan
President’s Nur Otan now joined by two other regime-friendly parties in parliament. By Almaz Rysaliev President Nursultan Nazarbaev’s Nur Otan party is no longer alone in Kazakstan's parliament, as the January 15 election brought in two other parties, Ak Jol and the People’s Communist Party. But Nur Otan’s victory was still overwhelming at 81 per cent of the vote, and neithe... more
Views: 863Kazakhstan Salt Desert Poses Risks in Central Asia
Region: Kazakhstan
In early April 2010, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon, looking out over a desert that had once been the shore of a vibrant lake teeming with life, described the retreat of the Aral Sea as “One of the planet’s worst environmental disasters.” On his swing tour through former Soviet Central Asia, Ki-Moon touched down in the Uzbek town of Muynak after touring the region by helicopter. Muynak, a city ... more
Views: 1789Children Forced to Pick Cotton in South Kazakstan
Region: Kazakhstan
Parents say schools are sending youngsters into the fields despite official ban on child labour. By Olesia Lysenko in Shymkent Parents in southern Kazakstan have complained to the authorities that children are being forced to pick cotton during school hours, in defiance of a ban on child labour. The use of child labour has been widely documented in Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, but less so in Kazakstan, where the state... more
Views: 1906Kazaks Use Scare Tactics to Cut Youth Crime
Region: KazakhstanLukewarm response to new initiative intended to prevent adolescent crime. By Yana Bachevskaya in Taldykorgan (RCA No. 579, 08-Jun-09) The public response to an experiment to take schoolchildren round prisons to deter them from committing offences has been less enthusiastic than organisers hoped. The interior ministry department in Taldykorgan, the administrative centre of the southeastern Almaty region, has team... more
Views: 1162Kazakhstan: “Statistical Error”, a new corruption scandal
Region: KazakhstanYesterday the Kazakhstani court sanctioned the arrest of Nurman Bayanov, the Deputy Chairman of the Statistics Agency on charges of misappropriation of the funds, assigned to the national census [ru]: “There was total of $7.6 million allocated for the census. As a result of investigation it was determined that in fact only $2.2 million were spent for this purpose. The remaining funds were plundered”. ... more
Views: 1177Kazak Death Penalty Relaxation Less than it Seems
Region: KazakhstanKazak Death Penalty Relaxation Less than it Seems Experts say the number of crimes for which capital punishment still applies has been expanded, not reduced. By Daulet Kanagatuly in Almaty (07-May-09) Although Kazakstan has now abolished capital punishment for most crimes, analysts say a wide range of offences are covered by the term “terrorism”, for which people can still be executed. Formal ab... more
Views: 904Kazakhs Ambivalent about Capital's Anniversary
Region: Kazakhstan
Posted by Adil Nurmakov to Global Voices Online Astana has been the capital city of Kazakhstan since the national government moved from Almaty, the country's largest city, ten years ago. It is believed to be a pet city for the president of Kazakhstan, who is often called in the pro-governmental media (which heavily dominate on the information field) as an “architect” of this new booming construction spot, ... more
Views: 1273Kazakh Bloggers Discuss Olympic Chances
Region: Kazakhstan
Posted by Adil Nurmakov to Global Voices Online On the eve of the Beijing Olympiad, the Kazakhstani bloggers discuss what chances their country has to performs decently in summer sports. The composition of Russian olympic team is public for a long time already, including in the Internet. But it is still not knownwho will go there from Kazakhstan! I searched for this information, but in vain. The website of the Nati... more
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