Cross-regional and Blogosphere
The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom placed Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan on list of countries of particular concern (or CPC), emphasizing that since independence and limited reforms undertaken by regimes since 1991, governments have systematically and egregiously violated freedom of religion or belief.
14 countries of that made the CPC list of the 2011 Annual Report include: Burma, the Democratic People‘s Republic of Korea (North Korea), Egypt, Eritrea, Iran, Iraq, Nigeria, Pakistan, the People‘s Republic of China, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Vietnam.
Tajikistan is in the watch list, while Kazakhstan is in the list of additional countries closely monitored. Te situation with religious freedom in Kyrgyzstan is not mentioned at all, probably as there is no visible violation on a state level as in other neighboring countries.
We will start with Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan, two worst dictatorship regimes in the region. Read the full story »
Christopher Schwartz, neweurasia’s managing editor for the English site who also served as the editor for our network’s new book, “CyberChaikhana: Digital Conversations from Central Asia”, explains a little bit about the goal and writing process behind the project. Filmed during this year’s Central Asia BarCamp 2011 at KIMEP in Almaty.
Copies of CyberChaikhana in MediaNet ready for distribution throughout Kazakhstan. Photograph by neweurasia
Editor’s note: neweurasia has been zooming up and down Kazakhstan all week to talk about our book, “CyberChaikhana: Digital Conversations from Central Asia”. Our managing editor for the English site, who also served as the book’s editor, Christopher Schwartz, gives his impressions of the tour. Reactions “have ranged immensely,” he explains, and adds a personal note.
I’m writing this post while in the air between Astana and Almaty. This has actually been my first time in Kazakhstan, and indeed, to the region — as many of our long-term readers will probably already know, academic commitments and financial constraints relegated me to the status of outside observer during my tenure as managing editor here at neweurasia‘s English division and during the writing process of CyberChaikhana. And quite an introduction it has been!
Today I was interviewed by a journalist from a major newspaper — my fifth official interview so far about CyberChaikhana, neweurasia, the media situations in Central Asia and the West, and yes, even WikiLeaks (!), not to mention the five group presentations and the countless impromptu discussions during BarCamp. This weekend, besides presenting at the American University of Central Asia, I may be having two group presentations elsewhere in Bishkek. All in all, Ollie, Askhat and I have been on the move for pretty much a week straight, and I’ve talked with, to various degrees of depth, somewhere in the vicinity of 700 people, if not a thousand.
Photograph by neweurasia's Tolkun
Hi everyone, I’m writing just to give a quick review of this year’s BarCamp and to announce upcoming CyberChaikhana events. Regarding the first, it was a fantastic affair. The presentations this year were much more business-oriented than previous years, which I think was a good experience for a lot of the young students who were in attendance, as it gave them a taste of the professional world. As for the reception of neweurasia and CyberChaikhana, the response from the BarCampers was simply incredible. My hand was sore from the sheer number of autographs I was jotting down. One of the best moments came on Sunday, right after our presentation: a young girl came up to me and said that she had read the whole book in a single night! Myself and other members of the neweurasia team were interviewed by several news agencies in attendance, including Internews, Tengrinews and Global Voices Online.
Russian law-makers came up with an idea of recommending Central Asian countries not to wait until the situation goes under the control like in the Middle Eastern countries and be more open to democratic changes, various information agencies reported after a meeting closed to the public on April 13, 2011.
Russian Federation’s Duma’s (Parliament) committee on CIS affairs and compatriot relations has held the parliamentary hearing dedicated to the Central Asian region: strategic partnership and security problems. As reported by RBC, the participants have urged the countries in the region to enact democratic reforms and prevent the “North African syndrome,” Ferghana information agency reports.
At the same time “Parlamentskaya gazeta” informed that even though the whole hearing has been closed to the public, at least the first three statements have been made in presence of media.
“Russians are not indifferent as to the destiny of the people in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan in the light of historic development and co-existence with the people of Russia, which has to be the key factor in the country’s strategy in respect to these states.”
Deputy chair of Duma Nadezhda Gerasimova
Almaty in the sunset. Photograph by Flickr user NZR (CC-usage).
Well, it’s that time of year again — Central Asia BarCamp 2011! As always, neweurasia shall be well-represented, except this time we have a special treat: the presentation of our book, CyberChaikhana: Digital Conversations from Central Asia, which has been printed and the Russian edition of which, translated by our very own Andrey, we shall be passing out.
Afterward, the book production crew and I shall be touring Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, giving presentations about the book. This is a big moment for neweurasia and for the Stanosphere, as it represents the culmination of two-and-some years’ work, not to mention the five+ years of the Central Asian blogging community’s gradual emergence.
Along those lines, personally-speaking, considering that this is my first book (“my” in an editorial sense), I take pride that it is not just another “expert” work, i.e., “Central Asia according to Christopher Schwartz”. Although my authorial voice is omnipresent, that voice is used to broadcast other voices, toward the goal of facilitating the further emergence of a community and its conversation. That’s good for the soul, you know?
There shall be a larger publicity drive for the book after our trip. I can’t share the details just yet. Nevertheless, stay tuned to neweurasia for updates.
Also, if you’re interested, here’s a tally of reviews about CyberChaikhana so far:
- Interview with Andrey Tolstoy on Radio Svoboda (RUS), which was broadcast over four evenings 1 – 4 April.
- “Conversations in the Shadows”, an editorial by our partners Transitions Online, 1 April.
U.S. State Department has released its 2010 Country Reports on Human Practices. As expected, Central Asian states did not make a significant progress in human rights practices. Vice versa, majority of our region’s countries turned their backs to what we call respect to human rights.
This report provides encyclopedic detail on human rights conditions in over 190 countries for 2010.
We will start with Uzbekistan because the situation with human rights and political freedoms in this coutnry was “granted” a huge paragraph in the Introduction to the Report. Along with Afghanistan and Pakistan, this Central Asian country, motherland for more than 28 million people, represented a South and Central Asia chapter. Read the full story »
In conjunction with
Conference announcement: “The Impact of Events in the Arab World on Central Asia, the Caucasus and Turkey”
Featuring:
- Anthony Bowyer, Program Manager, Caucasus and Central Asia, International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES);
- Ambassador John E. Herbst, Director, Center for Complex Operations, (CCO), Institute for National Strategic Studies, National Defense University;
- Halil Karaveli, Senior Fellow, Central Asia-Caucasus Institute & Silk Road Studies Program Joint Center; Managing Editor, the Turkey Analyst;
- Ambassador Ross L. Wilson, Director, Dinu Patriciu Eurasia Center, the Atlantic Council; Professor, George Washington University.
Monday, April 11, 5-7 p.m, in the Rome Auditorium, 1st Fl., Rome Building of SAIS, Johns Hopkins University, 1619 Massachusetts Avenue, N.W. Washington, DC 20036.
A view of the site where Istanbul's new financial district will be built.
This photo essay is likely to be especially interesting to neweurasia’s business-minded readers. Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) is trying to establish Istanbul as a global financial center similar to New York, London, and Shanghai. Experts I spoke with recently explained that the city is currently a “regional diversified” global financial center. This means that it is serves the surrounding countries, such as those in the Balkans, the Middle East, and Central Asia.
The Turks have been trying to up their business in Central Asia. Due to the bureaucratic nature of Central Asia, it’s been slow going, but the Turks won’t be deterred. The goal of the new financial center is to attract investment to Turkey and also increase the country’s importance as a hub from where companies can spread out across the region. There are direct flights from Istanbul to numerous Central Asia cities and the Turks want to become the people that lead the way to business there.
The Asia Society, founded in 1956 by John D. Rockefeller III, has announced that it’s accepting applicants to its prestigious Bernard Schwartz Fellows Program:
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