KZBlog

An American expat living in Astana, Kazakhstan

Tag archive for ‘CIS’

  • More Western Interference in Central Asia

    Ferghana news reports that the Duma discussed preventing revolutions in Central Asia. In a closed session, members of the Russian parliament identified the possibility of popular uprisings or “North African syndrome” as a potential security threat to Russia. According to the report, Nadezhda Gerasimova, deputy chairperson of the Duma, believes that the best way to […]

    4/16/11 • (Comments Off on More Western Interference in Central Asia)

  • Peace in Kygryzstan

    A PSA being run on CNN and other international channels. It’s in Russian but basically the people are holding signs showing their various ethnicities. And they are saying things like, “My children were born here” and “I develop science in Kyrgyzstan.” It’s a nice message and though I gather it’s designed more to prevent the […]

    6/23/10 • (Comments Off on Peace in Kygryzstan)

  • Yes Virginia, Prices are Going Up Again

    Yes Virginia, Prices are Going Up Again

    Rosbalt, a Russian business news site, is reporting that due to the customs union which will be adapted on 1 Jan 2010, Kazakhstan will correct 50% of customs tariffs [RU]. The article is short so I’ll reproduce it here, in my translation. In preparation for the work of the Customs Union (Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan), […]

    12/20/09 • (2)

  • Disabled People Suffer

    Disabled People Suffer

    There was a sad article the other day in Eurasianet about problems faced by disabled in Kyrgyzstan. I post it here because unfortunately many of the same problems exist in Kazakhstan. After doing a bit of research on the subject, I see there’s still a lot of work to be done to integrate disabled people […]

    11/24/09 • (3)

  • Customs Union Means Higher Prices?

    Customs Union Means Higher Prices?

    The Customs Union which is likely to come into force in January of 2010 between Belarus, Kazakhstan and Russia has not been getting a lot of press in Kazakhstan. Lukashenko, President of Belarus recently made some interesting comments on the Union, criticizing the fact that there has been no good analysis on whether or not […]

    11/19/09 • (2)

  • In Soviet Russia Philosophy Hurts You

    According to The Moscow Times: A debate between philosophers at an international forum ended in a fistfight Monday that left two people slightly injured, Interfax reported. A woman and man were injured in the fight at the International Philosophical Forum, held in the House of Scientists of the Russian Academy of Sciences on Ulitsa Prechistenka. […]

    11/17/09 • (2)

  • Proof that Apples Do Come from Kazakhstan

    Proof that Apples Do Come from Kazakhstan

    Oxford University has just published research demonstrating that apples really did originate in Kazakhstan, by tracing genes in apples. The Story of the Apple, by Dr Barrie Juniper describes his research. He also notes that sadly due to Soviet policies and a focus on the oil economy, the apple forests of Kazakhstan are all but […]

    8/25/09 • (Comments Off on Proof that Apples Do Come from Kazakhstan)

  • Oral History

    A great website Central Asia History, which consists of oral interviews with people from Kyrgyzstan, particularly focusing on older people and the early years of the Soviet Union, World War I, the settlement of nomadic people, World War II/the Great Patriotic War, and life now. It’s extremely interesting to read and I’d love to see […]

    5/19/09 • (Comments Off on Oral History)

  • A Kyrgyz/Austrian/Russian blog

    Toktali is a blog written by a Kyrgyzstani who is currently living in Austria. It’s an interesting and nice looking blog with most posts in both German and English. It also has a post on one of the stories I neglected to post on here: Tourists Buy Nuclear Waste as a Souvenir! As Toktali writes: […]

    5/14/09 • (Comments Off on A Kyrgyz/Austrian/Russian blog)

  • Manas Airbase

    The world news has covered this story pretty well. The President of Kyrgyzstan announced on a trip to Russia a few weeks ago that he would revoke the rights for the NATO airbase in Manas which has been serving coalition troops in Afghanistan. The US government responded with surprise as they had heard nothing before […]

    2/18/09 • (Comments Off on Manas Airbase)