Tag Archives: Eurasia

Nationality + Migration, Race + Color + Ethnicity

Tajikistan & Russia News | Tajiks

Tajiks with aspirations of working in Russia face constricted opportunities as Russian language education dwindles
  • The Tajikistani government has asked for more Russian-language teachers from Russia to reinforce Tajikistan’s crumbling language education.
  • Russia’s new language requirements stymie economic opportunity in a country that sees more than 80% of its able-bodied population working abroad, with 1 million documented in Russia (and an unknown number of undocumented Tajik workers).
  • Poor digital infrastructure has inhibited distance-learning opportunities and Russian teachers have been reluctant to travel to the former Soviet nation, leading Tajiks to lose out to better-educated Kyrgyz workers with fewer political barriers.

“If we are healthy in future, God willing, I want to send him to Russia to study, because there is no hope for Tajik education. … At least, he will be able to work in Russia without too much trouble. I don’t think that by the time my son grows up, jobs will have been created in Tajikistan.”

Read the full story at EurasiaNet.

(Image Credit: David Trilling/EurasiaNet)

Ideology + Affiliation

Kazakhstan News | Journalists

Three-month suspension of independent magazine in Kazakhstan raises press freedom alarms
  • Adam (Person) magazine, known for its critique of President Nursultan Nazarbayev’s administration, was handed a three-month suspension by the government for publishing only in Russian when it claimed to publish in both the Russian and Kazakh languages.
  • Press freedom watchdogs claim such bureaucratic tactics are frequently used to shutter independent journalism, with Kazakhstan sitting at 160th among the 177 countries ranked by Reporters Without Borders.
  • The suspension follows a libel conviction likely to bankrupt an independent journalist for reporting on alleged corruption in the city of Almaty’s construction industry.

“In Kazakhstan the closure of any media outlet is a matter decided by political bodies. … Of course this is connected to politics.”

Read the full story at EurasiaNet.

Other

Russia Feature | Adoptive Families

The Assisted Families of Russia

Image Credit: Irina Yakobson/The Moscow Times
Image Credit: Irina Yakobson/The Moscow Times

The Moscow Times delves into the intricate process of adoption in Russia, highlighting the legal and psychological challenges faced in a country that sees relatively high levels of adoption, but also high failure and dissolution rates. Couples discuss their attempts to celebrate their families and increase the visibility of adoption in Russia as the nation closes many of its doors to international adoption.

Read the full feature at The Moscow Times.

Ideology + Affiliation

Turkey News | Journalists

VICE reporters face terrorism charges in Turkey
  • Four journalists affiliated with VICE News –two British, one locally based, and one unknown–were detained by Turkish anti-terrorism forces for covering the conflict between the government and the Kurdistan Worker’s Party (PKK).
  • The journalists had their equipment seized after they filming clashes between police and PKK supporters.
  • Because Turkey considers the PKK a terrorist organization, the government has obstructed the work of journalists attempting to contact or cover the group.

“It is completely proper that that journalists should cover this important story. … The decision to detain the journalists was wrong, while the allegation of assisting Islamic state is unsubstantiated, outrageous and bizarre.”

Read the full story at BuzzFeed News.

(Image Credit: Ilyas Akengin/AFP/ Getty Images)

Uncategorized

ClimateWatch: Eurasia

ClimateWatch periodically analyzes the security climates of the world’s regions, focusing on conditions and developments affecting the most vulnerable identity communities while highlighting meaningful political and social steps towards security and integration. This week’s Eurasian report summarizes developments in identity security from late July through mid-August.

Continue reading ClimateWatch: Eurasia →

Age, Health + Ability, Ideology + Affiliation

Azerbaijan News | Dissident Seniors

1 Comment
Senior Azerbaijani rights activists sentenced to prison terms despite ailing health
  • Leyla Yunus, 59, and her husband Arif, 60, were sentenced to eight-and-a-half and seven-year prison terms, respectively, after on charges including tax fraud, illegal entrepreneurship, and treason.
  • Rights advocates argue that the couple were targeted for their human rights advocacy, with numerous other activists and journalists having been recently imprisoned as well.
  • The Yunuses suffer from diabetes, hypertension, and kidney problems, worrying family and friends about their health prospects while incarcerated.

“If there were irregularities in [the] way Yunus ran her groups, the government could have pursued them through noncriminal measures. … But instead the authorities arrested them and went directly to criminal charges, despite their age and ill health.”

Read the full story at BuzzFeed News and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.

(Image Credit: Facebook, via BuzzFeed News)

Ideology + Affiliation

Kazakhstan News | Dissident Workers

1 Comment
Kazakhstan police detain protesters attempting to launch an anti-corruption demonstration
  • Around 10 protesters were rounded up in the street and carried away to detention by police.
  • The demonstrators identified themselves as construction workers protesting the exclusion of construction firms from the market by the government.
  • Rights watchdogs have criticized the country for widespread corruption and intolerance of dissent

Watch the Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty report on YouTube.

Gender

Armenia News | Women

1 Comment
Armenian ministry proposes ban on sex-selective abortion along with additional restrictions
  • The Ministry of Health submitted the bill to parliament at the beginning of July, hoping to become the first country to enact the protective measure in the South Caucasus.
  • The ban would require doctor’s consent for all abortions between the 12th and 22nd weeks of pregnancy and would require counseling and a three-day waiting period.
  • One estimate puts the number of sex-selective abortions at 2,000 per year, producing a male-to-female birth ratio of 114 to 100, the third highest in the world.

“Having a son is one of the most important issues for many Armenian families, and I highly doubt that it will be possible to get results [and end selective abortions] by using prohibitions.”

Read the full story at EurasiaNet.

(Image Credit: Anahit Hayrapetyan/EurasiaNet)

Ideology + Affiliation, Race + Color + Ethnicity

Turkey News | Left-wing Kurds

1 Comment
Turkey blocks pro-Kurdish and left-wing websites as military action ramps up
  • The Telecommunications Directorate, Turkey’s official Internet-monitoring organization, targeted websites from Turkey and Iraq in the shutdown following the murder of two police officers by the Kurdistan Workers’ Party.
  • Although officials denied involvement, Internet users also reported a slowdown in access to Facebook and Twitter, the latter of which was last blocked for two hours on July 22 after an Islamic State attack on the southern town of Suruc.
  • To date, more than 81,000 websites have been blocked in Turkey following the March passage of a law enabling removal or blockage of an online publication for national security.

Read the full story at the Hurriyet Daily News.

(Image Credit: via Hurriyet Daily News)

Age, Gender

Turkmenistan News | Male Youth

1 Comment
Turkmenistan cuts study abroad for boys to expand military conscription
  • As conflict in Afghanistan threatens to spill into Turkmenistan, the Turkmen government has ended sponsorship for its male students to study abroad for college in order to broaden the conscription pool.
  • The majority of Turkmen youth get their university degrees abroad in countries like Ukraine and Belarus, with only a little more than 7,000 of its 100,000 annual high school graduates choosing to remain in the country for study.
  • Turkmenistan’s isolationist policies have severely crippled its education system, with ailments like rife corruption, poor financial planning, and the implementation of a compulsory 12-year education system only in 2013.

Read the full story at The Diplomat.

Race + Color + Ethnicity, Religion + Belief

Interregional Feature | Kazakhstani & Indonesian Jews

Asian Jews from Steppe to Sea

One the “bridge between Islamic and Jewish countries” and the other the largest Muslim nation in the world, Kazakhstan and Indonesia have strikingly different attitudes towards their Jewish communities.  While the former hosts the largest synagogue in Central Asia despite being a Muslim-majority country, the latter pushes Jewish religious expression to the margins and sees rampant, politically opportunistic anti-Semitism.  The Jakarta Post takes a comparative look at the conditions faced by Kazakhstani and Indonesian Jews.

Read the full feature at the Jakarta Post.

Ideology + Affiliation, Nationality + Migration

Russia News | Advocates

Aside
MacArthur Foundation closes shop in Russia following placement on government watchlist
  • The US-based NGO supporting academic freedom and human rights has operated in Russia since 1992, but a new
  • The organization’s departure comes amidst an ongoing crackdown on “foreign agents” by the Russian government, which has seen academics fined and deported and human rights groups’ operation permits revoked.
  • The anti-NGO law passed in May claims to target international organizations operating against the sovereignty and national security of Russia.

“The recent passage and implementation of several laws in Russia make it all but impossible for international foundations to operate effectively and support worthy civil society organisations in that country.”

Read the full story at The Guardian.

Nationality + Migration

Kazakhstan News | International Visitors

Kazakhstan extends visa-free travel to 19 countries
  • Following a successful pilot program over the past year, the Kazakh government has extended visa-free travel for up to 15 days to residents of Australia, Hungary, Italy, Monaco, Belgium, Spain, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Malaysia, the United Arab Emirates, Singapore, the United Kingdom, the United States, Germany, Finland, France, Switzerland and Japan.
  • Should residents desire to stay longer than 15 days, they will be required to reenter or obtain a visa.
  • The program will last through the end of 2017 and has been implemented as Kazakhstan plans to host two major international sporting and cultural events–Winter Universiade and Expo 2017–in the next two years.

Read the full story at Tengrinews.

(Image Credit: Infopass.ru, via Tengrinews)

Nationality + Migration

Turkey News | Uyghur Muslims

More than 170 Uyghurs resettled in Turkey following release from Thai detention camp
  • The 173 released–all Uyghur women and children–had been detained for more than a year by Thai immigration authorities.
  • The group is a part of a wave of ethnic Uyghurs fleeing their homeland in northwestern China because of the government’s crackdown on their culture and activities.
  • Those seeking exit from China rely on underground networks that take them through southeast Asia, where Thailand is a major node in smuggling routes.

“China deprives them of their human dignity, their human rights, and religious freedom in every possible way, so they head to Turkey to live like human beings.”

Read the full story at Radio Free Asia.

(Image Credit: Radio Free Asia)

Sexual + Gender Minorities

Turkey News | LGBT

LGB Turks facing outspoken opposition from political figures and call for their murder
  • The government crackdown on this year’s Istanbul Pride is the latest in a series of official condemnations of LGB organizing, advocacy, and inclusion.
  • A group called the Young Islamic Defense has been putting up posters around Ankara calling for the murder of LGB people.
  • Politicians including the president, prime minister, and MPs have denigrated the inclusive People’s Democratic Party (HDP), which won important victories in this year’s elections, and cast LGBT support as anti-Turkish and anti-Muslim.

“This country’s order might be secular, liberal democrat, etc. but no one should forget that the overwhelming majority of our society is Muslim, which accepts homosexuality as immoral, homosexuals who explain themselves cannot join the community of honorable and virtuous people, the ‘fault’ they have committed will be met with disgust as a shameful act. A Muslim cannot defend a regime that equates homosexuals with people of the faith.”

Read the full story at LGBTI News Turkey.

(Image Credit: via LGBTI News Turkey)