Tag Archives: Eurasia

Religion + Belief

Russia News | Muslims

Russian Muslim converts feel the sting of Islamophobia as the government cracks down on the community
  • Among Russia’s 16 to 20 million Muslims are ethnic Russians who have converted to Islam for reasons ranging from marriage to economics to theology.
  • Because converts are statistically more likely to convert to more conservative sects of Islam, the government cracks down on their activity, causing many to emigrate to Turkey, the UAE, and, for the radicalized, the Islamic State.
  • The deep historical roots of the Russian Orthodox Church in the country has led to a post-Soviet national identity centered on the faith, which has led to an association of religious conversion with anti-Kremlin activity.

“Lawyers who were to speak about our problem with the authorities, they said that the first thing to do was to explain to the Turkish government that there is a group of ethnic Russian Muslims, because no one has the slightest idea of this.  We know Tatars, Chechens; we know that Dagestanis of various ethnicities are killed, but that there are suppressed Russians and that you actually have a large ethnic group, we don’t know about this.”

Read the full story at the New York Times.

(Image Credit: Sergey Ponomarev/The New York Times)

Nationality + Migration

Turkey News | Korean & Chinese

Turkish nationalists attack group of Korean tourists in Istanbul, believing them to be Chinese
  • Members of the Istanbul chapter of Ülkü Ocaklari, a far-right Turkish nationalist group, broke off from demonstrations in solidarity against China’s treatment of its Muslim Uyghur minority to attack the tourists at the Topkapi Palace.
  • The Koreans had been at the popular tourist attraction as part of a tour group, and police quickly dispersed the attackers using tear gas.
  • Turkey has summoned its Chinese ambassador to discuss concerns over China’s constraint of Uyghur’s religious freedom, which has led to tension and violence in Xinjiang in the northwest of China.

Read the full story at the Hurriyet Daily News.

Nationality + Migration, Race + Color + Ethnicity

Turkey News | Chinese & Associates

Istanbul Chinese restaurant attacked during demonstrations against China’s treatment of Uyghur Muslims
  • Despite being owned by a Turkish man and employing a Uyghur cook, Happy China became a target of protesters’ anger.
  • The owner said that he will be closing the restaurant, which he opened after saving money for 25 years as a tour guide.

“Our customers are Indonesian Muslims in general. We work with Far East Asian people. Only a tiny portion of our customers are made up of Chinese customers. We do not serve alcoholic drinks. Although we work with Muslims, an attack like this has occurred.”

Read the full story at the Hurriyet Daily News.

(Image Credit: DHA photo, via the Hurriyet Daily News)

Nationality + Migration

Turkey News | Syrian Youth

Syrian university student population in Turkey experiences nearly eight-fold increase over four-year period
  • The total number of Syrian students in Turkish higher education has increased from 608 to 4,597 since 2011, according to Turkey’s Higher Education Board (YÖK).
  • The board has allowed for seven Turkish universities to accept Syrian students as “special students,” waiving the need for the documentation usually necessary for admission, and later allowing for students with full documentation to transfer as undergraduates.
  • Education Minister Nabi Avci announced in May the creation of a university in the Gaziantep province that would primarily accept Syrian students.

Read the full story at Sunday’s Zaman.

(Image Credit: Cihan/Sunday’s Zaman)

Sexual + Gender Minorities

Turkey News | LGBT

Istanbul Pride attendees dispersed by police with water cannon and rubber bullets as governor calls off event
  • Plans to march along Istanbul’s Istikal Avenue near Taksim Square quickly evaporated as police swarmed the marchers preparing for the Sunday evening parade, leading to several detentions.
  • The governor denied permission for the event citing Ramadan, despite the parade having taken place in the past.
  • The event has grown from 30 participants in 2003 to around 50,000 in 2013, considered to be the largest of its kind in the Muslim world.

“These people do not hurl stones and they never would. They do not throw petrol bombs. They just ask for a legal recognition. … This summarizes what has been happening in Turkey. Any request for rights is met like this.”

Read the full stories at Hurriyet News Daily and Reuters.

(Image Credit: Kemal Aslan/Reuters)

Religion + Belief
Turkish Jewish community hosts 700 for fast-breaking dinner during Ramadan
  • The iftar was held in appreciation for community support in the rebuilding and restoration of the historic Edirne synagogue, which reopened in late March.
  • Originally built in 1907 following a fire that wiped out 13 of the city’s synagogues, the Great Synagogue has become one of Europe’s landmark synagogues.
  • There had been controversy surrounding the reopening following the provincial governor’s announcement that it would be turned into a museum following a military raid on an Israeli mosque, but he later retracted those remarks.

“We thought that the most convenient way to thank people in Edirne was to share an iftar meal with them. We thank them all very much. We returned to Edirne and found a more beautiful home than our own.”

Read the full story at the Hurriyet Daily News.

(Image Credit: via the Hurriyet Daily News)

Nationality + Migration
Thousands of refugees return to Syria from Turkey after Syrian Kurds oust the Islamic State from border town
  • Tight border security at Turkey’s border with Syria has limited crossings, but the victory in Tel Abyad allowed for a gate reopening permitting more than 2,000 refugees to return.
  • More than 23,000 Syrians had entered Turkey earlier in the month, according to Turkish officials.
  • The Kurdish YPG militia has encouraged the returns, guaranteeing safety in the towns they have recaptured.

Read the full story at Reuters.

Sexual + Gender Minorities
Anti-gay sentiment in Kyrgyzstan has complex cultural and geopolitical roots in the evolution of Russian-Western relations
  • Journalists, researchers, and advocates attempt to tease out the causes of expanding anti-gay sentiment in the country as Kyrgyz legislators debate bills looking to limit international influence and gay rights.
  • Kyrgyzstan’s strategic location in Central Asia has led to an ongoing tug-of-war between the U.S. and Russia for influence in the region, with the latter’s hardline conservative stance against the LGBT community seen as influencing Kyrgyzstan’s current social landscape.
  • Gay rights’ status as a symbol of Western cultural imperialism in the region has allowed for the marriage of anti-gay and nationalist interests, with “gay propaganda” serving as a catch-all for the influence of international interests.

“People are confronting a changing world, they can’t understand it and they respond by returning to the values of their grandmothers and grandfathers. … And these events around Russia the last year and half have only increased this sensation of unpredictability, tension. And, conservatism, reliance on patriotism, this wounded sense of pride, is a very convenient basis for political games.”

Read the full story at Al Jazeera America.

(Image Credit: Vyacheslav Oseledko/AFP/Getty Images, via Al Jazeera America)

Nationality + Migration
Google VP has high praise for Russian engineers, while domestic Russian firms lament lack of resources
  • Mohammad Gawdat, Google’s VP of Business Innovation at Google X, calls Russians Google’s best engineers at economic forum in St. Petersburg.
  • According to Gawdat, Russians account for 25% of Google’s engineers.
  • Deputy Prime Minister Olga Golodets, however, says that domestic companies are suffering as tech profits and talent head overseas.

Read the full story at Meduza.

Ideology + Affiliation, Nationality + Migration, Religion + Belief
Muslim Azerbaijani athletes receive waiver for Ramadan as they compete in the European Games
  • Azerbaijan, a predominantly Shia Muslim country, has 285 athletes competing in the Games, which the country is hosting.
  • Local clerics issued a fatwa excusing athletes from the period of abstention from food, drink, and sex during daylight hours.
  • The Games have brought unwanted negative attention to Azerbaijan, where political dissidents have faced aggressive crackdowns and rights violations.

“To make sure that the valiant Islamic sportsman is stronger than his competitor in the month of Ramadan, he cannot observe oruj [fast]. … To defeat a competitor on a sports field, to defend the honor of your country and raise the flag of your homeland is important and pleases God.”

Read the full story at EurasiaNet.

Nationality + Migration
Contracting economic prospects and increasing restrictions are driving Central Asian migrant workers from Moscow.
  • As Russia slides into recession, large net decreases in foreign populations have indicated flight from the country and fewer attempting to enter.
  • New requirements including acquisition of a work “patent,” an advance tax, medical examinations, and a test on Russian language, culture, and history have set significant new administrative and financial obstacles for migrant laborers.
  • The article highlights Kyrgyz workers, who face social isolation, discrimination, and barriers to service access.

“If America was next door, [migrants] would all leave…But what’s next door is Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, where the level of living is lower and there are no jobs. There’s nowhere to go.”

More on this story at The Guardian.

(Image Credit: Denis Sinyakov/Reuters, via The Guardian)

Gender, Race + Color + Ethnicity, Religion + Belief, Sexual + Gender Minorities
Turkey’s parliamentary elections sees AKP lose majority, pro-minority Kurdish HDP win representation for the first time, and numerous victories for minority candidates.
  • While the AKP won the largest parliamentary share with 41%, HDP crossed the threshold of representation with around 13% of the vote, winning 80 seats in the parliament.
  • While the HDP has largely been defined by the Kurds it represents, it also opened up to all those marginalized by the party in power, including women, religious minorities, LGBT citizens, and other ethnic minorities.
  • The new parliament will see a record 96 women and its first Yazidi and Roma MPs, and the HDP also put forth the first openly gay candidate for office.
  • The momentum for the HDP grew out of 2013’s Gezi Park demonstrations, where protesters rallied against the government’s perceived encroachment on the country’s secularism.

“Turks and Kurds are well ahead of the political leaders of the country, and they have a lot of expectations of the democratic process that they have well bought into…This is a very impressive outcome. It shows that Turkey is going through an important political maturing process, and that an increasing number of people are interested in a pluralistic society.”

More on this story at The Guardian.

(Image Credit: Bulent Kilic/AFP/Getty Images, via The Guardian)

Sexual + Gender Minorities
Clashes erupt between marchers and ultra-right nationalists at Pride march in Kiev.
  • Nine (including five police officers) were injured among the 300 marching in the parade.
  • The march was only the second of its kind in Ukraine’s post-Soviet era.
  • President Petro Poroshenko had stated earlier that while he would not be attending, the marchers were constitutionally guaranteed the right to march and should not be disrupted.

More on this story at VICE.

(Image Credit: Roman Pilipey/EPA, via VICE)

Race + Color + Ethnicity
In the hangover following Kyrgyzstan’s interethnic violence of 2010, the Uzbek minority still smarts from persecution.
  • While prominent Uzbek activists remain imprisoned from the period, few ethnic Kyrgyz have been prosecuted for their role in the violence that left more than 400 dead and 80,000 displaced.
  • The government has been largely silent on ethnic segregation and discrimination, believing silence to be the road to reconciliation.
  • Concern persists that political leaders will use nationalistic, anti-Uzbek sentiment to drum up support ahead of elections.

“The problem is not just residential segmentation, it is also cultural: apart from the bazaar, there are few inter-communal links between Kyrgyz and Uzbeks.”

More on this story at EurasiaNet.

(Image Credit: David Trilling, via EurasiaNet)

Sexual + Gender Minorities

Turkey sees its first openly gay candidate run for political office as provincial candidate for the pro-Kurdish, minority-friendly HDP (People’s Democratic Party).  More from PinkNews.