Caption of this photo from today's Dushanbe in the 1930s reads: "Stalinabad - the youngest capital of the youngest republic of the world" and was taken from Joshua Kunitz' "Dawn over Samarkand : the Rebirth of Central Asia" (1936).

There is no eternally evergreen piece quite like an article about Russia's divided opposition. Thanks to Dr Stephen Hall, Luke March + The Kyiv Independent kyivindependent.com/torn-apart-by-…

Uzbekistan has a distinct form of gender-based violence: abuse of and control over daughters-in-law. And in cases not too rare, the kelins pay with their lives adhering to tradition and values. my first article for Novastan English novastan.org/en/uzbekistan/…

Ancient Central Asian Language Dying Off As Villagers Leave For Better Life Fascinating read on Yaghnobi people Farangis Najibullah for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty w/reporting Радиои Озодӣ rferl.org/a/tajikistan-y…

Around 20 years ago, the Aral Sea — once the world’s fourth-largest saltwater lake — almost dried up in Central Asia. Because its source rivers were diverted to grow cotton in the desert. What's been happening since? You can read out about it on NPR apps.npr.org/aral-sea-shrin…

Of the many pieces I've seen on the Georgian elections, my favourite is this one from natalia antelava and Coda Story: "This is not a story of a rigged post-Soviet election, but rather the story of a larger, systemic game that has been rigged against us all." codastory.com/disinformation…

We launched our new English-language podcast about decolonial thought in Northern and Central Asia called YurtJurt! Listen to the first episode on all podcast apps and spread the word! Thank you Баштан Башта team 🙏❤️

Uzbekistan has experienced an unprecedented 97% increase in remittances from Poland, the largest growth among all sources. #Uzbekistan #Remittance daryo.uz/en/2024/10/31/…

I'm happy to share the fruit of months of work. The report "Beyond the Silk Road" provides a first analysis of 14 waves of public opinion surveys on #China in #CentralAsia (Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, over seven years (2017-2023). ca-barometer.org/en/publication…

My story, based on reporting across Moldova and Georgia, looks at how the fear of provoking Russia has led some voters to support political forces advocating for closer ties with Moscow theguardian.com/world/2024/nov…

Do you want an example that demonstratively shows the attitude of Navalny and their group towards the ethnic peoples inhabiting Russia? A very simple example. Navalny's book Patriot was published in all possible languages ​​of the peoples of Europe, but was not published in

Японка два года живет в узбекском селе: пишет диссертацию об узбекской культуре и хочет привезти домой юрту currenttime.tv/a/yaponka-dva-…

Hiking in Kyrgyzstan with Exodus Adventure Travels - read about Radhika Aligh’s latest Central Asian adventure in @EveningStandard. standard.co.uk/lifestyle/kyrg…

With 99.73% of the ballots processed, incumbent President Maia Sandu has triumphed in Moldova’s runoff election and secured another term in office, carried to victory by diaspora voters. buff.ly/4fyBUXw

Must-listen for #Uzbekistan lovers - a quixotic trip along the Silk Road with focus on ikat textiles + all things Uzbek by Ibrat Safo - journey starts at the fantastic Silk Roads exhibition on at the British Museum. Uzbekistan Tourism Ambassador Peter Frankopan bbc.co.uk/programmes/w3c…

Interesting oped in the FT about the moves in Central Asia to get out from under Russia's cultural shadow, while accepting the inevitability of strong political ties ft.com/content/8d193f…

This is why I prefer watching Central Asian elections. The polls close at 1900, and we have the results by three weeks before.

TKM migrants living abroad entangled in latest wave of repression perpetrated by #Berdimuhamedov regime. #Turkmenistan announces refusal to renew passports of its citizens living abroad to trigger mass wave of returns. Human Rights Watch's latest report looks into this: hrw.org/news/2024/11/1…

I am now on Bluesky as @sherkhashimov.bsky.social, please find me there.