Apr 8, 2013
I first met him when he was a lanky 17-year-old with a shaven head, wide-set features, and a quiet voice that carried a hint of menace. He went by the name “Amed”, a pseudonym he chose as it was the Kurdish name for the city of Diyarbakır. It was 2010 and for the first time...
Apr 1, 2013
The (unregistered) Human Rights Alliance of Uzbekistan (HRAU) has reported, “On February 26, 2013, an activist of HRAU, Larisa Gregoryev and her 16 year-old son, Gregory Gregoryev, embarked on a hunger strike in protest against an outrage by the law-enforcement authorities of Uzbekistan. Policemen have tortured them, brought them to unfair criminal and administrative liability;...
Mar 25, 2013
In December 2011, the Georgian president announced—to widespread surprise—the construction of a new city on the coast of the Black Sea, to be called Lazika. As bulldozers rumbled to life in the middle of an immense swamp, the Georgian Constitution was amended to suit the occasion. NGOs pointed out the irrationality and lack of transparency...
Mar 18, 2013
Throughout Azerbaijan’s two decades of post-Soviet independence, relations between the country’s secular government and independent Islamic organizations have ranged from tenuous to openly hostile. However, following a steep deterioration in relations in recent years the Aliyev regime has taken steps ostensibly to revamp relations with Islamic organizations and improve its image among Azerbaijani believers. In...
Feb 25, 2013
The Cat and the Coup is a documentary videogame created by Peter Brinson and Kurosh ValaNejad. You can find their website, and the link through which to download the game for Mac or PC for free, here. Like any good documentarians, Brinson and ValaNejad make liberal use of artistic cues – visual and aural –...
Feb 18, 2013
Anyone who has traveled in rural Turkey as a foreigner has undoubtedly had the experience of being taken for a spy. Most likely, anyone who has ever expressed interest in Greek or Armenian ruins has also had the experience of being asked, first jokingly but then seriously, with the offer of a 50/50 split....
Feb 11, 2013
In connection with the breakdown of the autoloaders at the customs warehouse “Tovarka” (“Merchandise”) there is a critical situation there: people still have to wait in long lines and pay large amounts of money for loading their containers. Two entrepreneurs tell the details of the situation, on condition of anonymity. The Uzbek customs warehouse “Tovarka”...
Feb 4, 2013
The plot of land across the road from the Cevahir shopping mall in Istanbul’s Şişli neighbourhood is marked by high walls topped with barbed wire. In the daily hustle and bustle of shoppers that surround the area it is easy, expected even, for the casual passer-by to pay little attention to the whitewashed walls. I...
Jan 28, 2013
My plane from Dubai was tilting towards Peshawar when I started guessing places below; which city in the FATA or perhaps Balochistan would have such a wide radius of luminescence? Looking westward, I could see lights of airplanes flying in bulk over Afghanistan…the troop drawdown? The in-flight screen made me aware of the fact that...
Jan 21, 2013
Even at first glance, Aron Aronov has a demanding presence you can’t forget. He doesn’t stand very tall and he dresses in plain dark clothing, but there is something about the way he looks at you that is captivating. His gaze drills into your eyes, and he speaks rapidly, his furrowed brows moving in tune...
Jan 14, 2013
It is not just the families of the victims of the Uludere massacre who still feel the pain of their loss. The whole village is affected by the bombings, which occurred just over a year ago, on December 28, 2011. But the pain of the entire community can be seen in each of their stories....
Jan 7, 2013
“I was always at risk of being arrested by secret service agents. They hated independent journalists,” says Aida Eizeman, a former journalist from Uzbekistan. “There are eight journalists currently languishing in their dungeons. When they told me that they can easily imprison me, I left my homeland. I have lived as a refugee in Idaho. Now...
