Turan Tales

This week we're joined by Diora Rafieva, an Uzbekistani lawyer and human rights activist who has been at the frontline of the fight to save Samarkand and its architectural and social heritage from the ongoing demolitions - and bad taste. Get full access to Turan Tales at turantales.substack.com/subscribe

They came to Russia for work, not war. Yet thousands of Central Asian migrants now fight in Ukraine - drawn in by promises, pushed by pressure, and caught in a stark imbalance of power. This story is part of our new series of audio features - also available as long reads - made possible by the International Press Institute. If you enjoy it, leave us a comment or reply to this email with your feedb...

In this week's episode, we'll try to answer the question of whether Turkmenistan is on the path to reform. Joining us is Ruslan Myatiev, a Turkmen journalist, and the founder and editor of Turkmen.news - an independent media and human rights organisation based in the Netherlands that focuses on Turkmenistan. Get full access to Turan Tales at turantales.substack.com/subscribe

This week on TURAN TALK we trace the history of US relations with Central Asia through the experiences of Daniel Rosenblum - a former US ambassador to Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, and a long-time expert on the region. Get full access to Turan Tales at turantales.substack.com/subscribe

This week, we’re looking into a fascinating and often misunderstood topic: witchcraft, clairvoyance, fortune telling, and other spiritual practices popular in Tajikistan and the rest of Central Asia. Joining us is Dr Anna Cieślewska, a social anthropologist and orientalist at the Institute of Ethnology and Cultural Anthropology at the University of Łódź in Poland. Get full access to Turan Tales at...

This week, we’re talking about uyat and Central Asia’s culture of shame. Joining us is Dr. Hélène Thibault, Associate Professor of Political Science at Nazarbayev University in Astana. Get full access to Turan Tales at turantales.substack.com/subscribe

Astana has risen from the steppe as a city of glass, steel, and soaring ambition - a capital built to embody a nation’s dreams. But can a dream live up to its promise? Support Turan Tales with a paid subscription at: turantales.substack.com/subscribe Get full access to Turan Tales at turantales.substack.com/subscribe

This week, we’re talking to Uzbekistan’s most prominent writer, Hamid Ismailov. He is a longtime BBC and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty journalist, and the author of numerous works of fiction and poetry in several languages. He is the recipient of the EBRD Literature Prize for his novel The Devils’ Dance – sometimes called “an Uzbek Game of Thrones.” His latest novel, We Computers , has been the...

Our guest this week is one of the most fascinating contemporary scholars from Kazakhstan and the author of What Does It Mean to Be Kazakhstani - Diana Kudaibergen , a cultural and political sociologist and Lecturer in Central Asian Politics and Society at University College London. Get full access to Turan Tales at turantales.substack.com/subscribe

Hi all, Our guest today once shared with me a fascinating story. Back in 1981, when the Uzbek pop group Yalla was touring Uzbekistan, they passed through the town of Uchkuduk — a name worthy of a song. Yurii Entin, one of the band’s lyricists, supposedly wrote it in just 40 minutes. Little did he know that his quick scribbles would go on to make history in Uzbek and Soviet pop music. Uchkuduk , a...

Hi all, I’m writing and recording this week’s intro from my new home in Almaty. The weather is perfect, as it so often is in late summer. I spend my days getting to know my neighborhood, walking my dog, meeting friends old and new, and writing. I’m very grateful to be back in Central Asia after almost four years in Europe. I hope Almaty will be a good host for me — and for Turan Tales . If any of...

The Caspian Sea is shrinking, its shores littered with seal carcasses. For scientist Assel Baimukanova, each one tells the story of an ecosystem on the brink. Get full access to Turan Tales at turantales.substack.com/subscribe

This week, we’re taking a deeper look at Central Asia’s postcolonial legacy and how Russia’s centuries-long influence has shaped ways of thinking, institutions, and everyday life in the region. Russian colonisation of Central Asia began in the early 1800s and expanded steadily throughout the 19th century. Following the Russian Revolution, most of Central Asia was incorporated into the Soviet Union...

This week we are revisiting the legacy of one of the most important figures who shaped Central Asia following the collapse of the Soviet Union: Nursultan Nazarbayev, the former president of Kazakhstan. Born in 1940, Nazarbayev served as Kazakhstan’s first president from 1991 until 2019, when he stepped down and transferred power to Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, then Chairman of the Senate – and the curre...

According to the Russian Interior Ministry, there are about 10.5 million people from Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Kyrgyzstan working in the country. It has long been clear that they experience derogatory treatment, humiliation, and racism on a daily basis. The situation has further deteriorated since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. In September of that year, the Duma – Rus...

A boy on the screen, 12-year-old Yersultan, cries in a rare emotional outburst against his father. “What am I, just cattle you can give away?” he asks, tears streaming down his chubby cheeks. His father is confused. Moments earlier, he was furious, angered by his son’s poor school performance and lack of the skills needed to survive the harsh rural life. But Yersultan’s outburst softens his tough...

This week, we’re exploring the issue of energy deficiency in the region and how best to address it. Joining us is Anatole Boute, Professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. I asked him whether nuclear power is the right path for Central Asia, what needs to be done to improve access to cheap and clean energy, and whether Central Asian states are ready to cooperate in this vital sector. Get fu...

This week we’re looking at an important regional story: cotton, or “oq oltin” (“white gold”), as Uzbeks call it. From forced labour in Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan to the shrinking of the Aral Sea, we explore what’s changed, what hasn’t, and whether the region’s cotton is finally becoming ethical. Joining us is Umida Niyazova, head and founder of the Uzbek Forum for Human Rights, who has been monit...

In this week’s episode, joining us is a person who knows the Kyrgyz system inside out: Rinat Tuhvatshin, the co-founder and current Chief Technology Officer of Kloop -- Kyrgyzstan's leading investigative media outlet. I have asked him about the recent arrests of Kloop’s collaborators, the founding of Kloop and how the situation in Kyrgyzstan has been changing over the years. Get full access to Tur...

Meerim still remembers the price her husband paid for luring her to his village. It was 1964 and her freedom was worth 80 roubles – equivalent to a plane ticket from Moscow to Bratsk, a “Sputnik” bicycle, a pair of winter shoes or coat in a Bishkek store, or, with luck, a pair of black-market jeans. Get full access to Turan Tales at turantales.substack.com/subscribe

This week, we’ll be looking at the recent complaint filed against Tajikistan with the International Criminal Court by several groups, including the Islamic Renaissance Party — Tajikistan’s main opposition group operating in exile. The complainants allege that, over the years, Tajikistan has committed crimes against humanity, including torture, rape, extrajudicial executions, enforced disappearance...

This week, we’re exploring the archaeological excavations China has carried out in recent years in Central Asia—particularly in Uzbekistan—and the possible motivations behind these digs. Joining us is a special guest: Temur Umarov , a fellow at the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Centre who specialises in China–Central Asia relations. I spoke with him about how to interpret China’s interest in the region’...

Alexey Vinokurov never wanted to leave his hometown, Yakutsk, the coldest city on earth. Nested in Russia’s Siberia within the Republic of Sakha, it lies over 8,000 kilometres from Moscow and only 450 kilometres from the Arctic Circle. He found everything he needed there: a comfortable job as a graphic designer, a loving family, and lifelong friendships. But when Russia invaded Ukraine, his life u...

The Jadids - Muslim modernists purged by Stalin, reclaimed by Uzbekistan. TURAN TALK with Adeeb Khalid, Professor of Asian Studies and History at Carleton College Get full access to Turan Tales at turantales.substack.com/subscribe

Over the past few weeks, Central Asia has hosted several important events. First, Presidents of Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan – Emomali Rahmon and Sadyr Japarov – met in Bishkek to sign a border delimitation deal which ended years of conflict over water resources and land. Then, the two officials – joined by Uzbekistan’s President Shavkat Mirziyoyev – travelled to Khujand in northern Tajikistan, close...