Happily, it came to my attention that a new blog about Kyrgyzstan and Central Asia more generally, Nomadistan, came online last week.

The Nomads (as I’m christening them) include locals and foreigners, who are united by their aim of providing

insightful, sometimes humorous, sometimes serious commentary on the past, present, and future of this fascinating country and region. […] Using sources from print, broadcast and online media in multiple languages, as well as our writers’ own firsthand experiences, Nomadistan’s unique voice will serve as the opening line of an open dialogue with our readers - a dialogue we hope will be broadened and transformed by your comments, questions, and criticisms. [Taken from About Nomadistan]

Certainly first impressions are very positive: there have been well-written posts about Nurlan Motuev running for Ombudsman, a Friday’s Photo post (a la neweurasia’s Kazkakhstan blog) featuring our own Kyrgyz-language Bridge Blogger Mirsulzhan, a summary of a recent lecture on political transition at the American University and, most recently, inostranka wondering about some of Bishkek’s more eclectic architecture.

One post that is most undoubtedly worthy of a far wider audience is bryanjon’s in-depth article about responses to the brutal murders of Kyrgyz citizens in Russia. As he explains,

To anyone familiar with the recent history of ethnic minorities in Russia, this recent spate of violence against Kyrgyz citizens, even given its disturbingly vicious character, is no great surprise; what is more newsworthy is that the social infrastructure of the Kyrgyz community is standing up for its rights and demanding action from the Russian authorities. Invoking the ghosts of the thousands upon thousands of Kyrgyz killed fighting for Russia’s freedom during the Second World War, the two-page letter presents a poetic argument for Russian society’s need to confront the neo-fascist demon growing within its midst - a demon that is emerging fewer than 65 years after the Red Army marched triumphantly into Berlin to end the reign of the Third Reich.

neweurasia will be interviewing the Nomads in the reasonably near future to find out more about these new and very welcome entrants to the Central Asian blogosphere. In the mean time, head over to Nomadistan and have a look (and a comment) for yourself.