The election campaign is in full swing, and all over Kyrgyzstan posters and billboards are promising a bright future for the country and its population. However, between the 12 parties currently running for Parliament, it is often difficult to get a grasp of what their actual political platform is. Slogans are a fine thing […]

A post for those who happened to be somewhere in the former Soviet Union in December 2006 - and for those who are easily moved by the Ghost of Pop Hits Past…

If there is one name more often on Kyrgyz lips than the names of former and current presidents Akayev and Bakiyev, it has to […]

(I’m a new author on this site, and although it’s been a while since New Year’s, I hope you’ll forgive me for posting an earlier story about what that particular day was like when 2007 came to Batken…)

In a far-off corner of Kyrgyzstan, the Mayor is facing a strange dilemma. The guest list is looking […]

Ask a Kyrgyz cab driver what the most pressing issue in his country might be, and he won’t bring up constitutional amendments. Nor will he start on the level of religious freedoms, or the lack of objective journalism. Easy to overlook, yet so depressingly obvious, the answer is always one and the same - […]