Archive | Kazakhstan RSS feed for this section

Kazakhstan: Beating the Blockers!

15 Nov

Kazaxia has been working on a solution to beat the blockers in Kazakhstan and keep on blogging. With popular blog platforms such as WordPress and Blogspot blocked in the country alternatives needed to be found. A fellow blogger recommended www.blog.com, which is similar to WordPress but with some ads, and it seems to be working fine in Kazakhstan.

In future Kazaxia will be appearing on kazaxia.blog.com as well as kazaxia.wordpress.com. This means that our readership in Kazakhstan will be able to access the site without having to go through proxies.

There was an interesting article on eurasianet.org last week about the situation in Kazakhstan with regard to Internet freedom. The article looked at the recent spate of DDoS (Distributed Denial of Service) attacks in the country.

The article mentioned moving to platforms such as Blogspot – it’s a shame the authors didn’t do some research within Kazakhstan. Then they would have realised how pernicious the attacks on Internet freedom have become in Kazakhstan with a host of bloggers affected by the blocking of WordPress and Blogspot.

With parliamentary elections now called for January 15 in Kazakhstan, keep on checking out Kazaxia on the addresses mentioned above for information about the transition to democracy and to follow Lord Venal’s new observation adventures.

Tags: , , , , , ,

Blair Duped by Gaddafi Shocker

15 Nov

Recently unveiled advisor to the Kazakh government, Tony Blair, appears to have been misled by late Libyan dictator Colonel Gaddafi over promises to destroy stockpiles of chemical weapons.

According to The Guardian

The size of the stockpile – including mustard gas – suggests Gaddafi totally misled Tony Blair when he promised to destroy weapons of mass destruction in return for being brought back in from the diplomatic cold in 2004.

Only a few days ago Blair was still in denial about his dealings with Gaddafi

At the weekend Blair, speaking on BBC’s Andrew Marr Show, defended the British rapprochement with Gaddafi on the basis that he had abandoned his weapons of mass destruction.

The Kazakh authorities must be pleased about the millions being showered over Blair and his Dream Team of 1997. He was easily duped by Gaddafi so the Astanites should have no trouble in stringing Tony along and letting him spin their message for them – all in all, money well spent.

Astana seems to be infatuated with UK politicians having already employed the services of former jailbird Jonathan Aitken to write President Nursultan Nazarbayev’s biography. Who’s next on Astana’s shopping list – what about utilising the senile first lady of UK politics Margaret Thatcher?

Tags: , , , , ,

Kazakhstan: A short walk in the Ile-Alatau National Park

30 Oct

Kazaxia took advantage of some fine autumn weather last week to visit the Ile-Alatau National Nature Park to see how the people of Almaty like to commune with nature. The park is a short drive from the centre of the city and is popular with day-trippers.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

The foothills of the Tien Shan mountain range are still showing the ravages of a devastating storm in May which trashed loads of trees, providing rich pickings forKazakhstan’s lumberjacks, who are currently engaged in clearing the damage up.

The park is ostensibly a protected zone where building is not allowed, but this hasn’t stopped some bigwigs from commandeering a prime slice of the park for their own compound of four sizeable wooden mansions. The walled compound stands opposite the dilapidated housing of the Park Rangers making for a stark contrast of how the two halves live in Kazakhstan.

Sometimes, guards man the barriers at the park entrance to extort an ‘entrance fee’ to the park. Seeing the rubbish strewn all around the park, you can’t help but wonder what happens to all the park fees the guards collect.

Tags: , , , , , ,

Kazakhstan: WordPress still blocked

29 Oct

Kazaxia has been experiencing some problems posting in recent weeks because the WordPress platform continues to be sporadically blocked in Kazakhstan.

WordPress was blocked by ISPs in Kazakhstan earlier this year following a court ruling targeting two websites.  Access can be gained sometimes via Megaline, but WordPress remains blocked to AlmaTV subscribers.

Now here’s the good news – WordPress is not blocked in neighbouring Kyrgyzstan. Kazaxia is in Bishkek for the presidential elections so normal service can – temporarily – be resumed.

Look out for Lord Venal’s take on the elections in Kyrgyzstan later this week when he has had some time to collect his thoughts after a busy observation schedule.

Tags: , , ,

Kazakhstan: Building boom on Astana’s right bank

13 Oct

Kazakhstan’s snazzy new capital Astana is starting to spread its tentacles into the decaying  Soviet-era heartland on the right bank of the River Ishim as the building boom, which stalled a few years ago, seems to be taking off once again.

A last remnant of Astana's rapidly disappearing old town

While intense  efforts were focused on President Nazarbayev’s dream city on the left bank of the River Ishim, the old Tsarist buildings and Soviet blocks of Tselinograd, as was, were mostly left untouched after a rash of government buildings were put up in the late 90s in the old town.

Now all that is changing rapidly.  With land prices picking up once again, the developers have started clearing away swathes of one-storey houses which were once formed the outskirts of Tselinograd.

The tumbledown low-rise houses with their blue shutters and leafy gardens are rapidly being replaced by hulking skyscrapers that dwarf even the Soviet blocks.

The emerging face of Astana's right bank

It was only a matter of time before the village-like district, complete with stand pipes for water,  was consigned to history. In the brave new world of Astana  there’s no room for sentiment when there’s pots of money to be made.

Tags: , , , , ,

Kazakhstan holds Austria

12 Oct

Kazakhstan pressure Austria with a rare corner at the Astana Arena

Kazakhstan ended its Euro 2012 qualification campaign on a relative high-note as it held Austria to a 0-0 draw in Astana on 11 October. Coming on the back of a 4-1 thrashing in Belgium, Kazakhstan did well to keep a clean sheet against the Austrians who were fresh from beating Azerbaijan 4-1 in Baku.

New boss Miroslav Beranek can take heart from the team’s performance as it nearly snatched victory over a lacklustre Austria. The Kazakhs came closest to scoring with a header from Sergei Ostapenko that hit the crossbar in the 74th minute.

Kazakhstan still finished 3 points adrift of Azerbaijan at the bottom of group A. Attention now turns to the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, although Kazakhstan face an uphill task as it is paired once again with Germany and Austria. With Sweden and Ireland also in the group, Kazakhstan’s best hope may be to overhaul the Faroe Islands and avoid the wooden spoon.

Tags: , , , ,

Kazakhstan: The vexed question of language

8 Oct

There’s not too many issues that can get the people of Kazakhstan hot under the collar – the threat of Chinese expansion is one that springs to mind, another is the use of right-hand drive cars – but one sure-fire issue that can guarantee a good turnout at a rally is the vexed question of language.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Kazakh, the state and official language, still struggles to claim a dominant role in the country, with Russian still in widespread use in many spheres.

Last Sunday, October 2, around 1500 people turned up in warm, sunny conditions to protest in favour of the Kazakh language, with some calling for a clause in the constitution that gives Russian equal status for use in state bodies to be dropped.

The usual suspects were out in force from the world of nationalist politics and literature. Two hours of speeches ensued broken up by some poetry and performance by a boy-band. The age profile of the demo was predominantly the over 50s with a few families hanging around. Slavic features were conspicuous by their absence in the crowd.

Maybe if the organisers want to get their message to a wider audience, instead of speechifying from the stage they should try some new approaches. How about a rap competition in Kazkah or a poetry slam to appeal to young people? Piles of Kazakh language newspapers were scattered about for people to take home but what about some DVDs or books for kids – the next generation which can ensure the survival of Kazakh.

Refreshments were also absent from the proceedings – another missed opportunity – the crowd could have been fed with baursaki – fried dough balls – swilled down with kymys – fermented mares’ milk – provided it was ordered in Kazakh!

Tags: , , , , , ,

Thunderbird flying in to Kazakhstan?

30 Sep

When Kazaxia spotted this intriguing headline ‘Thunderbird expands to Kazakhstan‘, it immediately invoked distant memories of teenage parties and getting hammered on the notorious American drink Thunderbird. Described politely as ‘a low-end fortified wine’ this noxious mix of chemicals was well-known as a quick fire route to oblivion.

A bottle of Thunderbird in its natural setting (image taken from bumwine.com)

It was with interest that Kazaxia clicked on to the link to the headline – was this really an attempt by E&J Gallo Winery, the makers of this interesting drinking experience, to break the stranglehold of vodka and cheap port wine as the drink of choice for Kazakhstan’s down and outs?

Alas for Central Asia’s winos, it was not to be as this Thunderbird turned out to be merely a management training company. Or maybe not …

The bumwine website describes Thunderbird wine as

If your taste buds are shot, and you need to get trashed with a quickness, then “T-bird” is the drink for you.  Or, if you like to smell your hand after pumping gas, look no further than Thunderbird.  As you drink on, the bird soars higher while you sink lower.  

Kazaxia contacted Lord Venal on the subject of Thunderbird and he waxed lyrical about his misspent youth spent on park benches drinking the wino’s favourite tipple.

I vaguely remember climbing out of the window of my boarding school and making for the village shop where I’d buy a bottle of Thunderbird and proceed to get well and truly ratarsed.

recalled the sometime election observer.

When my eye started twitching, I decided it was time to call it a day and moved on to more respectable tipples.

The good lord expressed surprise that it was actually a training organisation and wondered whether it would be interested in funding a trip to monitor the upcoming elections in Kyrgyzstan, maybe in a tie-up with the E&J Gallo Winery?


Tags: , , , ,

Kazakhstan’s rock-aid for Afghanistan

29 Sep

Almaty-based rockers Eklektika are to fly the flag for Kazakhstan in Kabul at Sound Central, the first international rock festival to be held in Afghanistan, a country that does not normally spring to mind as a hotbed of rock music.

The festival brings together bands from Afghanistan and Central Asia, including District Unknown and Kabul Dreams from Afghanistan and Uzbekistan’s Tears of the Sun, for what is being described by the organisers as the world’s first ‘stealth concert’.

The highlight of the festival, a gala concert, is planned for early October but the location is being kept under wraps because of security concerns. Ticket-holders will be informed of the venue a few hours beforehand by text message or email according to festival organiser Travis Beard of Kabul-based group White City.

Eklektika represented its home country in London in 2010 at the Global Battle of the Bands. Click here to hear a sample of this band’s music, described on its website as ’emotional guitar music’.

Tags: , , , ,

Kazakhstan: Zharkent’s wooden mosque

26 Sep

The main entrance to the mosque

The town of Zharkent is the last outpost of any size on the road from Almaty to the Chinese border crossing, Khorgos.  A sleepy backwater in the heart of farming country, Zharkent has one remarkable building – a wooden mosque built in the nineteenth century by a Chinese architect.

The elaborate, Chinese-style decoration of the mosque

The mosque was constructed without the use of nails and has withstood earthquakes and the attentions of the Soviets. The mosque has a gateway reminiscent of the deliacte structures that adorn religious buildings in Kashgar and other parts of Central Asia.

The mosque's central tower with Russian-influenced windows

Inside the courtyard, the mosque itself is a riot of colour with the Chinese influence of architect Hon Pik allowed to run wild. The windows add a Russian-feel. All-in-all it’s a stunning fusion of Central Asian, Chinese and Russian influences.

Night falls on the mosque

Tags: , , ,

← Older Entries
Newer Entries →