Our People > Times of Central Asia

Askar Alimzhanov

Senior Editor

Askar Alimzhanov graduated from the journalism department of the Kazakh State University named after S. Kirov, then worked as a correspondent for the daily republican newspaper Leninskaya Smen. He then moved to the United States to be a reporter for the daily newspaper "Cape Cod Times" in Hayanis, Massachusetts, (USA) under the journalist exchange program between the Union of Journalists of the USSR and the New England Society of News Editors. Since then, he has helped build transparency and understanding of Central Asia region in various executive level positions at esteemed media organizations including "Akbar"(Alma-Ata) international center for journalism, the Khabar News agency, the Television and Radio Corporation "Kazakhstan" JSC, and MIR- Kazakhstan.

Articles

Rule of law Police Social US

American Travels to Kazakhstan to Seek Information on Father’s Fate in 1940s

Since 2022, U.S. citizen Jeff Scheingold has been looking for any information about his close relatives who fled to Kazakhstan to escape the Nazis. Kazakhstani police officers helped him find out about the fate of his father, mother and brother. Scheingold asked the Kyzylorda Region Police Department to find information about his family. His parents and brother were Polish Jews who lived in the Terenozek district of the Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic (KazSSR) after feeling into the Soviet Union from Poland to escape the Nazis. In 1943, during Stalinist repressions that were particularly acute for war refugees who had come from abroad, his father was arrested. "In 2022, I found out that my parents lived in Kazakhstan during the Great Patriotic War. They escaped from the Nazis from Poland. We didn't have any more information, except for the protocol of the court. As a result of our searches, we found documents that had been kept in the archive for almost 80 years. They concerned my parents and my brother who are buried in aul (village) Number 6," said Scheingold. According to the Scheingold, he has now reconstructed the details of his blood relatives' lives from 1942 to 1946, with members of the Scheingold family traveling to Kyzylorda to visit the burial site of his brother. According to the Kazakh Ministry of Internal Affairs, more than 30,000 documents have been kept in the archive of the regional police. These documents are very important for thousands of people looking for information about the fate of relatives - as well as for scientists, journalists, and historians - to fully reconstruct and understand historical events using first-hand information.

14 hours ago

Articles

Stalin Supreme Court History Uzbekistan Legislation Social

Uzbekistan’s Supreme Court Vacates Convictions of 198 Victims of Stalinist Repressions

On May 6, the criminal trial panel of the Supreme Court of Uzbekistan considered 11 criminal cases involving 198 people who were unjustly punished by court verdicts over the period of 1930–1938, according to the press services of the Supreme Court of the Republic of Uzbekistan. Among those acquitted are high-ranking officials who held positions in the judicial system. Most of them were sentenced to death or long-term imprisonment with confiscation of property according to verdicts handed down by the Criminal Trial Committee of the Supreme Court of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics on June 21, 1930. The vacating of those convictions was carried out according to a decree issued by President Shavkat Mirziyoyev dated October 8, 2020, titled “On further study of the legacy of repression victims and additional measures to perpetuate their memory." In order to ensure the implementation of the decree, a working group at the republican level was established to further study the legacy of repression victims, as well as organizing and coordinating the work of perpetuating their memory. After the approval of that “road map” for clearing the names of the victims of repression and perpetuating their memory, the scope of research on identifying victims was expanded, and officials were given the opportunity to use the departmental archives of ministries and agencies. Over the course of its efforts, the working group identified 1,031 people who were repressed during the Soviet-era, who subsequently had their convictions vacated.

14 hours ago

Articles

Export/import UNDP Social beekeeping Economy Agriculture

New UN Program to Help Kyrgyz Apiaries Develop Export of Honey

The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) in Kyrgyzstan, in cooperation with the Training and Advisory Services Center (TES-Center) Foundation, is launching an initiative to strengthen the value chain of natural honey for export, according to a report on the official UNDP website. The project will be funded by the Government of Finland and implemented in the Osh, Naryn, and Issyk-Kul regions. The authors of the initiative believe that Kyrgyzstan has significant potential for the production and export of honey. However, this requires a coordinated effort. "We support beekeepers in increasing their productivity and competitiveness of their natural honey, taking into account the introduction of innovative and resource-efficient green technologies, which will stimulate [sustainable] exports and the creation of new green jobs. The program is also aimed at integrating small farmers into the process of value addition," said Aisuluu Mambetkazieva, the UNDP Trade Facilitation Project Coordinator. The project will support beekeepers and their apiaries, exporters, service operators, and the local authorities. Special attention will be paid to the inclusion of women and people with disabilities, as well as environmental sustainability in the sector. The project is expected to generate at least 120 jobs, including those for women, in rural areas. The project will also provide capacity building for honey processing and export enterprises. Participants will be trained in the use of online marketplaces and e-commerce platforms.

14 hours ago

Articles

Moscow terror attack Judiciary Migration Security Terrorism Russia

Central Asian Entrepreneurs in Russia Shutting Down Hospitality Businesses Due to Xenophobia, Police Inspections

As previously reported by TCA, cafes and restaurants in Russia run by business owners from Central Asia have begun to close en masse. Following the terrorist attack on Crocus City Hall near Moscow on March 22, for which several Tajik nationals have been detained and charged as the perpetrators, preexisting anti-migrant sentiment in Russia has intensified. Since that time, 75% of cafes and restaurants run by Central Asian migrants in Moscow alone have shut, with their owners citing xenophobia and harassment by the police. According to the Current Time news portal, police have sharply stepped up checks on newcomers, mostly Central Asians, over the past month. Raids against migrants are going on all over the country. Many migrants have already left Russia because of this - or refused to visit public places, including cafes. Café and restaurant owners have therefore suffered losses, and many have been forced to cease operations altogether. Police inspections of cafes and restaurants frequented by migrants have also increased - which is also not good for business. Migrants from other countries who work in the hospitality industry in Russia have also stated that increased xenophobia and raids after the terrorist attack have hit the restaurant business particularly hard. Those pressures - coupled with painfully high Russian inflation for food, goods, labor, and more - have made operations in the hospitality sector unprofitable for many whose livelihoods depend on it.

14 hours ago

Articles

Rule of law Legislation Social Domestic Violence Women's rights Saltanat Nukenova Mamash

Kazakh Embassy Counselor in UAE Recalled After Domestic Violence Allegations

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan has recalled an Embassy Counselor from the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Saken Mamash, after the publication of a video message by his wife, Karina Mamash, who alleged ongoing domestic violence, according to a report in Kursiv.kz. "We urgently recalled this employee to Kazakhstan. Further, his case will be dealt with by law enforcement agencies," said an official representative of the ministry. Karina Mamash's appeal was published on an Instagram page run the public foundation, "NeMolchi" (Don't Remain Silent"). In the video, Mamash accuses her husband of years of violence, and expresses fear for her own safety and the safety of their children. "My name is Karina Mamash Gosmanovna. My husband, counselor to the Ambassador of the Republic of Kazakhstan to the UAE, yesterday beat me and my sister, who came to visit me on the 3rd [of May]. I demand help from our state. I am tired of being silent. I am tired of tolerating. For ten years he has been raping me, beating me. I am in danger, and my children are in danger around him. I demand help from our state. Help me," she said, attaching photos of herself and her sister with bruises on their faces to the post. Karina Mamash also insisted that her husband be "stripped of his status as a diplomat and put in jail for all the abuse." Domestic violence has become a key topic of discussion in Kazakhstan amid the high-profile case of Kuandyk Bishimbayev for allegedly killing his common-law wife, Saltanat Nukenova. On April 15, President Tokayev signed into law amendments and additions passed by Kazakhstan’s parliament ensuring the rights of women and the safety of children. The initiative represents a first in the CIS in terms of how far it goes to provide protection for women and children in the country.

17 hours ago