Our People > Jonathan Campion

Jonathan Campion

Senior Editor

Jonathan Campion has worked in the Eurasia region since 2007. After leaving Exeter University with a degree in Russian Language, he worked as a writer, editor, analyst and translator for international law firms, market research firms and business forums serving the CIS region's major industries, from banking and finance, to metals and pharmaceuticals, and wine and spirits. With a passion for Central Asia, he has covered the region in esteemed publications such as the Lonely Planet, Open Central Asia magazine, and National Geographic Traveler. divider He has translated books and poems from the region into English, and published his first book, about a sports team that saved lives at the start of Russia-Ukraine war, in April of 2024.

Articles

Sports

Uzbek Footballer Abdukodir Khusanov to Sign for Manchester City

When the English champions Manchester City suffered a shock run of losses recently, soccer fans began guessing what moves coach Pep Guardiola would make to stop their winter slump. No-one expected him to call for a defender from Uzbekistan. Abdukodir Khusanov, still only 20 but already with 18 appearances for the White Wolves, is set to become Guardiola’s first signing of 2025. On 11 January the tall center-back agreed to join City in a €40 million ($41 million) transfer from the French team RC Lens. Once the move is complete, Khusanov is expected to sign a contract for four and a half years, Manchester City have won five of the last six Premier League titles. They were European club champions in 2023 after winning a first UEFA Champions League. With Europe's giants very rarely looking to Asia for their next young star, Khusanov has taken an unconventional route to the Etihad Stadium. He began his career in the youth team of local side Bunyodkor, before moving to Belarus in 2022, at the age of 18, to play for Energetik-BGU Minsk. In 2023 Khusanov was part of the Uzbekistan youth team that won the AFC Under-20 Asian Cup. There his confident passing and physicality caught the attention of RC Lens. He became a fan favorite in northern France, and the youngest Uzbek to play in the Champions League. Conor Bowers, a British fan of Uzbek soccer, has followed Khusanov’s career closely, and mentions that the €40 million man once struggled even to make teams in his homeland. “Although he is now over six feet tall, his youth coaches thought he would be too small to make it professionally. And that was even as a child, when he played as a striker.” Of his season in France, Bowers adds: “People had high hopes for Khusanov, but no-one expected him to move to a club the size of Manchester City this fast. People feel it will put Uzbekistan in the spotlight of the football world.” It was his strong performances in the French league that put Khusanov on the radar of Europe’s best clubs – Manchester City beat other English teams to his signature – but the defender is also vital to his national team. With the striker Eldor Shomurodov (of Roma in Italy) leading the attack, and Khusanov the team’s rock in defense, Uzbekistan has become Central Asia’s most accomplished side. The senior team is on course to qualify for next year’s men’s FIFA World Cup in North America. Khusanov will be the first footballer from anywhere in Central Asia to play in the English Premier League. However, he is not the first player born in Tashkent to grace the so-called “best league in the world". The Nigerian forward Peter Odemwingie spent his early childhood in Uzbekistan’s capital, before playing in the EPL for West Bromwich Albion and Stoke City. As news of Khusanov’s move to Manchester swept across Uzbek media over the weekend, sports fans were excited by the prospect of...

1 week ago

Women's rights Society

Interview: A Profile of Women’s Rights in Central Asia from Equality Now

Equality Now is an international human rights organization that uses the law to protect and promote the rights of all women and girls worldwide. The organization combines grassroots activism with legal advocacy at national, regional, and international levels, and collaborates closely with local partners to ensure governments enact and enforce laws protecting women’s and girls’ rights. The Times of Central Asia spoke with Equality Now's Eurasia consultant Janette Akhilgova about the issues that women and girls in Central Asia face, and how women's rights are being addressed. TCA: Equality Now works in all regions of the world. Which social issues and inequalities are most affecting women and girls in Central Asia at the present time? JA: One of Equality Now’s main focuses in Central Asia is ending sexual violence and improving access to justice for survivors, specifically women and girls. In 2019, we published “Roadblocks to Justice: How the Law is Failing Survivors of Sexual Violence in Eurasia,” examining laws on rape and other forms of sexual violence in 15 former Soviet Union countries. This report formed the basis of our work in Eurasia, helping us identify the major legal gaps in the region. A critical legal gap is the absence of a consent-based definition of rape, which means the law does not recognize a broad range of coercive circumstances where consent cannot be genuine, willing, or voluntary. This omission leaves some forms of sexual violence unpunished, perpetuating a culture of impunity. Inadequate support systems for sexual violence survivors compound the problem, enabling miscarriages of justice and fostering a widespread lack of trust in legal systems. Another obstacle to justice for survivors is the provision for conciliation between parties in rape cases. This practice involves sexual violence survivors being encouraged or pressured to reach an agreement with their assailant outside of the formal criminal justice system. The approach often involves mediating a settlement, whether financial or otherwise, between the survivor and the accused, typically facilitated by families, communities, or even legal authorities. Conciliation is sometimes not voluntary as survivors are often subjected to societal pressure. The social stigma attached to rape, a strong culture of victim blaming, and a lack of awareness about legal procedures are also factors that contribute to sexual violence cases not being reported to authorities and instead being dealt with privately. TCA: Is progress being made to eradicate these issues? Conversely, are there any parts of life where women and girls see their rights eroded? JA: Central Asian countries have made varying progress in advancing women’s rights and welfare. The 2022 Global Gender Gap Report highlighted significant strides by Kazakhstan, such as lifting restrictions on “banned professions” so that women are no longer legally prohibited from doing certain jobs previously deemed "too dangerous" or "unsuitable" for women. The country has also adopted new and comprehensive laws to protect women's and children’s rights. Another progressive legal reform in Kyrgyzstan was the introduction in 2024 of a law on domestic, sexual, and gender-based violence that strengthened access to justice for...

2 months ago

Russia Nuclear power Electricity supply Nuclear Referendum Energy Security

Kazakhstan’s Return to Nuclear Power: TCA in Association with American Foreign Policy Council Hosts Inaugural Burgut Expert Talk

On October 6 of this year, the people of Kazakhstan participated in a referendum to decide whether nuclear power should become a part of their daily lives, or whether the haunting legacy of atomic testing would continue to limit the country’s progress in this area. The official preliminary results, released on October 7, showed that 71.12% of participants agreed to the construction of a nuclear power plant in Kazakhstan with a voter turnout of 63.66%. President Tokayev’s goal in holding a referendum was to ensure that arguments in favor of nuclear energy were compelling, and that citizens, scientists, and government officials were involved in the decision-making process. Tokayev has since suggested that an “international consortium made up of global companies equipped with cutting-edge technologies” should be involved in the project. In partnership with the American Foreign Policy Council, on October 30, 2024, The Times of Central Asia convened a virtual event to discuss what the referendum result means for energy security, geopolitics, and new business opportunities for both regional and global actors. Moderating this event was Mamuka Tsereteli, Senior Fellow for Eurasia at the American Foreign Policy Council, whilst the panel comprised Askar Alimzhanov, Senior Editor at The Times of Central Asia, Stephen M. Bland, Senior Editor and Head of Investigations at The Times of Central Asia, and James Walker, CEO and Head of Reactor Development at NANO Nuclear Energy. Focusing on a local perspective, Askar Alimzhanov told those in attendance that “Kazakhstan is in tough situation today regarding the issue of energy dependence. Because we have the largest nuclear test site in the world and during around 50 years there were just under 500 atomic tests, we all know about the possible consequence. As consumers, however, we’ve seen prices rise around 26% in one year. The population of the country is growing, so when we talk about the annual growth in energy consumption, this is a natural process. “Since the majority of voters have already made their decision, the main question which remains is who will build it? However, serious concerns persist within society including the fear of corruption, which can result in poor quality structures. As an example, we can talk about the light rail transportation network in Astana, which started in 2009 and still isn’t finished. The officials who stole the money, they still have those funds abroad.” [video width="1920" height="1080" mp4="https://timesca.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Burgut-Expert-Talk-Kazakhstans-Return-to-Nuclear-Power1.mp4"][/video] Speaking about energy dependence and geopolitical considerations, Stephen M. Bland noted that “Kazakhstan's energy landscape is characterized by a reliance on aging thermal power plants, which are increasingly unable to meet the demands of a growing population and economy, with electricity shortages projected to worsen, particularly in the rapidly developing southern regions. The construction of a nuclear power plant, therefore, is seen as a crucial step toward alleviating these shortages, reducing dependence on overpriced imports from Russia, and achieving carbon neutrality goals. “The construction of Kazakhstan's first nuclear power plant presents both challenges and opportunities for the country's energy independence and regional influence. On one hand, developing a robust nuclear energy sector could...

3 months ago

Sport

Uzbekistan’s Cricket Team: We’re Ready For International Matches

Supporters of Uzbek sport have had a lot to celebrate this year. The national football team currently sits at the top of its qualifying group for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, while eight of the country's athletes took gold at this summer's Paris Olympics. But next year Uzbekistan wants to enter the world stage in a more surprising sport: cricket. The Central Asian country joined the game's governing body, the International Cricket Council (ICC), in 2022. As an “Associate” ICC member there are hopes that the Uzbek squad will play its first international matches in 2025, in the Twenty20 (T20) version of the game. T20 games are much shorter than traditional five-day Test matches. The nation's rapid progress is due to Aziz Mihliev, the owner of Tashkent pharmaceutical company Anfa. Mihliev fell in love with the game while living in India, where cricket is the national sport. As the founder and chairman of the O’zbekiston Kriket Federatsiyasi (Uzbekistan Cricket Federation), Mihliev has created the Anfa Cricket Academy in the capital's Yunusobod district, where three practice pitches cover a school playground. The federation invites students at Tashkent’s sports colleges to the academy to try their hand at cricket. Many of the players picked to wear the red and dark blue striped jerseys of the new Anfa Cricket Club are also talented tennis players. Mihliev has also built a cricket ground outside the capital, towards the town of Chirchiq, where a game between Salar Stars and Ferghana Rangers will be played this Sunday. There are plans to turn an abandoned Soviet-era stadium outside Samarkand into Uzbek cricket's second home. Travelling to represent Uzbekistan at global ICC conferences, Mihliev speaks with the ambition of a man who now rubs shoulders with the most influential people in the sport. From one such trip he writes: "My ambition is to see an Uzbekistan national team play a Test match against the England team. And win, of course!" Over 4,000 Uzbeks now play the game regularly at schools and universities, from Tashkent in the north of the country to the southern Surkhandaryo region. Surkhandaryo borders Afghanistan, a passionate cricketing nation that reached the semi-finals of this year's men’s T20 World Cup. And it was to Afghanistan that Mihliev turned when recruiting a former international player to train his national team. Khaliq Dad Noori played a few games for Afghanistan at the beginning of the 2010s, when his own country was at the start of its journey to the top of world cricket. Noori coaches his players in the Pashto language, which his Uzbek students can understand. But cricket in Uzbekistan still has a local flavour. Hitting techniques come straight from games of chilla, an old pastime played with sticks. Bats are known as tuqmoq – the name of a wooden club that Uzbek warriors used to brandish. Although some of Uzbekistan’s best cricketers have only been playing for a year or two, judging by the talent on show during a practice session they would beat most...

3 months ago

Trade

Turkmenistan and Afghanistan Accelerate Their Cooperation on Torghundi-Sanabar Railroad

A group of managers from Turkmen Railways (Turkmendemiryollary) visited Afghanistan this week to discuss railway infrastructure projects. High on the agenda was the construction of a goods warehouse at Torghundi station, and the first stage of the Torghundi-Sanabar section of the Torghundi-Herat railroad. During the visit, the Turkmen delegation held talks with the head of the Afghan Railway Authority, Bakht-ur Rahman Sharafat. They discussed railroad connections between the two countries, including a joint plan for the Torghundi-Sanabar project. On July 29 there were talks with the Afghan Cabinet of Ministers' deputy head for economic affairs. The Afghan official approved the allocation of land for the warehouse complex, and signed off the Torghundi-Sanabar project. The head of Afghanistan's Herat province, Nur Mohammad Islamjar, has commented that these projects will contribute to Afghanistan's economic stability, and stimulate Herat's industrial development. As part of the visit, an agreement was also reached to establish a working group to increase cargo transportation between the two countries. Afghanistan is interested in transporting its goods along the Lazurite Corridor (a trade route that passes through Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey), and announced that it would conduct a tariff analysis.

6 months ago