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National Identity

Kazakhstan Reclaims the Golden Horde

Kazakhstan’s symposium on the Golden Horde opens, in formal institutional terms, the question of where the country locates its statehood. Held in Astana on May 19–20 under UNESCO patronage, it brought together more than 300 scholars and experts, including 120 foreign researchers from more than 20 countries. Its title was “The Golden Horde as a Model of Steppe Civilization,” with history, archaeology, culture, and identity named as focal points of inquiry. The initiative places Kazakhstan’s history outside the narrow frame of post-Soviet chronology, treating the medieval past as a problem in the formation of Central Eurasia. Kazakhstan’s turn to the Golden Horde is not a decorative appeal to the medieval past, but a claim about statehood. It seeks to place Kazakhstan’s sovereignty within older Eurasian traditions of exchange, law, political authority, and movement across the steppe. President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has put the claim in explicit form. In 2024, he described Kazakhstan as a successor to the nomadic civilization of the Great Steppe and called the Ulus of Jochi, known internationally as the Golden Horde, a pinnacle of state-building in Central Eurasia. At the Astana symposium, he returned to the same line, presenting the Golden Horde as an empire connecting East and West and influencing the development of civilizations and states. The point is not identitarian but genealogical: the recovery of a statehood tradition, not the retroactive conversion of a medieval formation into the present-day republic. The Golden Horde’s significance is as a political form whose relevance lies in rule, exchange, law, and mobility: this is where steppe history becomes state history. The symposium’s official framing emphasized the political, economic, cultural, and spiritual heritage of the Ulus of Jochi. Its final resolution was more specific, identifying the Golden Horde’s role in political traditions, international trade and diplomacy, legal institutions, numismatics, craft production, and the interaction of nomadic and urban societies. The Golden Horde thereby moves out of the narrow category of conquest and into the practical grammar of political and social order: administration, circulation, law, and exchange. The inherited Russian imperial and Soviet frame did not simply neglect the Golden Horde; it organized the question from outside Kazakhstan’s own statehood. A recent study in Nationalities Papers identifies a Soviet paradigm in which the Golden Horde was treated as foreign, destructive, and external to the emergence of the Kazakh Khanate, while the Ak Orda was favored as the more acceptable predecessor. This view did not disappear with independence. Under Nursultan Nazarbayev, the Golden Horde remained comparatively marginal in official historical narrative, even as Kazakhstan celebrated the Kazakh Khanate and the broader nomadic past. Ideological categories narrowed the possible interpretations of the past. The issue today is not reinvention but reordering. Presidential declarations provide the catalyst, not the machinery. The machinery is supplied by historians, institutes, universities, and conferences. The Nationalities Papers study describes historians as memory actors helping to move the Golden Horde from contested or marginal status toward official endorsement. It also identifies a dispute between older and newer schools of...

AI in Education

Turkmenistan Looks to OpenAI as it Modernizes Education

Officials from Turkmenistan have met with OpenAI to discuss the use of artificial intelligence in the country’s education system. The London meeting between a delegation from Turkmenistan’s Ministry of Education and OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, took place during the Education World Forum 2026 this week, according to state media. The forum is a major annual gathering in which governments, the private sector, international NGOs, and others network and discuss ways of improving education systems. The meeting between ministry officials and OpenAI representatives addressed the “practical possibilities” of using AI in schools, the state-run Turkmenistan: Golden Age outlet reported. “The main focus was placed on two areas of cooperation: the use of AI to improve the quality of education and the development of AI literacy among schoolchildren, students, teachers, and administrative personnel,” the publication reported. During the meeting, Turkmenistan outlined the development of electronic educational platforms in the country’s education system, while OpenAI discussed possible pilot programs involving the use of ChatGPT Edu, an AI platform designed to protect user data, in selected academic institutions. They agreed to consider ways to build practical AI skills, such as hackathons in which students would team up to build a project or solve a problem in a limited time period. Turkmenistan’s government retains tight controls on society, and education is highly centralized. Traditional problems include teacher shortages and concerns that a range of restrictions were holding back student development. Even so, the country has embarked on a campaign to modernize the system and expand contacts with international institutions. Nurmuhammet Shyhlyev, vice-rector of the International University of Humanities and Development of Turkmenistan, was in Japan this month. He discussed initiatives including the establishment of Japanese language centers in Ashgabat's higher education institutions and joint research on robotics, green technologies, and other topics. In March, Education Minister Jumamyrat Gurbangeldiyev met Stefania Giannini, UNESCO assistant director-general for education, at UNESCO headquarters in Paris.

National Identity

Kazakhstan Looks to the Golden Horde for a Deeper National Narrative

A major international symposium dedicated to the Golden Horde opened this week in Kazakhstan’s capital, underscoring the country’s growing effort to redefine its historical narrative and national identity through the legacy of the Great Steppe. The symposium, held under the patronage of UNESCO and titled “The Golden Horde as a Model of Steppe Civilization: History, Archaeology, Culture and Identity,” brought together more than 300 scholars, including 120 foreign researchers from over 20 countries. The event reflects Kazakhstan’s effort to align its national narrative with a growing body of scholarship that treats nomadic societies not as a “backward” alternative to sedentary civilizations, but as a distinct and highly sophisticated model of statehood shaped by the economic realities of the Eurasian steppe. Opening the symposium, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev declared that “no historian today questions the power of the Golden Horde, the empire that ruled the Great Steppe and occupied vast expanses of Eurasia. The empire that connected East and West and exerted a profound influence on the development of civilizations and the formation of states was unquestionably one of the largest political structures in history,” Tokayev said. [caption id="attachment_49194" align="aligncenter" width="1280"] Image: Akorda[/caption] The Legacy of the Great Steppe The Golden Horde, also known as the Ulus of Jochi, emerged from the empire created by Genghis Khan across the Eurasian steppe. The wider Eurasian steppe stretched from Eastern Europe toward Mongolia, while the Golden Horde controlled a vast western portion of that world. The region long served as home to Indo-European, Turkic and Mongol nomadic peoples. Its open geography, largely free of impassable mountain barriers, enabled the large-scale movement of herds of horses, sheep and cattle in search of pastures and water sources. It was in this region, on the territory of present-day northern Kazakhstan, that horses were first domesticated about 5,500 years ago near the settlement of Botai. The archaeological Botai culture dates back to roughly 3700-3100 BCE. The Golden Horde itself traces directly to Jochi, the eldest son of Genghis Khan, whose descendants ruled the Ulus of Jochi across a vast territory from the Irtysh to the Danube. Over time, the Ulus of Jochi was divided between Jochi’s sons into western and eastern wings known respectively as the White Horde (Ak-Orda) and the Blue Horde (Kok-Orda). By the middle of the 15th century, the Ulus of Jochi had fragmented into successor polities, including the Siberian, Uzbek, Kazan, Crimean, and Kazakh khanates, as well as the Nogai Horde. Moscow’s rise also unfolded in the shadow of this post-Horde order before it later became the core of the Russian Empire. [caption id="attachment_49193" align="aligncenter" width="2560"] Image: Akorda[/caption] Between Myth and Statehood Because written sources on the Golden Horde remain fragmented, much of its legacy survived through oral traditions, epics, myths, and legends. In Kazakh tradition, for example, khans continued to be chosen from among the Chinggisids, direct descendants of Genghis Khan, and elevated on a white felt carpet during coronation ceremonies. The period also produced oral epics preserved through the tradition of the...

Education Reform

Kazakhstan Reshapes Education System to Meet Industrial and Labor Market Needs

Kazakhstan has begun a large-scale restructuring of its education system in 2025-2026 as authorities attempt to address labor shortages, overloaded school infrastructure, and the growing mismatch between graduates’ qualifications and the needs of the economy. While previous reforms focused primarily on expanding access to education, the government is now shifting toward tighter administrative management of student enrollment, stronger support for technical and vocational training, and the integration of digital technologies into schools. As previously reported by The Times of Central Asia, the reforms are unfolding amid growing pressure on Kazakhstan’s labor market. One of the most pressing issues remains the condition of the country’s school infrastructure. Rapid urbanization and internal migration have created chronic shortages of school places in major cities and southern regions. To address the problem, authorities launched the “Comfortable School” national project, which envisioned the construction of 369 schools with capacity for 740,000 students during 2023-2024. However, implementation has faced delays caused by contractor failures and rising construction material costs. According to project operator Samruk-Kazyna Construction, by the end of 2025 authorities had commissioned 208 schools, creating more than 217,000 new student places. Most of the facilities were built in Astana, Almaty, and Turkistan Region. President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev previously warned that even accelerated school construction would only temporarily alleviate the problem, since at current population growth rates the shortage of school places could reach 400,000 in the medium term. Against this backdrop, authorities are increasingly turning to technological solutions. In May 2026, Tokayev signed a decree introducing artificial intelligence into the secondary education system. Under the initiative, AI technologies are expected to serve as auxiliary tools for personalized learning, identifying gaps in student knowledge, and reducing teachers’ workloads. By August 1, schools participating in the pilot program are expected to be equipped with high-speed internet access, while by September 1 authorities plan to approve national standards governing the use of AI in education. At the same time, Kazakhstan is strengthening support for technical and vocational education. For the 2025-2026 academic year, around 70% of state-funded grants in the technical and vocational education system were allocated to engineering and technical specialties, including metallurgy, mechanical engineering, energy, construction, and information technology. Authorities are also attempting to expand elements of dual education programs involving private businesses. According to official data, more than 4,000 enterprises have established partnerships with colleges. However, full-scale implementation remains largely confined to major industrial regions, while small and medium-sized businesses in other areas remain reluctant to participate in organizing practical training for students. Significant changes are also affecting higher education. Minister of Science and Higher Education Sayasat Nurbek announced a redistribution of state grants toward professions facing the most acute labor shortages, including thermal power engineering, industrial engineering, water management, and materials science. University financing will now depend directly on institutions’ positions in national rankings and on graduate employment rates. For weaker regional universities, this could effectively mean automatic reductions in state funding. Leading universities have also been granted the right to independently raise admission thresholds...

Education

Kyrgyzstan Seeks Foreign Teachers to Ease Education Staff Shortage

A group of deputies in Kyrgyzstan’s Jogorku Kenesh, the national parliament, has drafted legislative amendments aimed at attracting foreign teachers and modernizing the country’s educational infrastructure through new legal and economic incentives. The proposed amendments were submitted for parliamentary consideration. Under the draft legislation, foreign teachers working in Kyrgyzstan would be exempt from income tax and mandatory social security payments. The bill would also grant foreign educators the right to obtain temporary residence permits. Additional measures include tax incentives for educational institutions and exemptions from value-added tax (VAT) on imported educational equipment. The authors of the amendments argue that modernizing Kyrgyzstan’s education system will require the introduction of international teaching standards, digital technologies, and updated educational programs. They say the process will also require the involvement of highly qualified specialists, including foreign teachers with international experience. According to the lawmakers, the proposed legislation is intended to help implement advanced teaching methods and global educational practices, improve student training, create a more competitive academic environment, and strengthen the intellectual potential of younger generations without requiring students to study abroad. The bill’s explanatory note states that a shortage of qualified teachers in schools and universities remains one of the key challenges facing Kyrgyzstan’s education system. The shortage comes as the country experiences a steady increase in student numbers and mounting pressure on educational infrastructure. According to official figures cited in the draft legislation, Kyrgyzstan had 2,175 public schools and 219 private schools in 2025, serving a total of 1,526,800 students with 108,006 teaching staff. The country also has 32 public universities and 41 private universities.

Afghan Refugees

Tajikistan Officially Confirms Deportation of Afghan Refugees

Tajikistan’s State Committee for National Security (GKNB) has publicly commented for the first time on the deportation of Afghan citizens from the country, citing alleged violations of national law and crimes that the authorities said had sparked public outrage. The statement followed an appeal by Afghan citizen Muhammad Hakim Tursun, who criticized the deportation of his compatriots. In its response, published through the state news agency Khovar, the security service claimed that some Afghan citizens living in Tajikistan had “grossly violated the requirements of the law” despite being provided with conditions for residence, work, and education. To justify the deportations, the agency cited crime statistics that it said involved Afghan citizens and foreign nationals, without clearly explaining the time period covered or how many cases were linked specifically to Afghan refugees in Tajikistan’s Sughd region. According to the GKNB, the authorities recorded 670 cases of illegal drug trafficking, 32 cases involving membership in terrorist organizations, 15 cases of sexual violence against minors, and 594 instances of forged documents being used to obtain refugee status. The security service also reported 45 cases involving the organization of gambling and entertainment establishments and 25 cases related to ties with what it described as “destructive organizations” and attempts to destabilize the situation in the country. Particular attention in the statement was devoted to a high-profile murder case in Khujand. According to the agency, on the evening of April 30, Afghan citizen Rahmoni Muhammadumar allegedly killed local resident Aziza Vokhidova, who, according to authorities, “attempted to defend her honor and dignity.” Earlier, Tajikistan’s Interior Ministry reported the detention of the suspect. In a video released by authorities, the suspect allegedly confessed to the crime, saying he acted because of “strong sexual attraction” and stabbed the woman multiple times. Following the killing, residents of the Dehmoy jamoat in Jabbor Rasulov district told journalists that their Afghan neighbors had suddenly disappeared. According to witnesses, unidentified individuals transported approximately 200 to 250 refugees away in vehicles on May 4, many of whom had reportedly lived there for years. Until the publication of the GKNB statement, the authorities had not officially confirmed the mass deportation of Afghans. Officials had instead limited themselves to reminding foreigners of the need to comply with migration laws. Tajikistan has previously faced criticism over the forced return of Afghan refugees. In December 2024, UNHCR urged the authorities to halt deportations after at least 41 Afghan citizens, including 37 refugees, were returned without due process. The agency warned that forced returns to Afghanistan could violate international law and place returnees at risk. The security service stressed that more than 10,000 Afghan families who obey Tajik laws continue to reside in the country. The statement also said Tajikistan has served as a “second homeland” for several generations of Afghan citizens over the past 35 years and claimed that the state treats them “impartially.” Nevertheless, the agency emphasized that security concerns remain its top priority.