Kyrgyzstan
One Target, 145 Meters: Kyrchyn’s Archers Take on Korea’s Long-Range Test
The archers formed a long, uneven line across the grass at Kyrchyn Gorge on Friday, bows rising almost in unison beneath a bank of clouds. Their target was 145 meters away, far enough for the arrows to climb visibly before dropping back toward the range.
It was the final and most unfamiliar test in the World Nomad Games’ traditional ground archery program: a Korean-style competition at a distance many of the international entrants had never attempted before.
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A total of 196 archers from 51 countries took part in the traditional archery program at Kyrchyn. The first two days used Kyrgyz and Turkish targets at shorter distances. Friday’s Korean round pushed both men and women out to 145 meters.
Under the special Korean rules, each competitor shoots 15 qualification arrows across three rounds. The top 16 men and top 16 women advance to a 10-arrow final. Korean national team archers served as judges and officials rather than competing, leaving international archers to take on one of Korea’s defining traditional distances.
For Kristina Dolgilevica, coach of Great Britain’s ground-archery team and president of the UK Traditional Archers’ International Association, the distance changes almost everything. “You have to adjust and adapt in so many ways,” she told The Times of Central Asia. “Not just your technique, not just your aim. You have to also adjust and tweak your equipment.”
The British longbows were only one part of a field whose equipment, experience, and expectations varied widely. Germany’s Jürgen Junkmanns had at least faced the problem before. The German prehistoric-archery specialist and bowyer has spent decades studying historical bows and said he had travelled to Korea several times to shoot there. Even so, he described the distance as unusual at home. “In Germany we don’t shoot these distances, so we’re not used to it,” he said.
For Canada, there was no opportunity to practice it at all. Vancouver-based Patricia Gonsalves, founder of Lykopis Archery, has more than three decades of experience in traditional archery and was accompanying Canada’s sole competitor. “We can’t train this distance in Canada,” she said. “There’s nowhere that we can train for this.”
The weather added another variable. Gonsalves said archers from British Columbia were accustomed to rain, but Kyrchyn’s rapid changes had forced them to think differently about their arrows and fletching. A strong gust matters more when an arrow remains airborne for so long.
Austria’s Kunda Kiba came to Kyrchyn with far less experience. She said this was her first World Nomad Games and her first competition in this form of archery. Her assessment was simpler: “It was wonderful. It’s very fun, and that’s what I wanted.”
The international mix was part of the appeal for Britain’s John Stanley, who was also writing about the Games for World Archery. He had only shot 145 meters once before, but the distance was not what made the week feel unusual.
“Every 20 minutes, there’s some brand-new experience you’ve never had before,” Stanley said. “You’re sitting on the bus next to a guy carrying an eagle. That actually happened this morning.”
The journey into Kyrchyn supplied plenty more. Earlier, a scheduled power cut had knocked out electricity in Cholpon Ata. On the road, traffic police in oversized furazhka caps twirled batons and blew whistles hard enough to drown out the eagles, while the bus eventually slowed to a crawl behind a flock of sheep.
By then, veteran Kyrgyz singer Baktiyar Toktorov’s “Yza,” better known as “Bui Bui,” seemed to be everywhere. Athletes and spectators filmed themselves singing along to its bouncing accordion refrain. The tune has the feel of a celebration; the song itself is about love that cannot be fulfilled and two lovers left crying.
The clouds that gathered over the gorge did little to thin the crowd. Around the range, archers in national dress mixed with spectators moving between pavilions, bird-hunting displays, food stalls, and other competitions. Spectators who absent-mindedly strayed across the muddy range were warned in no uncertain terms to get out of the line of fire.
The wider Kyrchyn program could swiftly move from traditional archery to spine-bone breaking, as literal as its name suggests, and then on to an international chefs’ contest.
In the ethno-town, women in brightly colored hanbok moved through the crowd, while a few meters away, children rode shaggy yaks, and red Kyrgyz flags fluttered above the Bishkek pavilion.
That collision of formal competition and organized chaos was precisely what Stanley thought distinguished the Games. Rather than expecting the polished rhythm of the Olympics, he said the British team had learned to “experience this as it is.”
At 145 meters, the sporting challenge was serious enough. Yet the Korean round also captured something broader about Kyrchyn: a German bowyer who had shot in Korea, a Canadian coach who could not reproduce the distance at home, a first-time Austrian competitor, British longbowmen, and dozens of other archers all trying to solve the same problem on the same strip of Kyrgyz grass.
The Korean event concludes the traditional ground archery competition at Kyrchyn. The World Nomad Games continue in the Issyk-Kul region through September 6.
The Times of Central Asia is reporting from the World Nomad Games in Kyrgyzstan. For more from our World Nomad Games 2026 special coverage, click here.
Inside a Universe of Culture at the World Nomad Games
Of all the sites at the 6th World Nomad Games in Kyrgyzstan, the “Universe of Nomads” ethno-town is arguably the most interesting. Its setting is Kyrchyn jailoo, a large summer pasture in Semenov Gorge, where the forested slopes of the Kungey Ala-Too Mountains rise around it.
The location feels far removed from the largely sports-specific venues in Cholpon-Ata, including the Kok Boru Arena, the Hippodrome, and the Gazprom Sports and Recreation Complex. Getting there takes around an hour from Cholpon-Ata on marshrutkas, minivans used as tourist shuttles, and the journey is often chaotic, with passengers packed head-to-hip.
Those who make the journey find stunning scenery, an abundance of culture, and indeed sport, including some of the event’s more unusual tournaments. Among them is spine-bone breaking, a very literal nomadic sport in which competitors use their bare hands to break apart cattle spinal bones with a single strike. Other sports at the ethno-town range from Kyrgyz-style mounted archery and Turkish-style archery to golden eagle hunting and races featuring taigans, a breed of sighthound from Kyrgyzstan. The pure spectacle and traditional regalia keep visitors enthralled, as does the sheer number of animals with which they can pose for photographs.
Built partly from clay and modeled on the fortifications of a medieval Central Asian shahristan, or walled inner city, the walls enclose two large spaces. The Ethno Bazaar combines souvenirs and crafts with regular street performances featuring comedy, clowns, acrobatics, and traditional music, while the Nomadic Cuisine area offers samples of national dishes on a try-before-you-buy basis. For Western tourists so inclined, the few vegetarian options include kattama, a layered, flaky flatbread made with onion and accompanied by sour cream, and boorsok, small pieces of deep-fried dough.
The practical difficulties of the ethno-town come with the territory. Visitors reluctant to navigate the uneven ground and muddy slopes on foot can hire a “horse taxi” from the scrum of young men and boys on horseback looking for business. At the muddy squat-toilet setups dotted around the site, women clamber into the comparatively empty men’s facilities next door, where a smattering of men merely shrug when faced with the laughing female stampede.
The sprawling site features around 500 traditional yurts organized into regional sections such as Issyk-Kul, Bishkek, Osh, and Naryn. Clusters on the outskirts appear to be used for their traditional purpose as temporary homes for sellers and exhibitors, since hotels and other accommodation are far from the site.
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Further afield, on the main stage and in a clearing beside the thematic and cultural-exchange yurts, dramatic theater, nomadic music, improvised poetry (aitysh), contemporary music threaded with history, and dancers twirling in brightly colored costumes follow one another in a hypnotically dizzying procession.
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Among those taking part are members of Yr Kerben, or “Song Caravan,” a cultural project that brings together women from Kyrgyzstan’s seven regions. Known as the ak elechek apalary, or “mothers in white elecheks,” they promote a headdress traditionally associated with married women, with different forms reflecting regional traditions. The knowledge and rituals surrounding the elechek were added to UNESCO’s Representative List in 2023. For the Kyrchyn procession, Yr Kerben presented an oversized version that stopped visitors unfamiliar with the tradition in their tracks.
Mekendeshter Ordo brings together representatives of Kyrgyz communities abroad, ranging from those established outside the borders of modern Kyrgyzstan for generations to those formed through more recent migration. Nyagan is one of the newer points on that map; the western Siberian city recorded 504 Kyrgyz residents in the 2010 Russian census, and a Kyrgyz national-cultural association was registered there in 2015.
Over four days, visitors can watch craftspeople work with felt, make amulets, and fashion wooden komuz instruments, then move on to workshops on traditional headwear, music, and national dance. Toguz korgool, tug-of-war, and the chükö game add a competitive element, while a theatrical performance presents traditional customs and rituals and the Uz-Usta competition puts artisans’ skills on display. The program offers a glimpse of how Kyrgyz traditions are maintained abroad, sometimes alongside influences from the countries where these groups live.
Australian tourists Karen and Howard Bowland, visiting Kyrgyzstan and the World Nomad Games for the first time, described the ethno-town’s breathtaking setting as “yurts in a mountain meadow” before adding, “This is what we imagined it would look like.”
For more from our World Nomad Games 2026 special coverage, click here.
Britain’s Horseback Archers Ride Into Kyrchyn at the World Nomad Games
At Kyrchyn Gorge on Thursday, a British rider released an arrow at a target from horseback as her steed carried her between the course markers, with the green slopes of the Tian Shan rising behind the World Nomad Games venue.
Horseback archery brings the two disciplines together in a single run. Riders must control the horse while nocking, drawing, and releasing arrows at targets as they move down the track. The official Kyrgyz-style rules require the horse to remain in motion throughout the run.
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The Games use two horseback archery formats. In the Kyrgyz style, riders race along a 100-meter track and shoot at small targets while keeping the horse moving. The Hungarian, or Magyar, style changes the challenge: riders pass a central tower carrying targets that can be shot repeatedly as the angle changes. Speed therefore counts alongside accuracy, but riders must also adapt to a horse they may have known for only a short time.
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Image: TCA, Stephen M. Bland[/caption]
The venue is part of the spectacle. Beyond the course, a newly built clay fortress rises from Kyrchyn like a Silk Road settlement. It forms part of the Games’ “Universe of Nomads” ethno-town. Its buildings draw on regional architecture dating from the Middle Ages and were constructed with natural materials including soil, clay, and stone.
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Inside the walls, visitors crowded around long tables and food stalls beneath traditional textiles as vendors bustled. Outside, rows of white yurts spread across the verdant valley floor. Golden eagles and falcons pealed nearby, as Kyrchyn is also hosting the Games’ traditional hunting with birds and other events.
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In the gorge, the boundaries between competition and cultural festival largely disappear, with sport unfolding inside a temporary nomadic settlement rather than around a conventional arena.
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Among the British riders competing at Kyrchyn are Becca Sweetman and Kristina Schapiro. TCA spoke with them after Thursday’s Kyrgyz-style runs.
TCA: Is this a sport you have been doing for some time back home?
Becca Sweetman: We’ve both been doing it for about eight years and competing for the British team for more than four years.
TCA: How did it go today?
Becca Sweetman: It’s a challenging competition because you have to change horses for every single run, which we don’t do at any other international competition. Kristina had a few amazing runs, and she’s currently in second place. Half the competition is done, so we’ll see how it continues. I managed to hit some targets, which is always good.
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Image: Mae Pollard[/caption]
TCA: Have you been to the World Nomad Games before, and what has your general impression been?
Kristina Schapiro: It’s our first time competing in horseback archery at the World Nomad Games. It’s a little disorganized, but it’s an incredible experience. At the opening ceremony, I had the honor of carrying the flag for the Great Britain delegation, and walking into that stadium felt incredible. It was a very surreal experience.
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The scale here is amazing; seeing all the different sports. The atmosphere is unbelievable, with athletes from around the world taking part in these nomadic sports. We’re really enjoying riding the Kyrgyz horses. We went out for a week beforehand riding them. They’re very steady and very fast, but actually quite safe, so it’s been a lot of fun.
TCA: Different from British horses?
Kristina Schapiro: Different from British horses. They can climb up and down mountains with ease.
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Image: Mae Pollard[/caption]
TCA: What comes next?
Kristina Schapiro: We’ve just done the Kyrgyz style, which is very fast. You hit each target once, and the targets are only 50 centimeters across and quite far away from the track. Then we’re going to do the Hungarian style over the next two days, with the men followed by the women. That has a tower in the center, and you can hit the target as many times as you can as you go past.
The Hungarian, or Magyar, horseback archery competition continues at Kyrchyn on September 4 and 5. The World Nomad Games run through September 6.
For more from our World Nomad Games 2026 special coverage, click here.
In Bishkek, Gor and Daines Put Business First
U.S. Special Envoy for South and Central Asia Sergio Gor and U.S. Senator Steve Daines used their visit to Bishkek this week to put business squarely at the center of Washington's engagement with Kyrgyzstan and Central Asia, with discussions focused on investment, trade, infrastructure and practical steps for turning ideas into deals.
Gor and Daines arrived for the opening of the World Nomad Games to cheer on the U.S. team, a visit that coincided with the SCO Summit on its 25th anniversary. The Games were only part of the visit. Much of the agenda focused on economic engagement. They were accompanied by Bethany Morrison, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia at the U.S. Department of State.
“Called on President Zhaparov today in Bishkek, Kyrgyz Republic,” Gor tweeted. “Many great opportunities for our two nations to work together. We look forward to welcoming President Zhaparov to the United States next month to further advance our growing partnership.”
U.S. officials met President Sadyr Japarov on Aug. 31 and held separate talks in Bishkek with Economy and Commerce Minister Sydykov and other officials. Edil Baisalov, Kyrgyz Ambassador to the U.S., accompanied the delegation to their meetings with Kyrgyz officials.
Their Bishkek schedule also included meetings with Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev and Tajik President Emomali Rahmon.
Discussions with Kyrgyz officials covered steps needed to advance different types of projects, opportunities for business-to-business cooperation and ways to connect U.S. companies with projects and partners in Kyrgyzstan and the wider region.
Mining was among the sectors in focus, as expected, alongside infrastructure, energy, technology and trade. The discussions focused on identifying viable projects, connecting companies and resolving financing and implementation issues.
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Daines and Gor. Image: https://x.com/USAmbIndia/status/2094364843390476459[/caption]
More than Business
The agenda was overwhelmingly commercial, though not exclusively, as Gor himself tweeted: “A very productive meeting with President Mirziyoyev of Uzbekistan. We discussed ongoing cooperation in energy, commerce, and building more robust security ties between our nations. Looking forward to big announcements soon between the U.S. and Uzbekistan.”
Or consider this tweet: “Pleased to meet with Tajikistan’s President Emomali Rahmon. Together, the U.S. and Tajikistan are growing our commercial engagement, expanding our health cooperation, and strengthening security and counterterrorism cooperation.” Gor mentioned “security cooperation” with Kazakhstan as well.
The latest visit builds on an economic agenda already being developed through the B5+1 business forum, which Gor attended in Bishkek earlier this year. The forum brought together businesses and government officials from the United States and the five Central Asian states, with an emphasis on investment, market access and reducing obstacles to private-sector activity.
The discussions in Bishkek also touched on the next C5+1 summit, the U.S.-Central Asian leaders' format involving Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. Kyrgyzstan offered to host the next summit in Bishkek.
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L/R – Bethany Morrison, Daines, Gor, US Amb Lesslie Viguerie. Image: https://x.com/USAmbIndia/status/2094303173481844848[/caption]
For Daines, the visit extended work he has been pursuing on Capitol Hill as chairman of the Senate Central Asia Caucus, which promotes stronger U.S. trade and investment ties with the region. He has repeatedly highlighted opportunities for American companies in mining, energy, technology, agriculture and infrastructure and has called for concrete commercial projects and greater private-sector participation. For Kyrgyzstan, the objective is to attract American capital, technology and expertise. For U.S. companies, the region offers new markets and opportunities in natural resources, infrastructure, energy, transportation and technology.
Kyrgyzstan's Ministry of Economy and Commerce has been closely involved in that effort, promoting investment, financing, technology transfer and stronger commercial links as part of the country's push to attract foreign capital. Gor met with Minister Sydykov.
The U.S. message was notably transactional: find projects, connect businesses, secure financing and move them forward. The World Nomad Games brought Gor and Daines to Bishkek, but business dominated the agenda.
Kyrgyzstan Beats United States 16-7 as Kok Boru Opens at World Nomad Games
Two years after Kazakhstan beat Team USA in Astana, the Americans again faced a World Nomad Games host in kok boru. Kyrgyzstan won 16–7 at the Cholpon-Ata Kok Boru Arena on Wednesday, but the U.S. riders were a markedly different proposition from the side that failed to score in 2024.
Kok boru, whose name means “gray wolf,” occupies a special place in Kyrgyz culture. UNESCO added it to the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2017, recognizing its place in the country’s cultural identity, while the arena commentator repeatedly described the sport as a point of national pride. Tradition traces the game to mounted hunters fighting for possession of a wolf killed while protecting livestock, an old practice later developed into a team contest.
The modern game uses a prepared headless goat carcass, which a rider must carry across the field and get into the opposing tai kazan, the raised circular goal at either end. Kyrgyzstan restored the real carcass for these Games after Kazakhstan used a synthetic rubber serke in Astana, making the object’s weight and bulk unmistakable whenever a rider leaned almost to the sand to seize it.
Under the current rules, four riders from each team compete on the field during three 15-minute periods. The carcass normally weighs 30–32 kilograms, and although riders may press one another with their bodies or use their horses to nudge for position, striking is prohibited.
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Team USA started strongly, trading scores with Kyrgyzstan early and holding its own in the scrums for possession. Horses pressed flank to flank in what could look like an impossible embrace as riders bent low into the crush. When one came free with the goat held against the saddle, the tangle opened immediately into a gallop toward the tai kazan.
Nurzhan Melisbek uulu opened the scoring for Kyrgyzstan after just 23 seconds, but Team USA answered and kept the opening exchanges close. By the middle of the first period, Kyrgyzstan had begun finding more openings and closed it 7–2.
During the first break, Ennio Morricone’s theme from Sergio Leone’s A Fistful of Dollars played over the speakers in what appeared to be a nod to the American cowboys. The Americans returned to the field with renewed energy and scored almost immediately, with the board soon showing 8–3. Kyrgyzstan did not loosen its grip for long, but neither did the second period become the one-way procession seen in Astana. The hosts added five points to the Americans’ three, taking the cumulative score to 12–5.
During the second period, U.S. No. 33 Zanen Pitts fell from his horse but quickly recovered.
No. 2 Nick Willert was also back with Team USA, two years after explaining in a 2024 interview with The Times of Central Asia that the Americans combined techniques learned from Central Asian players with Western horsemanship. Finding suitable horses and having enough time to become familiar with them, he said, had always been a major difficulty for the team.
Kyrgyzstan controlled the third period and won it 4–2. Aydarkan Anarbekov led Kyrgyzstan with four points, while Kiyaz Niyazov and Aitbek Zholdoshbek uulu scored three apiece. U.S. captain Ladd Howell accounted for six of the Americans’ seven points.
The Americans first entered kok boru at the World Nomad Games in Kyrgyzstan in 2016, when their opening match ended in a 17–7 defeat to Krasnoyarsk. China beat them 20–4 the following day before Kazakhstan completed their tournament with a 15–5 victory. It was an improvised beginning for a team of American horsemen entering a game that most had barely played before arriving in Central Asia.
They returned in 2018 and again lost heavily to a team representing Russia’s Krasnoyarsk region before putting nine points past Kazakhstan in a 20–9 defeat, at the time their highest score against one of the sport’s major powers. The U.S. kok boru team did not compete when the Games moved to Turkey in 2022.
Astana brought them back in 2024, when host Kazakhstan beat the American side 18–0. Against Turkey, however, the U.S. took a 1–0 lead before Turkey equalized by the end of regulation. Neither side scored during 10 minutes of sudden-death overtime, sending the match to a bullit, a one-on-one shootout in which one rider carries the serke toward the tai kazan while an opponent gives chase from behind. Turkey won 2–1 in the first recorded World Nomad Games kok boru match to be decided this way.
The packed stands remained enthralled as Kyrgyzstan pulled clear. A substantial group of U.S. supporters was visible among the growing Western tourist presence at the Games, while local spectators appeared no less absorbed by American riders who were ultimately emblematic of the West within a sport held so proudly by Kyrgyzstan.
The commentator also briefly drew attention to Team USA’s improvement. Kyrgyz national team player Nurbek Yusupov reached a similar conclusion after the first period, telling Kabar that the Americans had learned the sport well and had “noticeably improved.”
The early American teams were coached by Kyrgyz player Mirlan Srazhdinov, who died during a match in March 2025. Howell and other U.S. players visited his family shortly before this year’s Games.
The team’s repeated journeys to Central Asia are now the subject of an Otter House feature documentary that remains in production, following the American cowboys as they compete in a sport for which there is still little established infrastructure at home.
In Astana, much of the fascination lay in seeing the American cowboys take the field at all. They were still a curiosity in Cholpon-Ata, but this time they scored in every period against the host nation.
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Wednesday’s game was part of Group A, which also includes Russia and Uzbekistan. Russia beat Uzbekistan 9–3 in the group’s other opening match, while Tajikistan defeated Hungary 22–4 in Group B.
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Image: Karen and Howard Bowland[/caption]
Kyrgyzstan next faces Uzbekistan at 15:00 on September 3, while the United States plays Russia at 16:05. The kok boru tournament continues through September 6. The schedule gives both teams little time to recover before returning to the sand.
For more from our World Nomad Games 2026 special coverage, click here.
Bruised but Unbowed: Former TCA Editor Takes on Alysh at World Nomad Games
For Jonathan Campion, a journalist and contributor to The Times of Central Asia, months of anticipation and two weeks of hurried training ended rather more quickly than expected at the World Nomad Games in Cholpon Ata.
Inside the airless Gazprom sports complex on Wednesday, the stands were packed to the rafters as wrestlers competed in Alysh, the traditional Kyrgyz form of belt wrestling. Representing Great Britain, Campion entered both the classic and freestyle competitions.
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Image: TCA[/caption]
The rules leave little room for retreat. Wrestlers remain standing and must keep hold of their opponent’s belt while trying to throw them onto their back. In classic Alysh, wrestlers cannot actively use their legs against an opponent, while freestyle allows trips and other leg techniques. The sport is one of Kyrgyzstan’s oldest traditional forms of wrestling, according to the official rules.
Wearing the green jacket, white trousers, and red belt prescribed by the sport, Campion found himself locked chest-to-chest with opponents who had considerably more experience. His first bout, against a Belarusian wrestler, lasted four seconds. His second, against an Afghan opponent, was shorter still.
Bruised but unbowed after his introduction to competitive Alysh, Campion spoke to The Times of Central Asia about why he entered the Games, what two weeks of preparation could and could not teach him, and what it felt like to march into the opening ceremony as a member of the Great Britain team.
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TCA: Why did you decide to compete in Alysh at the World Nomad Games?
Jonathan Campion: I’ve been to Central Asia a lot, especially Kyrgyzstan. Whenever I’ve been here, people have always wanted to learn about my culture. They’ve wanted to speak in my language and talk to me about the Beatles and English football.
I’ve always felt a little ashamed and embarrassed that British people may not even know where Kyrgyzstan is, and certainly don’t know anything about its culture. I love sport, and I thought a good way to become closer to Kyrgyz culture, and to show people that British people can also take an interest in Kyrgyz culture, would be to participate in these Games.
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Image: TCA[/caption]
TCA: Because you’d never done this before, how did you find the training, and how were your matches?
Jonathan Campion: Before my first fight today, it had only been about two weeks since I really began practicing. I was lucky to find an amazing martial arts teacher in Norwich, where I live, who did absolutely everything he could with me, using his knowledge of judo, taekwondo, and other martial arts. I feel he got me to a point where I had prepared as much as I physically could.
But nothing can prepare you for standing on the mat with a very strong opponent opposite you in a real fight.
TCA: Who did you fight, and what were the scores today?
Jonathan Campion: This morning I fought in the Alysh classic-style tournament. I was drawn against a Belarusian fighter who threw me onto my back and won in four seconds.
This afternoon I entered the freestyle Alysh competition, which basically means you can use your legs as well. I was drawn against an Afghan fighter, Afghanistan’s number one, and he threw me onto my back in, I think, less than one second.
So I’ve had two fights today lasting about five seconds in total.
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Image: TCA[/caption]
TCA: What has your experience been of being on the athlete side rather than the media side?
Jonathan Campion: It’s a word that’s overused, but it’s been a real honor. Firstly, to represent Great Britain at these Games. It’s a privilege just to be able to represent your country, to put on a tracksuit with your country’s flag and your name on it, to be part of the opening ceremony, and then to be part of the parade through the stadium with the Great Britain team.
In terms of my very modest sporting career, it is the absolute highlight of a lifetime.
It’s also been absolutely fantastic to meet athletes from all over the world. In Kyrgyzstan, of all places, I’ve been able to meet and make friends with guys from Indonesia, Malta, Belarus, Afghanistan, Brazil, and Ukraine.
As an event that brings together more than 100 countries, I think it shows something. It’s a cliché that sport brings people together. It’s often used by executives without there really being any meaning behind it. But at these World Nomad Games, it really has brought the world together.
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The World Nomad Games continue across the Issyk-Kul region until September 6, with the closing ceremony on the shore of Lake Issyk-Kul.
For more from our World Nomad Games 2026 special coverage, click here.
SCO Summit Delivers Institutional Reform but Leaves Development Bank Unsettled
Leaders of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization adopted amendments to the bloc's Charter and approved regulations for two security bodies in Bishkek on September 1, but stopped short of launching the proposed SCO Development Bank.
The official outcome list contains 28 documents. They include the Bishkek Declaration marking the SCO's 25th anniversary, a statement on assistance to countries affected by emergencies, and measures covering transport, digital policy, energy, and climate cooperation.
For Kyrgyzstan, which used its fourth chairmanship to press for new financial and emergency response mechanisms, the results were mixed. The emergency statement gave political backing to a Kyrgyz initiative, while the bank remained under negotiation. Kazakhstan then made a competing offer to host its headquarters.
An institutional package
The member states signed a protocol amending the 2002 SCO Charter and approved regulations for the Universal Center for Countering Security Challenges and Threats. They also approved rules for the executive committee of the SCO Anti-Drug Center. The package included programs against drug addiction and synthetic narcotics through 2030, as well as amendments to the 2010 agreement on cooperation against crime.
The decisions continue an institutional reorganization begun at the 2025 Tianjin summit. That meeting approved agreements establishing the Anti-Drug Center in Dushanbe and a Universal Center based on the SCO's existing regional counterterrorism structure in Tashkent.
President Sadyr Japarov said the organization should remain free of bloc politics and confrontation. He called for the rapid launch of the Universal Center and said Bishkek had prepared the conditions for an SCO center against transnational organized crime. Opening the meeting, he said the anniversary should become the start of a new phase for the organization.
Bank progress, but no launch
The Bishkek Declaration records progress toward creating an SCO Development Bank among interested member states during Kyrgyzstan's chairmanship, though the wording is qualified. The summit did not produce a founding agreement, capital commitment, or a launch date.
Japarov urged members to reach a practical decision on the bank and invited them to use Kyrgyzstan's Tamchy Special Financial Investment Territory for joint projects. Kyrgyzstan had already proposed Bishkek as the bank's headquarters.
However, Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev used his summit address to make a rival offer. Kazakhstan supports directing the proposed bank's resources toward infrastructure, technology, and industry, he said. "If there is consensus among the member states, Kazakhstan could host this institution, its headquarters," Tokayev said in the official transcript.
The two bids underline how much remains unresolved. Members reached political consensus to establish the bank in Tianjin last year, but its membership, governance, capital, and location are still being negotiated.
Kyrgyz emergency initiative advances
The heads of state adopted a separate statement on assistance to countries affected by emergencies. Kyrgyzstan had spent its chairmanship promoting an SCO assistance mechanism and, in May, sought support for a special account to finance emergency aid after major natural disasters.
The statement's adoption is a clear political success for Bishkek. Its published title does not establish whether members accepted the proposed special account or how assistance would be funded. Those details will depend on the full statement and implementing rules.
Transport, digital policy, and climate
The summit also approved a 2026-2030 roadmap for ports and logistics centers. Japarov again highlighted the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway as a major practical project, while Tokayev proposed an SCO transport-connectivity strategy through 2035 and a single digital transit platform.
The digital package included a 2026-2028 international information-security plan and a concept for regional data processing, computing, and artificial intelligence centers. Governments also signed separate memoranda on AI and cooperation in the information sphere, with Japarov warning that unequal access to technology should not become a new dividing line between member states.
On the environment, members adopted a biodiversity initiative and a 2026-2031 action plan, alongside a 2026-2030 Green Technology Corridor. A memorandum on climate cooperation was signed, but no dedicated agreement on water management, glaciers, or the proposed SCO Water Problems Analysis Center appeared in the 28-document list.
Iran, Afghanistan, and the missing language on Ukraine
The declaration retained strong political language on Iran. It condemned military strikes on Iranian territory, backed Iran's sovereignty, and offered condolences over the death of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. It also opposed unilateral coercive measures that conflict with the UN Charter and international law.
On Afghanistan, members supported an independent, neutral, and peaceful state free of terrorism, war, and drugs. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said stability in Afghanistan was closely connected to security across Eurasia and called for the new SCO security centers to become practical instruments for coordinated action. In his summit address, he also demanded an end to double standards on terrorism and said connectivity projects must respect sovereignty and territorial integrity.
Ukraine was not mentioned in the declaration, but the sharpest public line on the war came from Modi’s bilateral meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. “Every day spent on war pushes humanity backwards, whereas every step taken towards peace fills humanity with new hope and enthusiasm,” Modi said. “We need to move from endless war to an end to the war, to a cessation of hostilities.” Putin replied that Russia was moving along that path, according to a Kremlin transcript.
Summit diplomacy beyond the declaration
The multilateral meeting followed a dense bilateral program. Xi Jinping and Japarov signed a joint declaration on their countries' comprehensive strategic partnership and a treaty on permanent good-neighborliness, friendship, and cooperation. Their talks once again placed the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway at the center of the economic relationship.
Xi told the summit to prioritize development and security, while Modi pressed for cooperation built around security, connectivity, and opportunity. The differences inside the organization remained visible: the declaration carried hard language on Iran, omitted Ukraine, and recorded progress on the bank without resolving how it will work or where it will be based.
Pakistan now assumes the SCO chairmanship for 2026-2027 and is expected to host the next Council of Heads of State summit in Islamabad. Bishkek leaves it with an enlarged institutional structure and a long list of sectoral programs. But the Development Bank, potentially the SCO's most consequential economic institution, is still a project rather than an operating lender.
World Nomad Games Return Home as Kyrgyzstan Welcomes World Leaders
Few periods since independence have put Kyrgyzstan so squarely in the international spotlight. On August 31, the country marked 35 years of independence, opened the sixth World Nomad Games, and prepared to host a Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit that has brought more than a dozen foreign leaders to Bishkek.
The Games themselves were back where they began. Kyrgyzstan launched the World Nomad Games in 2014 and staged the first three editions at Cholpon Ata before the event moved to Turkey in 2022 and Kazakhstan in 2024. This year's Games run through September 6, with The Times of Central Asia reporting from Bishkek and Issyk-Kul throughout the week in our special coverage.
The opening took place at the new Bishkek Arena, rising out of the dust on the southwestern edge of the capital near the foothills of the Kyrgyz Ala-Too Range. Around 30,000 spectators attended the ceremony. The stadium will eventually hold more than 51,000, but it is not formally due to open until October 5.
The Games opened while work on the arena was still underway, with parts of the building still looking unfinished. In the weeks before the ceremony, horses had circled the arena floor during rehearsals while drilling continued around them. By the time the spectators arrived, the construction site had become the biggest show in town.
Before the politics and pageantry, there was pop. Kyrgyzstan put many of its best-known performers on stage in a concert that at times had a distinctly Eurovision feel. Energetic hosts introduced a succession of singers and rappers while tightly choreographed dancers moved between traditional dress and contemporary styling.
The lineup included Bayastan, Malika Dina, Erlan Andashev, Begish, and others, but veteran singer Baktiyar Toktorov received the loudest reaction. When he launched into "Yza," known almost universally by its "Bui-Bui" refrain, spectators rose from their seats and sang with him. Even some of the security guards joined in. The refrain does not demand many words, but almost everybody in the arena seemed to know them.
The new stadium also showed some early teething problems, with concession stands running out of bottled water and food as crowds built.
After the concert, the momentum disappeared. The audience waited for around 90 minutes while footage of arriving dignitaries played on the giant screens. The reason for the pause soon became clear, as one motorcade after another delivered guests for the formal ceremony.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, and Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko were among those in the stands. The presidents of Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan also attended, along with leaders and senior officials from elsewhere in Asia, the Caucasus, and Africa. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres was among the international guests.
One expected heavyweight was missing. Chinese President Xi Jinping, in Bishkek for a state visit and the SCO summit, had been due to attend the opening. Presidential spokesman Askat Alagozov said Xi had stayed away because of the deadly flooding and landslides in Tibet, where rescue operations were continuing. His bilateral meetings in Kyrgyzstan were to proceed as planned.
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Once the dignitaries had taken their seats, the parade began. More than 3,000 athletes from 104 countries entered the arena behind their national flags, including 517 from Kyrgyzstan. Visiting leaders stood or waved as their delegations passed. The biggest roar of the night came when the home team entered, and the stands erupted in national pride.
The ceremony then shifted into a vast theatrical retelling of Kyrgyz history and legend. Swirling graphics covered the arena floor as galloping horses and trick riders crossed the stadium. Performers drew on the equestrian traditions that will feature in competition at Issyk-Kul, while mass choreography, music, and fireworks pushed the show deep into the night.
President Sadyr Japarov used his speech to bind the Games to Independence Day and the diplomatic gathering around them.
"Our foundation is independence, and our roots are in nomadic civilization," he said. "Our chosen course is international friendship and partnership, and our future lies in building a developed, strong new Kyrgyzstan."
Japarov said the confluence of the Games and the SCO gathering carried a wider meaning. "At one event, state leaders seek paths to peace and cooperation through dialogue; at the other, the peoples of the world draw closer through sport and culture," he said. "At the heart of both are humanity's highest values: peace and friendship."
Japarov also used the ceremony to advertise the government's development agenda, singling out the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway, and saying its construction would "change perceptions of Kyrgyzstan's geopolitical role." He also highlighted the Kambar-Ata-1 hydropower project and announced that Russia had formally expressed its readiness to host the seventh World Nomad Games in Tatarstan in 2028.
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For all the visiting presidents and geopolitical messaging, the strongest moments belonged to the crowd: thousands singing an old pop hit together, the explosion of noise for the Kyrgyz team, and horses thundering across the floor of a stadium that was a building site only weeks earlier.
The Games now move to Issyk-Kul, where the sporting, cultural, and scientific programs continue through September 6. For Kyrgyzstan, the opening night was only the beginning of an unusually crowded week on the world stage.
For more from our World Nomad Games 2026 special coverage, click here.
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