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UNDP Launches Course on Gender Issues in Turkmenistan

Turkmenportal has reported that the United Nations Development Programme is launching a specialized online course on gender issues for Turkmenistan's civil servants. The course will cover topics such as basic gender definitions, international standards, gender in public policy, gender analysis tools, local gender stereotypes, strategies for achieving gender equality, national frameworks, the prevention of gender-based violence, and engaging men in efforts to promote gender equality. Training will be offered in English, Russian, and Turkmen, and will include texts, quizzes, presentations, and other content to aimed at providing the necessary knowledge and skills to promote gender equality in the workplace. The course is expected to provide civil servants with a comprehensive understanding of gender equality concepts and international standards, enhance their ability to integrate gender aspects into public policy, and enable them to actively promote gender-responsible governance. As Tomica Paovic, the UNDP Resident Representative in Turkmenistan, noted, mainstreaming gender issues and awareness into civil servants' work is crucial to promoting equality, enhancing policy effectiveness, and ensuring sustainable development. "We are confident that this important initiative, supported by the UNDP's partner, the Government of Canada, will strengthen the country's capacity for gender equality and women's empowerment, in line with the National Action Plans on Human Rights and Gender Equality in Turkmenistan," Paovic stated.

Culture Sports Cycling Tour de France

Astana Qazaqhstan Team’s Stellar Rise from the Ashes

On July 4, the official website of the National Olympic Committee of the Republic of Kazakhstan announced that Astana Qazaqstan Team member, Mark Cavendish, won the fifth stage of the Tour de France. Winning the Tour for the 35th time, Cavendish surpassed the previous record set by Eddy Merckx and demonstrating the management's rise from recent troubles, his victory revived his team's former glory. Two names Alexander Vinokurov and Danial Akhmetov are the two cyclists who first turned the spotlight on the Astana Qazaqstan Team. In May 2006, "Operation Puerto", the code name of the Spanish police investigation into the doping system in cycling, led by Dr. Eufemiano Fuentes, resulted in a series of searches and arrests involving numerous cyclists. The implication of the Spanish team Liberty Seguros-Würth, of which Kazakh cyclists Alexander Vinokurov and Andrey Kashechkin were key members, led to its sponsors' withdrawal. Vinokurov sought assistance from the then Prime Minister and head of the Cycling Federation of Kazakhstan, Danial Akhmetov. With support from the latter, the Astana team was established that year and Vinokurov celebrated by winning the Vuelta a España, with Kashechkin finishing third. Scandals, intrigues, investigations The first scandal broke out immediately. When the owner of the ProTour license, which belonged to Liberty Seguros-Würth, refused to sell it to Astana, the team submitted an application to the International Cycling Union. The initial response from the IUW was that it could not guarantee the license until the 2007 Tour. Meanwhile, organizers assured Astana that it would be allowed to participate in major international competitions and on December 20, 2006, the team was granted a four-year license. In July 2007, a doping scandal broke at the Tour de France, at the centre of which, was Astana's team leader , Alexander Vinokurov. A test performed after his winning a stage of the classic race showed the presence of different types of red cells in his blood, indicative of a blood transfusion prior to competing, and Vinokourov was disqualified for two years. Andrei Kashechkin was similarly caught and during the second season, two more Astana athletes, suspected of doping, were likewise suspended from racing. All these troubles led to the Kazakh team's absence from the 2008 Tour de France season in the Giro d'I and other Grand Tours. By then, the team was under the direction of Johan Brunel renowned for bringing on winner of the Tour de France, Alberto Contador, and many other strong riders. Both Johan Brunel and Alexander Vinokurov were connected with the doping scandal that followed in 2009. As soon as his disqualification period had expired the famous rider intended to return to "Astana triumphantly." Brunel invited American cyclist Lance Armstrong to Astana to pair with Contador. He persistently objected, however, to the contract with Vinokurov and Kashechkin. Ultimately, he left the team, unable to withstand the confrontation with the famous Kazakh. Armstrong and most of the team went after him, and Contador's contract was delayed for another year. The outcome of the scandals forced...

UNESCO Culture Azerbaijan Heritage Cultural Heritage

Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan Nominate Traditional Craft of ‘Guram’ for UNESCO Cultural Heritage List

Turkmenistan's National Commission to UNESCO is actively working towards the international promotion of the country's cultural heritage and in collaboration with Azerbaijan, has nominated the patchwork art of 'guram' for inclusion in the List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. Regarding the move, Chinar Rustemova, Executive Secretary of the National Commission of Turkmenistan for UNESCO, stated, "We have also started talks with the Turkic History and Culture Foundation of the Republic of Turkey (TURKTAV) on cooperation in popularizing the cultural heritage of the Turkmen people in the Turkic world. The plans include expanding exhibition and library activities and organizing specific events within the framework of the regional project 'Our Heritage' proposed by the Turkmen side." It should be noted that this year, on the initiative of Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, and Iran, preparations are underway to nominate "Traditions of making cradles and singing cradle songs" for inclusion in the List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

Culture Literature poetry

Kazakh Poet Bakhyt Kenzheev Dies at 74

Bakhyt Kenzheev, a famous poet from Kazakhstan, has died at the age of 74 after a long illness. Kenzheev was born in 1950 in Shymkent, Kazakhstan, studied at the Faculty of Chemistry of Moscow State University, and debuted as a poet in 1977. His works were published in the leading publications of the Soviet Union — including Komsomolskaya Pravda, Yunost, Moskovsky Komsomolets. In 1982, Kenzheev emigrated to Canada, and in 2008, to the United States. He is the author of more than 20 books of poetry and prose books, and was honored with the Anti-Booker, Moscow Transit and Russian Prize, and was twice nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature. Kenzheev himself considered himself a true Kazakh. "I was taken from Kazakhstan as a three-year-old, I grew up in Moscow, I am a Russian poet, my mother is Russian, but I am Kazakh. It never occurred to me to take a pseudonym and become, for example, Boris Karasev. People say to me: 'You don't speak Kazakh.' I don't care, and I feel that way," Kenzheev stated in one of his interviews.

Culture

Uzbekistan to Present Silk Roads Exhibition at British Museum

An exhibition dedicated to The Silk Roads will open at the British Museum in September 2024. Great Britain's grandest museum will show artefacts from Uzbekistan's museum collections. Exhibits will include one of the world's oldest chess pieces, and a monumental wall painting from the Hall of Ambassadors in Samarkand's ancient quarter, Afrosiyab. The Foundation for the Development of Culture and Art of Uzbekistan will present 14 exhibits from the Samarkand State Museum and the State Museum of Art of Uzbekistan. Among them will be a wall painting of the Red Hall of the Varakhsh Palace, an ossuarium with a lid, a silver dish with Sogdian inscriptions, a jug from Kafir-Kala, and other unique archaeological finds, demonstrating the importance of Central Asia in the history of the Silk Road. "Massive in scope and vast in geographical coverage, the Silk Roads exhibition will demonstrate how the movement of people, objects, and ideas along the Silk Roads helped shape culture and history. The project will focus on the defining period of their history, from 500 to 1000 AD," a statement from the culture foundation explains. The Silk Roads exhibition will be on view at the Sainsbury Exhibition Gallery at the British Museum from 26 September 2024 to 23 February 2025.

Tourism Culture

Kazakhstan: Preconceived Notions and Changed Minds

When I received the email stating that I had received a fellowship to move to Almaty, Kazakhstan, to teach English for a year, I nearly fell out of my office chair in Midtown Manhattan. I worked in a market research company fresh out of college but knew I needed to do something more exciting in my early 20s. I began studying Russian when I was 13 years old. I’m unsure what the exact catalyst for my language endeavor was. Still, coupled with my Ukrainian ancestry, Putin’s annexation of Crimea, and the Sochi Olympics, it seemed like a no-brainer to me. At this point in my life, I lived outside of Boston, Massachusetts, and began taking Russian classes on Saturdays in Brookline to satiate my desire to learn. After a year of classes, I enrolled in a Russian language immersion camp in Bemidji, Minnesota, for three summers. Following that, I received a grant from the US State Department to immerse myself in the culture for a summer in Narva, Estonia. I knew where and what I wanted to study after graduating high school. I started my studies at the Elliott School of International Affairs at George Washington University in Washington, DC, declared a major in international affairs with a minor in Russian language and literature, and never looked back. After graduation, my plans were in the air. I had been looking into opportunities to move to Russia or Ukraine, but this was now off the table due to the war. I worked in New York to get sorted, earn money, and start a new chapter of my life. At some point in April 2023, I received an email from a fellowship I had applied for in October 2022. I was initially placed on the waitlist, but I was notified that I had been accepted for the 2023-2024 cohort to relocate to Almaty, Kazakhstan. “Oh my god,” I said at my desk. My coworker asked me what had happened. I said, “I’m moving to Kazakhstan. “Kazakhstan, like Borat’s Kazakhstan?” she asked. [caption id="attachment_19278" align="aligncenter" width="370"] Horses graze along the way to Furmanov Peak – Almaty, KZ[/caption] Preconceived notions After the excitement had settled and my family and friends were informed of my plans, questions began to arise. “Why Kazakhstan?” “Is it safe there?” “Is that next to Serbia?” “Does the Taliban rule Kazakhstan?” It is shocking how little most Americans know about the 9th largest country on the planet. Spanning two continents with nearly 20 million people, most Americans only know Kazakhstan from Sasha Baron Cohen’s 2006 film, Borat, and nothing more. When they hear the word “Kazakhstan,” they picture a backward and socially undeveloped post-communist country in which people commute by donkey carts, are misogynistic, and are openly antisemitic. While the depiction of Kazakh culture is inherently incorrect, the message is stuck, and the film has become synonymous with Kazakhstan in the American mind. However, most Americans probably can’t find it on the map. I explained, “Kazakhstan is in Central Asia,...