OCA MAGAZINE #22 Summer 2016

OCA MAGAZINE

[ EURASIA ]

THE BIG INTERVIEW: MINTIMER SHAYMIEV FIRST PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF TATARSTAN THE ARCTIC ZONE OF THE SILK ROAD SUPPORTING CLOSER TIES BETWEEN EUROPEAN AND EURASIAN UNION: AN OPEN LETTER FROM THE RUSSIAN EMBASSY IN LONDON V LITERARY CONTEST “OPEN EURASIA AND CENTRAL ASIA BOOK FORUM & LITERATURE FESTIVAL – 2016” EURASIAN CREATIVE GUILD LAUNCHED

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BUILDING LANDBRIDGE WITH EURASIA

Friendly Steppes: A Silk Road Journey chronicles an extraordinary adventure that led intrepid traveller Nick Rowan to some of the world’s most incredible and hidden places: from Venice through Eastern Europe, still recovering from brutal warfare; on to Turkey, the gateway to Asia, and much-misunderstood Iran; across the exotic steppes of Central Asia, emerging from Soviet domination; and finally into a rapidly developing yet still mysterious China. Intertwined with the majesty of 2000 years of Silk Road history, Friendly Steppes recounts not only the author’s travels but the remarkable impact that this trade route has had on modern culture.

Containing colourful stories and characters, wrapped in the local myths and legends told by the people who live along the route today, this is both an entertaining travelogue and inspiring introduction to a part of the world that has largely remained hidden from Western eyes for hundreds of years but is on the verge of retaking its central role on the international stage.

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EXPERIENCES OF MODERN KAZAKHSTAN

The modern Kazakhstan is a country with a rapidly growing economy, a stable political system and a unique culture. During its 550 years of established statehood history, the country has played a key role in implementing the main geopolitical mission - assistance in integration and formation of a common space of peace and creativeness in the Great Steppe. Over the years of independence, Kazakhstan has seen unparalleled progress, having become an example of stable growth and stability. Today, Kazakhstan has taken a centre stage as a dynamic leader in the Eurasian region. The country is a home for over 100 various ethnic groups, it contributes to expansion of inter-religious dialogue, as well as playing a key role in ensuring regional and global security.

Kazakhstan is a real must visit place with wonderful places. It boasts emerald green pine forests and miles of big canyons. The mountains host a variety of adventures in every season from skiing, snowboarding, and skating to hiking, riding and camping. Apart from varied and stunning natural beauty, the country also boasts its vibrant cities and rich traditions.

Kazakhstan is on its way to establish a strong, transparent and accountable state are based on the common national idea – ‘Mangilik El’ (Eternal Nation), which serves as a powerful basis for building a new Kazakhstan in the 21st century.

Available on Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.com

ISBN: 978-1-910886-17-5

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF NICK ROWAN PUBLISHER MARAT AKHMEDJANOV

OCA MAGAZINE 22/ 2 SUMMER ON COVER: M. SHAIMIEV AND IRINA BOKOVA DIRECTOR OF UNESCO (SEE P. 6) MAGAZINE PUBLISHED BY EURASIAN CREATIVE GUILD

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DEPUTY EDITOR ALEKSANDRA VLASOVA DESIGN ALEXANDRA REY EDITORIAL TEAM GARETH STAMP RAZA SYED CHRISTOPHER SCHWARTZ, SHAMIL AKMEDJANOV, ANNA SUSLOVA CONTRIBUTORS ALEKSANDRA VLASOVA, XANDER CASEY, DAVID PARRY, ANNA LARI CHRISTOPHER SCHWARTZ, ABROR KURBANOV, ALEKSANDER YAKOVENKO, THE IMAM OF THE ABDUL KERIM SATUQ BOGRA KHAN MOSQUE, PROF. DR.VLADIMIR I. IONESOV GARETH STAMP, TATIANA LARI ANASTASSIYA PALAGUTINA, DAUREN TOLEUKHANOV, ZARINA KADYLBEK, STEPHEN M. BLAND, DR. KHADIJA ASADOVA, EUGENETTE MORIN, YERKENAZ ARINOVA VLADIMIR REMYGA

Disclaimer : The information contained in this publication is for general information purposes only. The information is provided by Open Central Asia and while we endeavour to ensure the information up to date and correct, we make no representations or warranties of any kind, express or implied, about the completeness, accuracy, reliability or suitability of the information, products, services, or related graphics represented for any purpose. Any reliance you place on such information is therefore strictly at your own risk.

All authors provide their own material and any opinions contained within are solely those of the authors and do not neccessarily represent the views or opinions of Open Central Asia. We publish these views as part of our provision of a forum for discussion and readers should be aware that the views may contrast each other in the pursuit of this aim. In no event will we be liable for any loss or damage including without limitation, indirect or consequential loss or damage, or any loss or damage whatsoever arising from loss of data or profits arising out of, or in connection with, the use of material contained within this publication.

Special gratitude for cooperation and support to Embassy of Azerbaijan to the UK. Embassy of Kazakhstan to the UK. Embassy of Tajikistan to the UK. Embassy of Kyrgyzstan to the UK.

FROM THE EDITOR Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan don’t celebrate the holiday. Kazakhstan celebrates May Day rather than International Workers Day. It might strike you as being obvious that these countries wouldn’t want to hanker back to the days of Communism by celebrating such an obviously communistic holiday, but the region still shares so much with its former governor that I still find it surprising.

I write this editorial from the Russian city of St Petersburg, where, thanks to the delights of the Russian holiday system, we have a very long weekend to celebrate both the orthodox Easter and the public holiday of May 1st – International Workers Day. Walking to breakfast in the May sunshine in this wonderfully European city, the streets are eerily quiet. Most traffic has been prohibited from entering the wide Nevsky Prospekt that provides one of the city’s main arteries. Policemen stand twenty metres apart, watching the crowds of pedestrians, carrying placards and flags and making their way to a rally that will ultimately wend its way across the city.

Unfortunately I didn’t have time to wait for the crowds to gather, but it got me wondering about the origins of Labour Day, as it is something that the UK does not celebrate with a public holiday nor with any of the fanfare that Russia and many other countries across the world choose to. The day is a relatively new phenomenon that arose in the late 19th century as trade union and labour

movements began to grow in number and power, deciding that there should be a day set aside to celebrate labour – I am not sure if this was an ironic move given that it is celebrated by doing the exact opposite, but it has been ingrained in many countries across the world as the cause for a day off.

In fact, in Russia, the holiday was celebrated illegally until the February Revolution in 1917. Only during the days of the Soviet Union did it become an elaborate affair marked with parades and, only during the cold war did these parades turn to showcasing heavy weaponry and artillery (today reserved for the 9th May Victory Day holiday). Today the holiday is called “The Day of Spring and Labour”, but none of the pomp and circumstance has disappeared.

As I did my research, I naively assumed that the Central Asian countries would still celebrate this day, despite their independence from the Soviet Union, but a quick look at the map suggested that much of the Caucasus region and

With Open Central Asia Magazine’s wider integration and coverage of the region, this issue takes a focused look on the Tatar autonomous region within Russia and has a wonderful interview with its former President. We also explore the reality of integration versus separation of the Central Asian states from Russia and the region’s potential modelling on and co-operation with the EU – which leaves me of course to mention that whilst the Central Asian region might be looking at closer integration, there is a significant vote in the UK on 23rd June that may result in the exact opposite should the UK vote to leave and if that then causes an exodus of EU nations. This theme is something we will follow up in the next issue!

Meanwhile the date and location for the 5th Open Eurasia and Central Asia Book Forum and literature festival is soon to be announced, so please do keep an eye on the website for this exciting event.. If the magazine has a more Russian feel, then indeed it is intended to remind us of the close links and importance of Russia for the region.

Enjoy the issue.

Yours, Nick Rowan Editor-in-Chief

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THE BIG INTERVIEW: MINTIMER SHAYMIEV FIRST PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF TATARSTAN 6

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Born in 1937, Mintimer Shaymiev was the first person to hold the title of President of Tatarstan, an autonomous republic within Russia, when he was elected in 1991. An ethnic Tatar, he was relected three times serving until 2010. His background is nothing extraordinary, hailing from the village of Anyakovo, in the Aktanyshsky District of the Tatar ASSR. Later he graduated from the Kazan Agricultural Institute in 1959, and worked as an agricultural engineer, joining the communist party only in 1963 where he was deputy head of the regional agricultural department.

His rise through the ranks was steady and by 1983 he was the first deputy chair of the Tatar Council of Ministers, before becoming first secretary of Tatarstan’s Communist Party organization in 1989. In April 1990 he was elected speaker of Tatarstan’s Supreme Soviet who later that year proclaimed the sovereignty of Tatarstan that led to his election as President in 1991. His tenure brought about great change and freedoms for the Tatar people as they emerged a separate autonomous region within Russia, but by 2010 he felt a new generation of leadership was required and, proposed to then President Dmitry Medvedev that Rustam Minnikhanov was his preferred successor who took the helm on January 27th 2010. Open Central Asia had the privilege of finding out more.

OCA: Mintimer Sharipovich, please tell us a little about you and what are you doing now?

Mintimer Sharipovich: After retiring from the post of President of Tatarstan, I became State Counselor of the Republic of Tatarstan. This status is stated in our law, which was specially adopted in March 2010 by the State Council.

The position was established for the full use of the experience and knowledge of the President of the Republic for the good of the republic. Within my power I do have the right to initiate legislation. I think the existing forms of interaction between the leaders of the higher authorities of the republic are quite effective. Therefore, a special need for active participation in the daily management of the republic is not required. Sometimes I meet with the President of the Republic and exchange views on current issues as well as the longer-term problems.

Nowadays I mainly focus on realizing a large-scale project to revive the ancient town of Bolgar and the island-town of Sviyazhsk located in the territory of the republic, on the beautiful banks of the great river Volga.

Personally, in my daily routine, almost nothing has changed, except that I have

one more day off! At the beginning I could not get used to the fact that on Saturday I do not go to work. With this new free time one of my dreams came true which is that I got a dog. He is a West Siberian husky puppy named Mahmaem, which is the nickname from a poem of our great poet Tukai. We have long walks with him on weekends.

And as always, every day I go swimming as well as keeping up sailing, in which during the past year I sailed 540 kilometers. Of course, my life passion is chess. And I still visit games and watch sports on TV. I love sport: football, hockey, biathlon, basketball and volleyball. I have always paid great attention to the development of sport and for Tatarstan to become recognisable throughout the world for its sporting achievements. We founded the hockey team, “Ak Bars”, a football team, “Rubin”, a basketball team, UNICS, volleyball teams, “Zenit-Kazan” and “Dinamo-Kazan” and others. We successfully hosted the World Summer Universiade in 2013 and the World Championships in Aquatic games in 2014. In the capital of the republic, Kazan, we completed the construction of a modern football stadium, which will be a host to the World Cup games in 2018. Only through sport can unite people! In my opinion, there is no more powerful ideology than sport.

OCA: Tell us more about the project for the restoration of monuments of Tatarstan in the ancient towns of Bolgar and Sviyazhsk?

MS: It was my old dream and I’m glad I have the opportunity to realise it now.

At the end of 2009, when I decided to leave the post of President of the Republic, I described the history and significance of these monuments to Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin, and explained that the funds allocated by the federal budget for the preservation of monuments was not enough to prevent their natural degradation. The idea of the revival of Bolgar and Sviyazhsk was supported by the country’s leadership.

We agreed to solve the problem of the restoration of these historical objects by equal funding from the federal and republican budgets.

And in March 2010 we started the revival of the ancient Bulgar (a Muslim civilisation of the tenth century), and the island-town of Sviyazhsk (an Orthodox civilization of the sixteenth century).

For our country, where national and inter-religious values are honoured, this is especially important and I sit as the Chairman of the Board of Trustees for this “Revival” fund. We did same when we restored the Kazan Kremlin. The success of the project has identified

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widespread support, thanks to which the revival of heritage has become a national cause. The Republican Fund “Revival” has as its motto, “from the heart and to the heart” and is supported by people of different professions, different ages, different ethnicity and religious affiliation.

A huge contribution to the project comes from investors of large-scale enterprises, which have committed themselves to the restoration of historical objects as well as the creation of infrastructure to benefit local residents.World experts on the protection of cultural monuments are part of the International Expert Council that is headed by the rector of Kazan Federal University Ilshat Gafurov.

I must say that this cause has completely engulfed me. Over the past six years, much has been done and the case for the revival of historical and architectur-

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al monuments of the cities Bolgar and Sviyazhsk is gradually coming to the end. We have achieved international recognition from the World Heritage Committee and the UNESCO World Heritage List. But in my opinion, the most important thing is that the revival projects make us spiritually richer, and as I always say, “our society finds spirituality”.

OCA: Mintimer Sharipovich, you were President of Tatarstan for nearly twenty years. During this time Tatarstan reached new heights, both in politics and in social and economic development as well as in the cultural sphere.

What would you say has been your greatest achievement?

MS: I think the main achievement is that over the years we have managed to raise the authority of Tatar people and strengthen the national consciousness. All the events of the post-Soviet

years have proved that the Tatars are a peaceful, creative people, who have played a huge role in maintaining the integrity of the Russian Federation. It has cardinally changed the attitude to our people. Compared to other nations, the attitude to Tatars has often been ambiguous. The whole ideology of the Soviet Union and the history books unfairly interpreted the role of the Golden Horde and the Tatar-Mongol irruption.

In the life of Tatarstan’s people there have been many positive changes. We managed to hold large-scale international events that allow our multinational country to become more recognisable in the world. We reached inter-ethnic and inter-confessional consent in Tatarstan.

Tatarstan’s socio-economic policy is aimed at improving the living standards of the population, bringing it closer to

European standards. It has allowed us to realise complex large-scale social projects in the hard post-Soviet years, such as the Programme of liquidation of wreck housing, make available social mortgages and provide the gasification of settlements among many others.The celebration of the 1000th anniversary of Kazan in 2005 and the holding of the 2013 Summer Universiade were a couple of these successful projects that improved the quality of life in Tatarstan and created a positive image of Tatarstan across the world.

live in every federal state of Russia. Scientists and anthropologists acknowledge that it is not only such qualities as diligence and inventiveness, but also a unique phenomenon of Tatars - tolerance. Throughout our history, Tatars did not initiate any conflict on ethnic and religious grounds. It’s real, tolerance is a fixed part of the Tatar national character. Today, when the world is open to us, we are open to the world and it is possible, perhaps, that there is no country in the world, where no Tatars live.

Of course, today we have new approaches to the solution of contemporary problems on the basis of what has been achieved in recent years. This is largely a departure from dependence on raw materials, the creation of innovative products, based on the available scientific, technical and industrial potential of the republic. A prime example is a satellite city of Kazan, Innopolis, which is one of the few new Russian cities.We call it Science City. It was created for the development of innovative IT and high technology within a special economic zone.

Since the beginning of the post-Soviet years Tatars living abroad rushed to us to see their native land with their own eyes. Therefore, by Republic of Tatarstan Presidential Decree in June 1992 the First Congress of the World Congress of Tatars (WCT) was convened, in which we decided to establish the organisation “World Congress of Tatars” and its executive committee. The congress was attended by delegates from Tatarstan, the Russian Federation, CIS countries and abroad.

Since then, this has provided the main link between us and Tatars living in the Russian regions as well as in the near and far abroad.

In general, the creative work of Tatarstan over the last twenty-five years has allowed us to introduce to the world community a successful “Model of Tatarstan” as an example of a unique way of state-building within the framework of the Russian Federation.This direction remains unchanged even today, in the new socio-political situation in the country.

OCA: How do you keep in touch with Tatars who live abroad?

MS: We, Tatars, are one of the most mobile people. We have a very popular proverb, “Hereketke - bereket”, which means “In mobility is well-being”.

Therefore, at the present time Tatars

Congress of Tatars” unites 140 Tatar national-cultural organisations in the near and far abroad. Our main aim is unite the Tatar nation around positive goals and creative tasks of their historical homeland - the Republic of Tatarstan and, in general, the Russian Federation.

The WCT regularly holds its congresses, they were held in 1992, 1997, 2002, 2007 and 2012, as well as major forums with the involvement of various categories of Russian Tatar population abroad. For example, in many foreign countries, there are official representatives of Tatarstan, who, on behalf of the Republic, assist in the organisation of the “Sabantuy” national holiday in foreign countries. Therefore, in recent years, this festival has become a global phenomenon, recognised by all peoples of the countries in which Tatars live.

Tatarstan has significant experience in supporting the Tatar diaspora abroad.

This activity is carried out within the framework of Russian state policy in support of compatriots, in accordance with Article 14 of the Constitution of the Republic, according to which “The Republic of Tatarstan will assist in the development of national culture, language and preservation of the identity of Tatars living outside the Republic of Tatarstan”. The work of the executive committee of the WCT with foreign compatriots coordinates with the International Affairs and Human Rights Commission. Today, the International Union of Public Associations “World

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Much is being done and on the state line. From the first years of my presidency, we laid a good tradition: in each foreign country we visited on official business I met with representatives of the Tatar diaspora. Now this tradition has successfully continued with the current President of the Republic, Rustam Minnikhanov. This means that our compatriots have the opportunity to address their requests and suggestions directly to the first person of the country. At the instruction of Rustam Minnikhanov we opened a unique internet project of distance learning for the Tatar language “Mother tongue” as well as several educational portals, such as “Belem.ru” and Tatar Social Network “Tatar Ile”.

In earlier times, we even could not even dream about these achievements. I remember when we saw our compatriots from abroad in the early 90s when they arrived at the first Congress of Tatars.

And now the world is open - to communicate, share experiences, ask advice, to meet and to cooperate!

OCA: We know how sincerely admired your work is by Ravil Bukharaev, but what do you think about his work and about him as a person?

MS: We are proud of Ravil Bukharaev.

He is a worthy son of the Tatar people.

He may be in the last years of his life, living and working away from homeland, in a completely different cultural environment, but, despite this, it is not easy to find a man more Tartar than Ravil Bukharaev. And not only because of his brilliant poetry and prose that are always present showing the native images of Kazan and Tatarstan. By showing the world the verses of our great poet, Gabdulla Tukai, and other classical poets, and our story in English, he has actively promoted our history and culture to the entire planet. Of

course, this is a fine example of loyalty to his people, his religion and role model for the younger generation. I like especially his translations of the Tukai poems. Tukai was translated and converted by many prominent poets, but Ravil, knowing the Tatar language perfectly, translated these immortal poems into Russian and English directly and thus preserved the national character and profound wisdom. He had all his life followed the instructions of the great Tukai, which in his own translation is: “Love life, love the motherland and all that which is related to the life of your native people”, that is worthy of deep respect and admiration.

I am glad that I was lucky enough to not only communicate with him, but also to be the hero of his books. Even during his lifetime, I repeatedly thanked him for his interest in my work as the first President of Tatarstan. His view on the recent history of his native land has uncovered new meanings and aspects of important events for the republic, in which I had to directly take part. Ravil Bukharaev is a unique human. His talent has absorbed a big world, but at the same time, he has managed to keep a touching love for his roots and to his homeland.

MY HOMELAND, OH MY CRIMEA

BY LENIFER MAMBETOVA The hands of our ancestors are ever active.

Weaving, as they do, their signs and marks into everything manifest. Hardly a surprise, on reflection, since the departed have always heavily outnumbered those presently surrounding us.

Yet, realizing the unending power of our forebears may shock unwary observers, while openly unsettling the faint of heart. After all, ancestral influences can take challengingly repellent, unrepentantly grotesque, or even divinely aesthetic expression. All meaning, on the level of the Global Text, poets usually fall into a necessary burlesque when such spectres appear in verse.

Or, contrarily, feel compelled to adopt an overly tragic attitude in order to ward-off their threatening atmospheres. Be either of these errors as they may, the secret power of ancestry is still found in the unlimited semiosis it incarnates in our own lives. A process referentially labelling, as well as cleverly inducing, creative identity. Indeed, not to admit these traditional benefits as an honest (but nevertheless scripted) engagement with ourselves remains the real problem. Although flatly denying literary significations of this kind is cultural blindness to say the very least. Themes, so stated, clearly explored in my own work and unexpectedly shared by the remarkable poetess Lenifer Mambetova. In which case, introducing My Homeland, Oh My Crimea in its first English edition is not simply an honour, but also a reminder of our common humanity. Moreover, as the first Crimean-Tartar poetry collection ever published in the English-speaking world, it is an extremely rare privilege. Certainly, Lennifer’s terse and highly evocative style will delight her new readerships. Reminding them through politicized image and lamenting symbol that writer’s “learn” prose, although they “express” poetry.

The latter being an act of healing, along with the possibility of genuine transcendence.

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BRITISH AMBASSADOR TO KYRGYZSTAN INTERVIEW: ROBIN ORD-SMITH From the age of just 14, Robin Ord-Smith has known that he wanted to be a diplomat, representing British interests abroad.

His love of languages, culture, history and politics combined to serve him well in his ambitions and he joined the Foreign Office in 1989 after studying German, Swedish, Danish, Norwegian and International Relations at Surrey University. Among a number of postings Ord-Smith has worked in Romania, Algeria, Iraq and Tajikistan as well as in business, on secondment to BAE systems. One of his roles also involved working at Buckingham Palace as Private Secretary to HRH The Duke of York.

His career has had an incredible breadth of experiences and challenges and his last posting in Tajikistan, from 2012-2014, has set him up well for his latest role as Ambassador to Kyrgystan, which he took up in 2015. Open Central Asia finds out more.

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Open Central Asia: You were previously Ambassador to Tajikistan prior to becoming Ambassador to Kyrgyzstan in June 2015. How has your previous role helped you settle into your new role?

Robin Ord-Smith: It always helps having had experience of a similar job. But I think many aspects of my career have helped prepare for this role: I have worked in most parts of an Embassy during my career, have seen the Foreign Office from the outside while on secondment, have seen how the private sector operates and have been able to learn from all these experiences. With respect to Tajikistan, there are of course some similarities, but there are also many differences.

I would say my many previous visits to Kyrgyzstan were more helpful in terms of settling in as I already knew quite a lot about Bishkek and the Kyrgyz Republic when I took up my appointment.

OCA: What are the main differences you see between the British government priorities in Kyrgyzstan compared with Tajikistan?

RO-S: As I am no longer Ambassador to Tajikistan, it is really for my successor Hugh Philpott to comment on current priorities. But I can say I see a lot of similarities from my time in Dushanbe. Here we seek to support the government and people in developing a stable, prosperous and democratic Kyrgyzstan. We admire the very impressive achievements of the past few years, but also believe we have relevant expertise and experience that can help the country develop further and be more prepared to face remaining challenges – our work and key projects are designed to do just that. We also hope to further build trade and investment links between our two countries, work together in international fora to combat today’s global challenges, and also build the people to people contacts through educational, Parliamentary, cultural and sporting links.

OCA: The Kyrgyz political system is perhaps one of the more advanced democratic systems in Central Asia, but it is a fairly new concept in the country. Would you agree and what do you see as being required to improve this further?

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Last year’s Parliamentary Elections, where I and colleagues were observers, was a very significant achievement that clearly established on the day the principle of “one person one vote”. I and the UK government admire the very real commitment towards a robust parliamentary democracy shown by President Atambayev, the government and people.

But we should recognise the scale of the task for countries in transition and understand that it can be a painstaking and lengthy process. It would be unrealistic to expect this to be achieved overnight.

A continuation of the commitment to democracy is essential to ensure Kyrgyzstan’s further democratic development.The Presidential elections in 2017 represent the next stage of that journey.

Given the UK’s long history of democracy, I have been keen to help foster stronger links between our Parliaments.

Already this year two groups of Kyrgyz MPs have visited their counterparts in London, and DfID Minister Desmond Swayne MP and Baronness Stern have been in Kyrgyzstan.

I believe that this is an area where the UK has a role to play to help Kyrgyzstan further develop and strengthen its parliamentary democracy.

Such links between our countries can help Kyrgyzstan’s efforts to strengthen the rule of law, respect for human rights and promote transparent and accountable governance for the good of all.

OCA: From your travels through the country, what have been your highlights? What things would you like to see most improve in the next few years?

R O-S: In the short time that I have been here I have already seen enough to appreciate the beauty of the country and to realise the great potential to develop the tourism sector. I was just in Osh province to open a bridge in Kara Kulja – a project supported by the UK that will further the economic development of the region by providing better access to pasture lands. Each time I travel it makes me want to travel and see more of this incredible country.The Kyrgyz Republic remains relatively unknown to the UK, yet combines stunning mountain scenery, fascinating history and a wealth of activities. I would like to see greater understanding of this part of the world and more tourists from the UK and Europe. Further infrastructure development would help increase capacity for visitors and also help to build the

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economy. I have met many entrepreneurs who, despite the challenging business climate, are building successful businesses. This is an encouraging sign. There are important opportunities in sectors ranging from the extractives sector to agriculture, financial, legal and business services. I would like to see all these areas develop. And for Kyrgyzstan to continue to reform its judicial systems, and further improve the business and investment climate, which will in turn attract e more investors And help to build a strong economy and offer a better future for young Kyrgyz.

More widely I would like to see two things. As Ambassador I of course want to see us further developing the bilateral relationship and working more closely together, including in the international arena such as the UN and Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe. Secondly, I see Kyrgyzstan’s current membership of the Human Right’s Council as a real opportunity for co-operation and for the Kyrgyz Republic to use it as a vehicle to showcase their commitment to the promotion and protection of human rights.

OCA: Throughout your varied career, what is the best piece of advice someone has given you in regards to working and living abroad?

R O-S: Never forget that however long you have lived and worked somewhere, you are a guest.

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POLICY SUPPORTING CLOSER TIES BETWEEN EUROPEAN AND EURASIAN UNION AN OPEN LETTER FROM THE RUSSIAN EMBASSY IN LONDON

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As Russian President Vladimir Putin said in his interview to the Italian newspaper, “Il Corriere della Sera”, in June 2015, “we have always proposed a serious relationship to Europe. For a long time we have been talking about the need to deepen Russia-EU co-operation, and it seems that today nobody objects.

But in practice we face many obstacles created by our European partners and EU bureaucracy. For us it is absolutely clear that the relationship should be built on a longterm basis not in the atmosphere of confrontation, but in the spirit of mutually beneficial co-operation.”

Being the largest geopolitical entities on the European continent, the Russian Federation and the European Union are naturally interdependent in many ways, linked by their common civilizational roots, culture, history and future. Russia and the EU are two major political and economic power centres on the continent. The development of a strategic partnership with the EU has always been one of Russia’s foreign policy priorities.

It’s true that Russia and the EU currently have different positions on some international issues, including the Ukrainian crisis. But that does not mean that the sides should limit their political dialogue, diplomatic contacts and practical cooperation.

We believe that the “point of no return” has not been passed yet and will never be, and we are ready to work together with the EU and all of its member-states on topical international issues, provided the principles of equality, respect for each other’s interest and truly collective action are observed.

Traditionally, the EU has been our main economic partner. Bilateral trade exceeds EUR 300bn a year.

Russia is the third biggest trading partner of the EU. The EU is the largest consumer of our energy exports. Russia firmly holds the position of the EU’s number one supplier of natural gas, satisfying the EU overall demand by a quarter and remains the second most important exporter of crude oil and oil products to Europe. European businesses are broadly represented virtually in all areas of Russian economy. For instance, we make new high-speed trains in partnership with “Siemens”, build cars with “BMW”, “Volkswagen”, “Renault”, agricultural machinery with “Fiat” and pharmaceutical factories with “AstraZeneca” Moscow is ready for an even closer cooperation with Brussels and other European capitals. This is why Russia strongly supports an eventual economic integration between the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) and the EU.That will be the integration of integrations. We believe that there are no contradictions between the two models of cooperation, since both of them are based on similar principles and norms, including those of the WTO. The two unions could effectively complement each other. Direct dialogue and practical cooperation between the EEU and the EU would contribute to the resolution of many urgent global and regional issues. In a volatile world with uncertain global development scenarios, regional integration based on pragmatic principles of a trade, customs and market union presents a most prudent and successful way to promote our

common interests in the new global environment.

The state of the European integration project is also a case in point.

Current difficulties will take time to sort out. It is obvious, too, that expansion of the EU as a chief vehicle of regional integration has its own limits. To move forward we have to use this pause and need for adjustment in a creative way.

The idea of integration between the EU and the EEU reflects an initiative, expressed by President Putin concerning the creation of a common economic and humanitarian space from Lisbon to Vladivostok – a continental market worth trillions of euros, based on the principles of equal and indivisible security, which would encompass both members of integration unions and nations that do not make part of them.

Common goals, such as political stability, social justice and economic prosperity, make the EEU and EU natural partners. The EEU is open and inclusive, fully in line with the concept of pan-European economic space. We welcome the emerging diplomatic support for closer ties between the EEU and EU on the part of some European leaders, in particular, those of Germany and France, and hope that the rest would follow suit.

Text by HE Aleksander Yakovenko Ambassador of the Russian Federation in to United Kingdom

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POLICY

THE FAILED INTEGRATION OF CENTRAL ASIA…SO FAR…

Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, and the proclaimed independence from it by the republics of Central Asia, the region has had a hard time intergrating its past into its future. A region that was once on the crossroads of great empires, from Alexander the Great’s invasion of Bactria (in modern day Uzbekistan and Tajikistan) to being conquered by the Russian empire in the 19th century. The history of the region involves a constant tale of displacement and transition. The 5 republics that occupy the territory formerly known as Turkestan did not exist a century ago.

Their creation is as a result of a project

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of tinkering and tampering by the Soviet communists.

After the Bolsheviks came to power, they inherited a region with a complex situation, that was as diverse culturally as it was politically, and also faced complex problems with language and religion. The danger lay in independent groups like the Basmachi movement, who could seize upon any situation and assert their own control over the territory and set a precedent for other parts of Russian empire that were thriving for secession and self-control.

It was important to spread the doc-

trine of communism and establish the idea of socialism among the now defunct Russian empire, to create a society that would share ideals, principles and goals, and where the cultural and religious differences were minimised.

Different strategies were developed to establish the Bolshevik’s power. They tried to integrate different cultures and ethnicities under one common idea, imposing a common language (Russian) that would break cultural and nationalistic boundaries and establish an easier path to literacy as education would become transformed from being accessi-

ble only to the privileged to being available to all. It took huge effort to educate a region that is believed to have had a literacy rate of just 2-3% of the population. However those achievements came at a cost, since the main goal of the Bolsheviks was the development of communism, which required the reduction of its people’s national self-awareness in order to make their languages and cultures less relevant.

Another policy that had an impact on Central Asia were Agro-Water reforms. It was a project that brought a lot of positive economic impact as land that was seized by Russian imperialists was given back to farmers under certain guidelines.The Bolsheviks provided a larger part of the region with electricity and industrialised and urbanised other smaller cities. In all, the Bolshevik reforms bought a lot of good to the region: they educated the people who were otherwise illiterate, gave women an equal presence in society and industrialised and developed the republics economically.

However with all this good also came pain, none more so than after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Suddenly the

region faced a political vacuum that had to be filled when the republics declared independence.The newly formed states (Republic of Uzbekistan Republic of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Republic of Tajikistan, Republic of Turkmenistan) faced a period of great uncertainty and instability as the newly formed states had no blueprint for self-governance.

After the declaration of independence, the states held presidential and parliamentary elections where the only people that had the platform to be elected were the same communist bureaucrats that were in power administratively before the collapse. It is unsurprising reflecting back that this should be the case as no-one had known anything else under communism. These leaders have faced serious challenges as the borders of their states were disputed, their resources were unevenly distributed and their spheres of influence constantly disturbed.

Today after twenty-five years of independence all of these states have, sadly, failed in addressing these issues, besides the bilateral relationships between the republics, there are very few positive examples of an integrated relationship in the region. The trade of products

and goods between the five states accounted only for 10% of the trade in the region as a whole. There are no day to day functioning economic or military unions between the states, and the only unions that the countries are part of are maintained by their bigger brothers like China and Russia. Asking for stability is asking for a lot from states that were a cut out of the Soviet vision, and while their existence is now close to three decades, it is fundamentally clear that the biggest path for success in Central Asia would be integrating the countries, creating unions and blocs that would develop more co-operation between the states, reform the governments and tear down the borders that suffocate the free flow of goods.

The main path for integration lies in democratisation and economic cooperation of the region, but as of now they are still stuck in political transit, where every country’s individual strategy is directed towards the internal problems of social and political development.

text by Abror Kurbanov

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FOCUS

Text by Vladimir Remyga

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THE ARCTIC ZONE

OF SILK ROAD In the modern world one of largest scale initiatives is abruptly changing the face of the world, forming a new paradigm of economic and geo-strategic development and is revitalizing a zone of the Silk Road by land and sea. The project has been named “One Belt One Way.” The intention is that more than 60 countries with a combined population of 4.4 billion people will participate in the project and more than 1 trillion US dollars has been devoted to its cause.

Participants of the Eurasian Economic Community (EAEC), which include Russia, have confirmed their involvement and support in the project and its plans to connect the Eurasian Economic Union and the Economic Zone of the Silk Road in a formal document, signed with China in May 2015. As President Vladimir Putin said, “In essence, in the long term we are talking about a new level of partnership, involving a common economic space on the entire Eurasian continent.”

One of the most serious and large-scale projects proposed

by Russia in this regard is an intriguing project focused on the the Arctic zone of the Silk Road.

The Arctic region of Russia currently provides 90% of Russia’s production of nickel and cobalt, 60% of its copper, more than 96% of the platinum-group metals, 80% of the gas and 60% of oil production, with great potential for growth from new fields.

The Arctic Zone of the Silk Road is a multipurpose and multifunctional project. It consists of a number of relatively independent but closely related parts.

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FOCUS 1. Transportation of goods along the Northern Sea Route (NSR).

2. Construction of infrastructure along the NSR. 3. Completion of the construction of Sabetta port (Yamal), including the construction of a terminal for the transshipment of bulk cargos.

4. Construction of railways between Bovanenkovo and Sabetta (including transport crossing over the river Ob).

5. The joint development of oil and gas fields along with construction of transport routes.

6. The creation of large oil and gas chemical complexes for processing of raw materials close to the fields.

But, one of the major problems is the lack of infrastructure along the Northern Sea Route. Existing ports - Igarka, Dudinka, Dikson, Tiksi, Pevek, Provideniya are not fully equipped with modern facilities and need significant investment for renovation. And these ports serve not only the NSR, but also transshipment of cargos through the largest Siberian rivers.

The length of navigable river routes adjoined to the NSR is about 37,000 km. Therefore the development of these ports will give a powerful impetus to evolve the economic circulation of the richest reserves of the whole of Siberia.

Without the development of the NSR development, these reserves would not be extracted.

The transport of goods to Europe via the Northern Sea Route has great interest for the Asian countries. It is shorter and, perhaps most importantly, a much safer route. If the distance travelled by ships from the port of Murmansk to Yokohama Port (Japan) through the Suez Canal is 12,840 sea miles, the Northern Sea Route is only 5,770 sea miles.

Some progress has been made with the construction and exploitation of Sabetta port on the north-eastern coast of the Yamal Island at the mouth of the Ob River.The first cargo ships moored at the port in October 2013. In this regard Yamal became the de facto centre of the Russian Arctic Zone. Sabetta has the largest airport in the Arctic, able to take a variety of Russian and international longrange aircraft.

However, there are problems. Sabetta Port is not connected by rail with the existing railways. A 173km railway section is to be built between Bovanenkovo and Sabetta as well as the Northern latitudinal route (which is over 700 km). All this will make it possible to provide efficient transportation of

There are a lot of problems for transportation along the NSR, not least the fact that the season is only a few months long and requires special ice-class vessels to traverse safely.

Recently, however, all these problems are being resolved gradually.

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goods along the Northern Sea Route. It will create a global system of production, processing and transportation of raw materials and products. Ultimately it will lay the foundation for strategic cooperation between China and Russia in the Arctic region.

Chinese companies are already actively participating in Arctic projects. One of the largest Chinese companies, CNPC, entered the “Yamal LNG” project taking a share of 20%.

“We believe “Yamal LNG” is one of the most competitive LNG projects in the world and therefore we are interested in becoming its shareholders. We hope that our entry into the project will promote external funding for the project and the further development of Chinese-Russian cooperation in the energy sector”, said the president of the Silk Road Foundation, Wang Yangji.

The “Yamal LNG” project provides the construction of a gas liquefaction factory on the basis of the South Tambeysk field on Yamal Island. There are three LNG trains with the capacity to process 5.5 million tons per year. An important part of the project is the construction of Sabetta port, the operation of which is aimed at solving the logistical problems of the project. The first phase of the plant is expected to be

launched in 2017 and the project is estimated to cost $26.9 billion. Its shareholders are Novatek (60%), France’s Total (20%) and China’s CNPC (20%).

On September 3rd 2015 an agreement between the Silk Road Foundation and the Novatek was signed to acquire 9.9% of the shares of this company. In additional the Foundation provided Novatek a loan of €730 million for 15 years.

Following the Chinese investment, other Chinese companies are expected to join in Arctic projects. China’s largest diversified company “Dalian Port” has already agreed to cooperate with Sabetta port, as well as generally to the Arctic projects.

Speaking about the construction of the Sabetta port President Putin commented, “It is very important, if such a huge terminal is built it will be great to make it multipurpose, so that apart from shipping liquefied natural gas production it will also ship a variety of other products”.

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OPINION

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A MUSLIM IS NOT A TERRORIST A TERRORIST IS NOT A MUSLIM: DRAWING PARALLELS BETWEEN JIHAD AND TERRORISM

The role of a human’s life is central in the purest religion of Islam. God created male and female in the finest manner whether to their physical, moral or spiritual qualities (At-Tin 95 / 4-5). Human as the most wonderful creation of the Almighty is the vicegerent of Allah on the Earth (Al-Baqarah 2/30, al-Fatyr 35/39).

Everything in the heavens and on the Earth are in favour of the human (Luqman 31/20, al-Jassem 45/13) - the descent of Adam, which was honoured to be placed on the pedestal by the Creator (Al-Isra 17/70).

All human beings have great value to God and, therefore, the religion of God, regardless of their race or faith. When building your life or changing it for the better you should always remember that each of us is sublime and unique in the eyes of Lord. Hence, all the canons of Islam were established by Almighty God for humans not to forget their true path and live their lives in happiness, comfort and safety, while preparing for eternal life.

For this reason, Islam forbids encroaching on the rights, life, property, mind and religion of a human, considering it a crime. The Quran says: “On that account: We ordained for the Children of Israel that if anyone slew a person - unless it be in retaliation for murder or for spreading mischief in the land - it would be as if he slew all mankind: and if anyone saved a life, it would be as if he saved the life of all humanity” (Al-Ma’idah 5/32). In the last preaching, which was sent to all mankind during the last Hajj of Allah’s Messenger (Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam), he declared that all people, being the descendants of Adam (aleyhis-salaam), are brothers and announced the inviolability of their property, life, honoor and that every person is protected from any kind of attempt on his life (Sahih al-Bukhari, alMukhtasar Tajwid Sarih, IL / 76; X / 401-404).

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OPINION

It is worth noting, that pro-Western media, while inculcating their ideology, created a certain stereotype, where the holy terms of our religion became far from the true religious meaning. For instance, a purely spiritual and moral religious term “Jihad” is presented by the media to the whole of mankind in the colours of bloody terrorism, creating scenarios by the hands of pseudo Muslims that stand at the head of Muslim ignoramuses. In addition, unfortunately, even practicing Muslims of today consider “Jihad” is synonymous with the bloody terrorism. Lack of education and inexperience in the field of Shariah provided enough space in the minds of Muslim people for the successful realisation and assimilation of pro-Western ideology.

As a result, “terrorism” generated by the basest qualities of non-believers, suddenly becomes the same meaning with “Holly Jihad” for some of the amateur Muslims. “Jihad” is holy, without a doubt, because Jihad is the establishment of the Most High Allah, which should be understood only through the prism of Sharia and talked about rejecting all the non-religious stereotypes. It should be considered only in the light of Muslim, not the pro-Western interpretation. There can be no shade of the terrorism in Jihad as the root of the

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latter has no religious character. And identifying terrorism with Jihad is logically impossible. To understand the above, it is necessary to draw parallels between these two terms, and to answer the following questions: What is actually the jihad? What is terrorism? And finally: What should be the attitude of a true believer of Allah’s servant to the ‘Western Jihad’, which is actually called “Terrorism”?.

THE TERM “JIHAD” The word jihad is translated as effort; application of force; the use of all opportunities and making every effort to achieve the desired result or purpose. And in Sharia law this word has the following definition: “Jihad is to learn and teach others the commandments and prohibitions of religion, to build a life in accordance with the Sharia, to work in the command of good and prohibition of evil, to try to convey Islam, as well as to fight against his nafs (basest human qualities such as envy, laziness, lying, pride, arrogance, etc.) and the enemy from outside.” In the Holy Quran the word jihad means gaining Allah’s benevolence (al-Furqan 25/52), being able to sacrifice your property and soul on the path to Allah (al-Hujurat 49/15), the battle and the war

(al-Baqarah 2/41). However, to a large extent the word “Kitale” (murder), not jihad, is used for the expression of the war or the battle in the Quran.

After reviewing all the ayahs and the hadiths regarding this issue, one can easily understand that jihad is the battle not only against the enemies of Islam, but also expresses the struggle of a person between eradicating all kinds of evil and spreading goodness throughout his life. And the hadith: “The true Mujahid (fighting man) is one who struggles with himself (against their base desires)” (Musnad Imam Ahmad, 6/20 clearly states that).

Therefore, in the broad sense jihad should be understood as fulfillment of the Allah’s decrees, putting into practice slavery to Him. In that way one should counteract the forbidden desires of the ego and fight against Shaitan, while practicing the universal principles established by Allah and His Messenger during the whole life. And through representing the Ummah one should convey these concepts and Islam in general to our society.This is the term that integrates all the tools, which save the Muslims from all sorts of dangers and various unjust attacks. It unites the actions of heart, tongue and hand of a man, which are expressed through different instruments, such as voice, books, virtue, ethics, aes-

thetics, and (only in the last instance) the battle. Briefly, jihad is a kind of a Muslim model explaining human behaviour, which is initially far from the model presented today by ISIS and other similar pseudo-religious organizations, including all of those who follow them.

In Islam, war is evil because it destroys society and human life. As already noted, a human is always sublime in the eyes of the religion. According to the religion, war is only permitted for the defence against the enemy attacks. It is only permitted to protect the right to freedom of religion and freedom of man. In Sharia doctrine the war is used not for harassment and violence, but for the protection of human rights and freedoms. Thus, the war is not a dogma or tenet, it is a necessity of the last resort, which should not go beyond the permitted area of use. Moreover, most of scientists unanimously state that a Muslim can participate in a battle or in a military operation only in case when the non-Muslims declared war against Islam and Muslims and only when the enemy attack was made. This implies that no one should die for the disbelief and contradiction to Islam, just as it is impossible to declare war against those who fight against Muslims.

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OPINION All Western and pro-Western sources claim that Islam has an aggressive character. Orientalists also claim that the Quran gives priority to the war against non-Muslims until the whole world accepts Islam. The truth is that Islam prohibits war except for the purpose of protection, and there is no compulsion in Islam. In other words, no Muslim has the holy right from the name of the religion to force somebody to accept Islam. Even during the battle, it is prohibited to kill children, the elderly, the blind, the disabled, priests, worshipers in churches and synagogues. It is prohibited to cut down trees, to destroy the fields, to crop and to kill animals (al-Zaylai, Tabin al-Hakaik, VI / 104; Ibn Nudzhaym al -Bahr al-RAIK,V / 84). So, who will remain after all that?

Only those who took the weapon, sending it against you, and you have no choice but to defend yourself.

During one of the battles, the Messenger of Allah (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) saw the dead woman and said, “After all, this woman did not participate in the battle,” and commanded Khalid ibn Walid radyyallahu anhu not to touch women and children (Ibn Majah, Jihad 30; Ibn Hisham, as- Syrah, IV / 100).

After all that we have said, I think it would be appropriate to raise the topic of terrorism and how it is related to our peaceful religion Islam.

THE TERM “TERRORISM” There are more than one hundred definitions of terrorism. Any of those definitions always involves cruelty, violence and intimidation. And in particular, it is used for achieving political goals, when all kinds of cruelty, violence and intimidation are directed against ordinary citizens. Speaking about the word’s meaning, one can state that “a terrorist cannot be a Muslim, a Muslim can not be a terrorist.” Since ancient times, abuse and violence found their place among people. And as for today we have terrorism, so the roots of the past appear in a different way and scale. In fact, cruelty and violence were never approved among the peoples of the world, however still we haven’t managed to get rid of this social disease.

All religions, including Islam in particular, forbid terrorism.The principles of Islam are based on peace, integration and tolerance. While promoting unity and respect, love and brotherhood, it strictly prohibits cruelty, crime and violence. In particular, it never allowed bringing any

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kind of terrorist movements to life, property, the mind and the religion of innocent people, elders, women and children, taking away the soul given by Almighty Allah.

Islam forbids such barbarity and violence in any form and by any name. Terrorism has no race, nationality, religion, and especially God. The Messenger of Allah (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) forbade people to cause harm and to oppress them. He taught us to show mercy, saying: “Over those who did not have mercy on the people, and Allah does not have mercy” (al-Taj, V / 17). In other hadiths He (sallallaahu alayhi wa sallam) taught us to show mercy, not only to people but to all living beings on earth. Stressing that the achievement of Allah Mercy is at our mercy to all the inhabitants of our planet (al-Taj,V / 17).

Islam is the religion of peace and kindness, which prohibits followers from playing with the honour and dignity of a person, to offend his personality, to mock him, to look down upon him, to swear at him, to gossip about him, to make psychological pressure on him and to be cruel with him. Islam does not allow and, moreover, does not cause terrorism, cruelty or violence. Islam prohibits the infliction of any physical abuse to a human, to torture, to stir him and, finally, to take away his life.

Therefore it is impossible to link the holy term “Jihad”, being a true slave to Allah, the fight on the way against your own base desires and Shaitan, the implementation of the universal life principles in the life of the individual and society, the spread of Islam through ethics and aesthetics, the protection of Muslims and the whole country from all kinds of threats and attacks against terrorism, which aims to shed innocent blood, and the violation of the social values through cultivation of fear, violence and cruelty for political and self-serving purposes. On the contrary, the true holy “Jihad” can treat society from this curse by God and the angels “terrorism.”

The Imam of the Abdul Kerim Satuq Bogra Khan Mosque, Honoured member of the International Association “Generals of the World for Peace” YUSUPOV Farhad Ilahunovich

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CULTURE

AN INTERVIEW WITH HOLLYWOOD PRODUCER

CYRUS YAVNEH OCA: Tell us about your background and biography?

Cyrus Yanveh: My father Zalmon was born in a small Jewish hamlet in Belarus. He was conscripted into the Russian army at the age of 14. My mother Anna was born in Palestine, a Sabra one of the first girls born in what is now Israel.

Her parents immigrated from Romania through arrangements made by Baron Rothschild. In the wake of World War 1, its dangers and upheavals, both my parents made their way to Ellis Island. They met in Prospect Park Brooklyn. I am the youngest of five first generation Americans. My dad was a prominent Cantor of one of the largest Orthodox congregations for fifty four years.

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went to public schools, Music and Art High School and the City College of New York. My interest was music, sports, theatre, writing and having a good time, much to my detriment at times. I worked as a dance band musician, Las Vegas major showroom stage manager, apprentice actor, film technician and chief cook and bottle washer for a traveling magic illusionist show. I was very fortunate to experience the last of the vaudevillian age. At twenty-five I decided it was time to get a real job, by that I mean a weekly paycheck. I was hired as assistant production manager in the New York office of Rose-Magwood. At that time the biggest international TV commercial production company. I learned well. Fourteen months later I was hired as producer - production manager for the very successful high fashion Len Steckler TV commercial company. In 1970

I joined the Directors Guild of America and decided to take my chances freelancing. In 1974 I moved to Hollywood to pursue a career in features and TV which I continue to do to this day.

OCA:Was working with some of Hollywood’s greatest stars inspiring?

CY:The short answer is “Yes.” There are so many wonderful talented actors. Being an actor is a great profesOCA: When did you first start to produce major mo- sion if that’s who you are. I admired Charlton Heston. tion pictures?

He was always first on set, line perfect and very sociable off screen. A great professional and a lovely man. I CY: My first TV drama series was “Lou Grant” 1977 loved Lee Remick too. We did a big package of comstaring Ed Asner. I was the First Assistant Director, mercials together. Rex Harrison was great. I was an however my first feature film was “Jennifer,” 1978, star- assistant director and the only person other then his ing Lisa Pelikan directed by Brice Mack. I directed and personal dresser he allowed in his trailer. I had to make produced the feature documentary, “These Here Are sure all his special treats and wines were completely My Feet An American Celebration Of Old Time Music” fresh at the start of each day. Anything opened was which was released in 1984 and my first network pilot not allowed. Needless to say at the end of the day my and series producing credit was “Michael Nesmith In crew and I had wonderful parties with slightly opened TV Parts” for NBC, directed by Alan Myerson in1985. one hundred and fifty dollar bottles of champagne.

I’ve produced or production managed about 40 features and TV movies, 20 TV pilots including the just John Houston was one of my heroes. I was fortunate completed “MacGyver.” to work with him for two days. I have a great photo of us together on set and he autographed his book. Willie Nelson, Kris Kristofferson, Bill Bixby, were so much fun on “Another Pair Of Aces.” Claudia Cardinale and I became set pals on the mini series “Princess Daisy” in France, produced by Lillian Gallo and directed by Waris Hussein It’s the show I met my wife Lynne Hockney on. Lynne was the choreographer. John Cusack and Debi Mazar in “Money For Nothing,” Kiefer Sutherland “24,” Charlie Sheen “The Arrival.” Pauly Shore in “In The Army Now” directed by Dan Petrie Jr. all very talented and a pleasure to work with.

OCA: Are the demands of working with TV networks significantly different?

I’ve been the recipient of numerous awards and nominations. Included are The Producers Guild Of America Producer of the Year Award, Emmy and Golden Glove nominations for “24,” The Peabody and the Humanitas awards for “Nothing Sacred” created by David Manson and Bill Cain. Two Christopher Awards for the TV movies “Baby” staring Farah Fawcett, Keith Carradine, Alison Pill and Jean Stapleton directed by Robert Alan Ackerman, “Eye On The Sparrow” staring Mare Winningham and Keith Carradine written by Barbara Turner and directed by John Korty. “Son Of The Morning Star” a four hour miniseries produced by Preston Fischer and myself that won five Emmy’s and the Golden Reel award.

CY: All the networks, studios and production companies have their own dynamic., their own global overview, their own demographic targets. Producing a one hour drama series, week in and week out for 150-200 days requires incredible stamina. You are writing, prepping, shooting and editing on several different episodes simultaneously, its goal is to get ratings.

Doing a pilot and creating its tone that all the ensuing episodes, if picked up, will follow is arduous. The process of defining the characters usually requires continuous script revision. It’s an intense 10 to 15 day sprint.

Its goal is to get picked up. Hopefully the creator of the show, its director, executive producer and studio person have a clear cohesive point of view.

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CULTURE

Doing a feature film is completely different in its approach to pilots or series. There is more time to prep, execute and complete. On a feature, the director is king or queen, in charge. A bit like a feudal system. The collective energy is funneled through the director to make film literature. A finished product that will make lots of money and have an enduring shelf life.

OCA: Have any Central Asian or Russian movies influenced you?

CY: Sergei Eisenstein’s “Battle Ship Potemkin” created new ways of filming, new ways of seeing and editing.

Andrei Tarkovsky’s “Andrei Rublev” is considered one of the greatest films ever made. I was introduced and chatted briefly with Sergey Bodrov about his magnificent “Mongol: The Rise Of Genghis Kahn.” One of my favourite documentaries is “Genghis Blues” about Tuvan throat singers directed by Roko Belic.

OCA: Do you have any Central Asian colleagues?

CY: I was preparing the feature film “I’ll See You Again” for Steven-Charles Jaffe a few years ago with Gaukhar (Gia) Nootas one of the producers. Gia is the Honorary Kazakhstan Consulate for Los Angeles.

OCA: What are your plans for 2017?

CY: I am hoping to open my play “SMP” a three act social comedy about a playwright who has led an ad-

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venturous early life but has fallen into a bit pudgy male middle age and a young eccentric twenty-three year old woman casting assistant who wants to do everything. They see themselves in each other. Britain’s David Parry will direct it.

My musical comedy “Zalmon and Anna” is a universal story, true today as it was then about the dangerous journey they endured, their meeting in Prospect Park in Brooklyn after WW1 and their life together as immigrants raising a large family in a new land.

To begin production on “Indian English” (working title), a major film which I am producing with Jillian Haslam and Alan Cox. My script is based on Jillian Haslam’s book “Indian English A Memoir.” It tells the almost unbelievable but true story of a very young Caucasian girl and her family living in the most horrific impoverished slum in Calcutta, who managed to become a wealthy international philanthropist who’s life’s mission is to educate and feed the most poor and ill treated.

To have a new instillation of our continuing art show “MaryAnn Liu and Cyrus Yavneh A Journey From Doodle To Bronze” Google it.

by David Parry

Unnoticed by the international art world until recently, the Karakalpakstan State Museum of Art - located in Nukus, Uzbekistan - houses the second largest collection of Russian avant-garde art in the world (after the Russian Museum in St. Petersburg). This extraordinary museum is the life’s work of Igor Vitalievich Savitsky, a Russian painter born in Kiev who first visited Karakalpakstan in 1950 as a member of the famous Khorezm Archeological & Ethnographic Expedition led by Sergei Tolstov. Subsequently, having moved from Moscow to Nukus, Savitsky began collecting the works of the Russian avant-garde - including of such well-known names as Falk, Mukhina, Koudriachov, Popova, and Redko - whose paintings were banned during Stalin’s rule and through the 1960s because they did not conform to the officially prescribed Soviet ‘socialist realism’ school of art. The current English language publication, already issued in Russian in 2011, helps make the Savitsky Collection accessible to a broad international audience for the first time.

RRP: £35.00

Available on Amazon Now!

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SILK ROAD

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DOWNWARD IS HEAVENWARD It was a strangely cool July night just beneath the mountains around Karakol, and my insides were grinding with food poisoning. My skin seeped with hot sweat while my arms and legs shivered as though I had been bathed in freezing snow, and my skull thundered. My Kyrgyz compatriots first force-fed me modern medicine and then gave me a large dose of ancient animism: they laid me down in the tör of a yurt, wrapped me in heavy woollen shïrdak rugs, and then, lifting my head, had me drink an entire chainik of green tea. Then all save one, a mysterious man who called himself a baqshï, a healer and a shaman, exited.

Middle-aged with a gravely voice, weathered skin, and deep eyes, he leaned over me and, gripping my hands and gently compressing my forehead, began to chant a prayer in Kyrgyz. He invoked the name of the Kyrgyz people’s ancestor-leader, Manas, and he called upon the cosmos and the divine creator Himself. I remember feeling somehow both inside and outside my pain, almost as though it were a kind of searing pleasure, an embodied feeling so intense that I was disembodied. Most of all, I remember feeling cared for. Western medicine can often be so sterile, heartless; this ancient method, by contrast, was so warm, attentive. And it was sublime. I managed to whisper, “Sonun” – “Beautiful” – to my chanting compatriot. I could sense him smile in reply, and he gently rubbed my forehead. I thought to myself, If I die, this is a wonderful way to leave this world.

I did not die, and the next day as I recovered – with more than a few expunges, so to speak – the sage quietly announced to me that I had entered a new stage of my ömür, my life-path. Scribbling numerological codes on a piece of paper (that I subsequently have used as a

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SILK ROAD

bookmark in my ornate copy of the Epic of Manas), he explained how the body is a symbol, both in the microcosmic sense of mirroring the universe without, and in an even more microcosmic sense of mirroring the spirit within. Were this not enough, he added, the body is also a symbol of the relationship between these two, between soul and cosmos – as he put it, it is the chainlink between sky and earth.

broken pavement of Bishkek beneath my feet as it is the vast Central Asian night-sky overhead. For the great force of Change, usually such a taskmaster – slow, arduously so, giving no promise of either success or, if you do finally crawl your way to victory, satisfaction – has come at me like an alpine avalanche. And the torrent of snow has been exhilarating and refreshing (if, as my analogy would suggest, also quite exhausting).

My chain, he remarked, had been strongly linked to the heavens, with only the faintest tether to the ground.

That was rapidly changing. I would still dangle from the stars, but now I would be hooked into the dirt and clay below. I would, in a sense, reconnect with the soil of my ancestors and my deepest origins. And yet, he noted, if one really thinks about it, downward is still heavenward, for ultimately the dust of the earth came from the stars above.

All at once, in September 2015 I found myself with a steady job, a steady salary, a steady place to live, and even a steady girl, all here in Bishkek. The last traces of adolescence seem to finally being knocked away like so many pebbles on a mountain slope, and long-awaited adulthood appears up ahead, a pass through jagged edges and cascading waterfalls.

And indeed, nearly a year later, it very much feels as though heaven is now as much the dirt trails and the

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Still, my ömür snakes before me, twisting and turning; I must find my way. Where shall I end up? How shall I get there?

Ever since I was a child, I have wanted to be connected with transcendental things – ideas, forces, mysteries far greater and far older than the individual human being, entities and concepts and realities that were here long before me, and will be here long after me. Yet, I am awful at science, and hence endeavours such as geology and cosmology are beyond my reach. However, lately I have been realising that perhaps not all transcendence is outside of us.

long after we are each gone, slowly taking newer and more powerful shape.Yes, perhaps inward is also heavenward.

What, then, was adolescence? I would say that it was a phase in my life in which heavenward was a fairly straightforward, if very painful, concept: it was up, and only up, stripping off the earth, leaving behind any kind of groundedness, stability, clarity and launching into constant unknown. Now to go heavenward, I must be earthbound – at least for a time, and at least more than I was before.

As an adult, embarking upon a career as an inquirer or investigator – a teacher, an academic researcher, a journalist (perhaps one day, were I to attempt to make real one of my wildest notions, even a private detective?) – I am beginning to find that the human mind somehow has a quality, like the shaman’s notion of the earth itself, of originating from something far older than our own individual consciousness, and like a geological or cosmological force, something of it will still be “there”

Yes, the next stage of my ömür seems clear in its ambiguity, and I now trek forward, toward the vaunting Alatoo mountains, soon to descend into the valleys and gorges and caverns hidden therein.

text by Christopher Schwartz

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SILK ROAD

SAMARA-SAMARKAND: THE HERITAGE AND MODERNITY IN THE DIALOGUE OF CULTURES FROM THE VOLGA TO THE ZERAVSHAN 38 OCA MAGAZINE

A new scientific-educational project “The Heritage and Modernity in the Dialogue of Cultures: from the Volga to the Zeravshan” (Samara-Samarkand 2016), including the publication of the eponymous volume of papers, has been launched by the Samara State Institute of Culture with the participation of several partner organisations of Russia and Uzbekistan. The announced publication is timed to coincide with the tenth anniversary of the agreement between the cities of Samara and Samarkand on trade and economic cooperation.

Samarkand as one of the oldest cities in the world, and a UNESCO World Heritage site, has become an integral part of the Eurasian integration and multicultural creativity project and follows an earlier book published in 2014 about the dialogue of cultures.

The thematic sections in this new publication will also include texts featuring the influence of cultural traditions of Samarkand and Samara on the lives of people of different countries, nations and generations. A call for papers and contributors has been launched to encourage authors to make their impressions, reflections and memories known about the cultural and natural

heritage of two different regions of Eurasia connected by their shared history of the Great Silk Road.

Papers, articles, reports, essays and notes can be submitted via email: samartis@yandex.ru by June 10, 2016.

The purpose of the forum is the presentation of scientific research (works), current socio¬cultural practices and educational projects related to the study of the places and the role of heritage in a changing world.This is in the context of understanding the historical experience of interaction between cultures, modern challenges and new strategies of Eurasian integration.

Contact details: Postal address for correspondence: P.O. Box 3004, Samara, RU-443099, Russia Phone: +7 (846) 333 22 25 (office), +8 927 2 07 69 20 (mobile).

Attn.: Prof. Dr.Vladimir I. Ionesov E-mail: samartis@yandex.ru

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FESTIVAL

KAMAL HASANOV WINNER OF OECABF - 2015’s NEMAT KELIMBETOV AWARD IN VIDEO FILM CATEGORY

OCA: Kamal, please briefly tell us about yourself and your film making.

Kamal Hasanov: I was born and raised in Azerbaijan, in Baku but I received my higher education in America. After returning, I began to work at the Central Bank of Azerbaijan and after four years working as a prudential policy and methodology specialist. But this is only from nine till six. After work, I, in the literal and figurative sense, take off my white collar and am engaged in creativity. I write short stories, novels and screenplays and periodically make short films.

OCA: You are the winner of the OCABF-2015 contest in the category “Video film”. Please tell us more about the film you made and why you decided to illustrate the story of Elshan Mamedli “Mantis”?

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KH: “Mantis” is a story about my good friend, Elshan Mamedli, and is a modern interpretation of the classical story by Nikolai Gogol called, “Viy”. This short work, from the very first line, caught my attention with its interesting plot, deep dialogue about religion and philosophy and unexpected denouement and ending that makes pause for thought. In my video film, I wanted to show the ravishing passion and uncontrollable desire of every person to prove their truth, which can bring with it tragic consequences and destroy the lives of many people around.

OCA: How do you think self-expression is portrayed differently through film versus other literary methods of information transfer?

KH: Maybe it will sound strange coming from the mouth of the writer, but I think that film is a great medium in that it can be used to convey the whole atmosphere and the point of what is happening without any words. I always try to make my work memorable with nonverbal details - a singular aura, characters or emotions. Besides, in our days the most effective way to transmit information for Generation Y is through the screen.

KH: I’ll tell you a funny story. One day I was talking with my friend Samuel about religion and we discussed the creation of universe. I jokingly said that God and the Devil were a married couple, and all earthly troubles were due to their divorce which meant that they cannot make peace with each other. By the end of the evening I developed a comic idea in a rather serious and multifaceted storyline, which formed the basis of the book “Columbus was a Smoker”. Sam felt a great desire to write a book together, and so this became our first collaboration and was a finalist in the category of best “literary work” at OECABF-2013. So I guess this one has to be my favourite work because through it I found my true mission.

OCA: What message would you give to our readers?

KH: Read books. No matter what parts of you worry or which of your inner feelings disturb you, these themes have all been written about before. Just find the right books to read and a decision will come to you of its own accord. And whoever does not find this applies to them has to write about their own unique case. This is the way that literature masterpieces are born.

OCA: You are also the author of numerous novels (co-authored with Samuel Gilbert), poems, short stories and plays.

Do you have a favourite type of composition?

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FESTIVAL

V LITERARY CONTEST “OPEN EURASIA AND CENTRAL ASIA BOOK FORUM & LITERATURE FESTIVAL – 2016”

British publishing house, “Hertfordshire Press”, is glad to invite our old and new friends to the fifth anniversary literary contest “Open Eurasia and Central Asia Book Forum & Literature Festival – 2016”.

Writers and poets, translators, illustrators and directors will have a unique opportunity to show themselves and their work to the world, as well as to meet with their readers and viewers, visit new places and take part in the contest with a total prize pool of $ 30 000. One of the goals of the contest is to reveal new names and talents, highlighting their work and achievements.

Each applicant can send one piece of their work between February 15th to June 15th 2016 in four categories: “The literary work”, “Translation”, “Illustration” and “Video”. The winner will receive a unique opportunity to publish their book, in English, in London.

The main prize of the contest “Open Eurasia and Central Asia-2016” is a grant of $ 17,000, which will go to the winner towards the publication of the first edition of the book in London, followed by its presentation at London Book Fair 2017.

IN 2016, FOUR PRIZES HAVE BEEN ESTABLISHED: Nemat Kelimbetov Prize for the amount of $5,000 for the winner of the video category and experimental film “Open Eurasia and Central Asia”;

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Marziya Zakiryanova Prize for the amount of $5,000 for the best female work in any category of the competition, which will be put towards publishing the winner’s book.

Sora Eshanturaeva Prize for the amount of $3,000 for the best work on the subject of civil position.

Generals Award from the Association of Generals “Generals of the World for Peace”. The Association’s highest award of the “Dove of Peace” medal for the best work on the topic of strengthening peace, friendship and mutual understanding between peoples.

The aim of the “Open Eurasia and Central Asia Book Forum & Literature Festival” is to draw the attention of readers and experts on the past and present achievements of Eurasian writers; to introduce writers with representatives of publishing houses, their readers, libraries, educational institutions, the media; and promote the development of a multilateral dialogue between contemporary writers, poets, critics, editors and publishers.

For more information about the contest, conditions of participation, selection and excerpts from works of previous laureates and winners, please visit our official website http://www.ocabookforum.com/competition/ and our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/ocabookforum/ Please send your application and good luck!s

DEADLINE 10 SEPTEMBER 2016

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PROJECT

OUTSTANDING PEOPLE OF EURASIA

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Throughout human history there have been outstanding personalities, who one way or another have made their valuable contribution to the development of society and left their mark in history. But history remembers not everyone who deserves it, even though each such individual is worth remembrance and recognition in order to become an inspiration to others. This is not necessarily someone who did something on a large scale, it could be a scientist who made a very important discovery in his/her field, or it could also be a self-sacrificing mother, who by overcoming all difficulties gave her children a decent education. What is important is the significance of that person’s action.

Spurred on by this idea, the Eurasian Creative Guild, a nonprofit organization for creative people, and the Cambridge International Press publishing house, which is the only publishing house in the world that specialises in the publication of documentaries, biographies and popular science books of Eurasian authors in English, are preparing to publish an annual collection of the 100 most prominent personalities of

Eurasia. The organisers will focus on 10 countries from the continent in the publication, namely Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, as the history of these countries have been intertwined in the context of culture, life, customs, traditions, and politics for centuries. And for this collection, a panel of experts with extensive experience and knowledge of the region will choose 50 historical and 50 contemporary personalities from all the nominees. The aim of the publication is to recognise and reward great people and tell the world about their achievements.

The collection will be published annually with a choice of new members each year. Ceremonies will be held to present the book and announce the winners.

Commemorative gifts will also be presented at the events, which will be held at leading universities in the UK.The first ceremony of the presentation of the book will be held in celebration of the International Day of Nowruz in 2017 at Cambridge University, UK.

ADVERTORIAL

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UZPROMSTROYBANK: A UNIQUE INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITY

Over the past few years, the government of Uzbekistan has undertaken comprehensive measures to reduce state presence in the economy in order to attract foreign investors and create favourable conditions for their active participation in corporate governance.

The Republic of Uzbekistan is currently of great interest to foreign investors. The investment appeal of Uzbek market comes from its access to natural resources, large size of the market, strategic location in the region, as well as a stable internal political situation and appropriate legal framework. There is a broad spectrum of legal guarantees and preferences for foreign investors and a developed system of measures to encourage foreign enterprise. The state guarantees and protects the rights of foreign investors which carry out investment activities within the Republic of Uzbekistan.

Measures introduced by the Government for the improvement of the investment environment have fostered a significant increase of foreign direct investments into the country.

When foreign investors make reference to Uzbekistan and its financial system they often come across Uzpromstroybank as a gateway to Uzbekistan because every significant project that has ever been implemented in Uzbekistan was done with the participation of Uzpromstroybank. Now is the right time to benefit from unique investment opportunities with a top bank of Uzbekistan by obtaining shares of authorised capital which are now free to be released to foreign investors.

As the oldest bank in the country, with an almost 95-year history, Uzpromstroybank has been the flagship of the industry with a sustained competitive edge across all market segments providing full-service to corporate, SME and retail banking clients.

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ADVERTORIAL Today Uzpromstroybank is a recognised leader of the Uzbek banking sector with sound financial standing.

The bank plays a significant key role in the social and economic life of the country, having secured the status of most innovative and reliable bank, which has gained international recognition.

The bank’s services to large corporate customers are based on industry specialisation. Uzpromstroybank pays great attention to thorough research of each economic segment, its key players, trends and requirements. This approach enables bank to enhance and optimise its terms of services, as well as to maintain a single credit, interest and fee policy.

Moreover the bank is an expert in developing SME, private sector and retail banking through its diversified strategy and policy. It’s no surprise that the bank is priority choice for SMEs across Uzbekistan meeting clients’ needs for high-quality banking services, providing maximum efficiency and individual approach. Uzpromstroybank has established value propositions and customised financial solutions which give business opportunities for revenue generation and cost reduction to small and medium enterprises.

Over its history, large corporate clients have been the pivot of Uzpromstroybank’s business. The bank serves as a major financial partner of tens of thousands of businesses in all key industries throughout the national economy – from oil and gas, chemical, energy, metallurgy and machine construction to agriculture.

The core direction of the bank’s operations is an active participation in structural reforms of the economy, implementation of projects on modernisation, technical and technological re-equipment of industry, support and financial recovery of enterprises, as well as a dynamic increase of the resource base.

Uzpromstroybank offers classical and modern banking services to nearly 42,000 corporate and 1.2 million retail customers through its market leading and efficient distribution platform. The bank operates over 400 points of sale, including 44 branches, 42 mini banks, 55 savings desks, 90 FX offices and 151 payment offices.

For many years Uzpromstroybank has been at the top of Uzbek banking rankings by the main financial indicators. Uzpromstroybank holds top position in loans to industry and interest income, second position in assets, equity, total income, loans and non-interest income among other banks.

As at 01.01.2016 Uzpromstroybank’s equity reached USD 351 mln, total assets USD 3 934 mln., loan portfolio USD 3 259 mln., ROAE 10.4%, Cost/Income Ratio 38.2%, net profit USD 33.8 mln.

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In view of the Bank’s strong reputation as a reliable partner, letters of credit and guarantees are accepted by all leading banks of the world on account of the Bank’s limits and credit lines that exceed USD 400 mln.

Uzpromstroybank continues active cooperation with world-class foreign financial institutions and leading local banks.

Uzpromstroybank’s reliability is reflected in its ratings from leading independent rating agencies. The bank has been traditionally awarded with the highest rating within the Uzbek banking sector of “uzA+” with “positive” outlook on a national scale by local rating agency Akhbor Rating. International rating agencies Fitch Ratings and Standard & Poor`s also assigned Uzpromstroybank the highest possible ratings for Uzbek banks on a par with the country ceiling.

The ratings of Uzpromstroybank consider high recognition of the brand within the country and beyond its borders, an adequate level of capitalisation, high quality of assets, a stable client and resource base, the systemic

importance of the bank, as well as the significant scales of its credit and investment activities.

The Bank operates a policy of timely and full disclosure of reliable information including financial highlights, economic performance and ownership structure, thereby giving shareholders and investors the opportunity to make well-informed decisions.

Uzpromstroybank’s corporate governance system is based on the principal of full compliance with the requirements of best international practices. Uzpromstroybank has also set up an effective system of internal control of its financial and economic affairs as a means of safeguarding the rights and lawful interests of its shareholders.

Additional information can be received by contacting the Uzpromstroybank Investor Relations team at investor.relations@uzpsb.uz or by phone on +99871 140-79-64

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CONNECTION

Eurasian Creative Guild (London) is a new meeting place for creative talents. As an actual and virtual association, it generates a framework within which creatives from across the board can gather together and discuss their work. Indeed, our Guild has already enlisted dozens of significant cultural figures from across the planet due to its proactive support for writers, musicians, illustrators, graphic designers, sculptors and poets: along with anyone else who considers themselves to be creative.

Overall, the Guilds mission is to ensure real dialogue and genuine interaction between designated representatives from all sectors of the creative (intellectual) elite, public and governmental organizations, as well as the business community. Thereby constructing, as this does, a mutually supportive forum for all member-creatives.

So stated, Eurasian Creative Guild is open to a very wide range of talents. A strength enabling continual contact between academic institutions, galleries, exhibition sites, and (potential) funding sources. Furthermore, the guild’s website (http://www.eurasiancreativeguild.uk) will hold unique interactive events where members can bridge the usual geographical gap betwixt creative personalities worldwide.

In itself, Eurasian Creative Guild closely collaborates with the publishing houses Cambridge International Press and Hertfordshire Press – specializing, as they do, in the humanities and scientific literature from Eurasian authors in English. Indeed, the Guild provides access to leading creative in every sphere from the following countries: Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Russia,Tajikistan,Turkmenistan, the United Kingdom and Uzbekistan.

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ABOUT THE PROJECT EURASIAN CREATIVE GUILD (LONDON) Eurasian Creative Guild (London) is a new forum for creative professionals.A virtual as well as an actual platform, whereon creatives from every sphere can unite.

As such, dozens of globally significant creatives have already joined forces in an attempt to offer each other mutual support. Men and women from across the planet who believe establishing an association of writers, musicians, dancers, illustrators, graphic designers, sculptors and poets – along with anyone else who considers themselves truly creative – will benefit everyone involved in this partnership.

Creative Guild - is the voice and eyes of Eurasia. After all, no single creative space will ever exist if there isn’t a common information space.

HOW IT WORKS? As a member of the Eurasian Creative Guild, you can meet and make acquaintance with interesting and creative people. It can be individuals and organizations in every part of the creative sector, not only in Great Britain, but also throughout Europe and Central Asia.

On our site you can: create a personal profile to share with your creativity with others, sharing Overall, Eurasian Creative Guild aims to establish a contacts global network wherein local knowledge and individcommunicate with other members and view their ual experience can be shared between every member. profiles What is more, our intention to gather the information necessary to effectively engage with regional compe- There are more functions: titions, galleries, festivals, exhibitions, academies etc, your event will be advertised on Facebook page will make our unique and friendly association a focal have information about events, where you can meet point for all creatives seeking to extend their expera lot of interesting creative representatives and to tise, views, goals, activities and interests.An undertaking discover other sectors of culture reflected in the fact our Guild is a non-profit organiThe annual membership fee is: £50 and £30 for stuzation designed to promote the interests of creatives, dents while remaining open to all like-minded people. Certainly, our invitation to actively participate in Guild If you become a member of the Guild, you will get the sponsored events - either as a full member, or as a following bonuses: recognized expert with affiliations to our international your event advertised on Facebook page community – offers a unique opportunity to interact free tickets on Guild festivals within the framework with acknowledged authorities worldwide. of Hertfordshire Press free tickets for the first upcoming Orzu Arts Festival, Operating on a national and international basis in the which will be held for the first time in London for name of rights for creative freelancers, we provide: the discovery of young artists – innovators and sucA platform to promote the work of our members. cessful companies, representing the Central Asian products to Western countries.

A collaborative and integrative membership-web on free subscription to the magazine OCA Magazine a planetary level. (http://www.ocamagazine.com) giving 25% discount on all Hertfordshire Press books A means by which the voices of creative people from giving 25% discount on the literary almanac “Crethe Eurasian region can be heard on the global stage. ative Collaboration” (http://www.rus.ocabookforum.com) An organization generating events, while helping creatives to search for working partners among other In which case, anyone who considers himself or herself members of the Guild. a creative person is formally invited to join the Eurasian All in all, the Guild intends to ensure real dialogue and Creative Guild and become a full participant in its evgenuine interaction between creatives within every er-developing community. sector of the creative (intellectual) elite, public and JOIN NOW! governmental organizations, and businesses.

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SPORT

THE RENAISSANCE OF RUGBY ON THE KAZAKH STEPPE Having Welsh descendants the glorious sport of Rugby is in my blood. My playing days are long gone but the enthusiasm and excitement of supporting a team and watching a live match still gets the adrenalin flowing.

To my dismay when I arrived in Astana five years ago it was as if Rugby did not exist – the sports bars would not show it, the sports shops had never heard of an oval ball and the playing of Rugby was something probably done in the south!

So three years ago, in early March, as part of a weekend of Welsh celebrations a mad idea was formed – to play a game of Rugby on the frozen River Isil. The morning of the match dawned, bright sunshine, pure blue skies and crisp white snow and a rag tag band of people

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gathered from a wide variety of nations – it was to be Wales Versus The Rest of The world!

There were representatives, including a few watching Ambassadors, from South Africa, Norway, France England and of course Wales but sadly no Kazakhs.

That is until another Kazakh miracle happened; jogging along the walkway by the river came three young men passing a Rugby ball between themselves, focused on their throwing and catching they were oblivious to the sea of different coloured shirts and the spectators lining the river. I stopped them mid throw and asked if they had come to play? How did they hear about the match? Were there others?

Over the coming months different forms of Rugby started to evolve in Astana. A tag Rugby team at Haileybury School, a touch Rugby group , two junior teams at local schools and a development of some amateur local teams but it was not until one year later when many of the elements came together, this time through hearing of the legendary ‘Rugby on the River’ and the intervention of the British Embassy.

Two different young Kazakh men, who turned out to be both players and junior coaches, made contact with the embassy to find out how they could be involved in this years ‘Rugby on the River’ and so a new chapter started and a more formal approach had to be taken.

Permission from the Mayors office, selection of a new venue when an early thaw made the river too dangerous and even sniffer dogs to check the pitch were all required and this years event was a wholly Kazakh affair with teams coming from Karaganda, Shatinsk and Astana and a junior competition too!

text by Gareth Stamp photos Anastassiya Palagutina

They were confused – they were on their way home from training and decided to come along the river for a change! They did not know about the game but yes they wanted to play and they wanted their friends to play too. Frantic phone calls led to scores of players coming from every angle and they played, they played well!.

True warm friendships were made and the spirit of Rugby was reignited on that frozen patch of snow-covered ice at minus 30 degrees. Hot mulled wine and traditional Welsh cakes finished off the event but also started a chain reaction.

With the stunning backdrop of Astana’s futuristic skyline and the Presidential Palace four hours of rugby took place with great competition, humour and camaraderie and there was a thirst for more.

Over the next few weeks the momentum gathered pace with meetings of the Kazakh Rugby Federation and a small conference to plan the future of Rugby in the Astana region. And so it emerges !

It is true that Rugby was always in Kazakhstan – indeed the country competes well in the International Rugby Sevens and the womens team have a high world ranking – this year sees the fiftieth anniversary of Rugby in Kazakhstan and this gives an opportunity for greater cohesion, communication and involvement in the game.

With the Kazakh psyche for physical sport involving strength and stamina it should natural that Rugby has a foothold here – hopefully with recent developments and the continued enthusiasm this will be the case. We will attract players, followers and hopefully sponsors so that this can be the new emerging Rugby capital for the Central Asian region – it will only take another Kazakh miracle and I know that those happen!

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ART “My crew and I are working really hard towards making the best possible teaser with a modest budget. The aim of this teaser is to support the making of the feature film and a graphic novel, which will serve as storyboard for the movie.” - said teaser director Laura Bazarbayeva.

FLAGS OVER BERLIN TRUTH WIL COME OUT First ever Kazakh-British feature film has officially been hatched this spring with a working title ‘Flags over Berlin’. It’s a Second World War spy-flick with loads of action scenes, espionage, suspense, and ... Love!

We had a sneak preview of the first paragraphs of the film’s extended synopses courtesy of Dauren Toleukhanov and Zarina Kadylbek, a writing duo, working on the film story.

‘Flags over Berlin’ is the story of one of the most important intelligence missions of the World War II.

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A British ‘Task Force’ operative must go to the besieged Berlin in mid-April 1945 under orders from Sir Winston Churchill. He must do so wearing the guise of a newspaper correspondent writing a story about the frontline units of the Red Army preparing to storm Berlin.

His real objective is to prevent Soviet Allies from obtaining Berlin-held copies of Nazi Nuclear Program documents as final part of top-secret ‘Operation Alsos’. He must also try to prevent Hitler from escaping capture during the Battle of Berlin as well as to identi-

make it into an international film.Thus, a central British character based on the likes of Ian Flemming and other T-Force operatives was introduced to the plot. This main hero will witness the storming of the Reichstag and the first red flag hoisted by Koshkarbaev and Bulatov making the story shine.

The first scene from the movie will be filmed over the summer as a student project of London University of Arts graduating class.

fy and eliminate the SS ‘Werewolf’ die-hard operatives as they plot to kill Churchill.

He will be the only Brit in Berlin for a while surrounded by millions of Soviet and German troops.The mission is hard and extremely dangerous, but he must prevail for his country and His Majesty The King.

The teaser crew: Assistant producer Nikolai Panek, cinematographer Katie Spencer, scriptwriter Isaac Carroll, sound supervisor Leo Taylor, editor Jakob Hassan.

The mission will see him assigned to the 150s Rifles Regiment of the Red Army. The official Flag of Victory is given to this regiment by Marshall Zhukov in order to be hoisted over the Reichstag by a Georgian soldier as Stalin is Georgian. The battle weary soldiers are encouraged by their officers - whoever hoists the first red flag over the Reichstag will become a ‘Hero of the Soviet Union’.

Our hero quickly bonds with private Gregory Bulatov and an oriental-looking lieutenant Rakhimzhan Koshkarbaev. Rakhim is very vocal about his Kazakh ethnicity and proud of his nomadic culture. The ‘three musketeers’ become brothers-in-arms during hand-to-hand combat with Nazi die-hards on the streets of Berlin, saving each other’s lives a number of times, with unforeseen consequences for the Mission...’

‘Flags over Berlin’ is based on a true story: Koshkarbaev and Bulatov were sidelined as true heroes by Marshal Zhukov in favour of sergeants Kantaria and Yegorov to please Stalin. They were denied their status of ‘Heroes of the Soviet Union’ three times - by Stalin, Brezhnev and Gorbachev. Recognition came to Koshkarbaev only with Independence: there countless are schools and streets baring his name in contemporary Kazakhstan.

This remarkable story is definitely screen-worthy for anyone coming from Kazakhstan but the idea was to

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ECONOMY

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TAJIKISTAN:

CASA-1000 PROJECT OFFICIALLY LAUNCHED

The launching ceremony of the Central Asia-South Asia transmission line CASA-1000 project was held on May 12th in the city of Tursunzoda in the Republic of Tajikistan with the participation of the President of Tajikistan Emomali Rahmon, Prime Minister of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan Muhammad Nawaz Sharif, the Chief Executive of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan Dr. Abdullah Abdullah and Prime Minister of the Kyrgyz Republic Sooronbay Jeenbekov.

The launching ceremony was also attended by official representatives of international and regional organizations and financial institutions. In a solemn ceremony, the heads of governments by pressing a symbolic button, gave an official start to the regional transmission line CASA-1000 power project.

President Emomali Rahmon stressed that today’s official launch of the CASA-1000 Project will be a historical milestone for each of us as a symbol of the start of real cooperation among the countries of the wider region of Central and South Asia. Prime Minister of the Kyrgyz Republic, Sooronbai Jeenbekov, Chief Executive of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, Dr. Abdullah Abdullah, Prime Minister of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, Muhammad Nawaz Sharif, and the Vice-President of the World Bank for South Asia Ms. Annette Dixon also delivered speeches.

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ECONOMY CASA-1000 is the first inter-regional joint project of the Central and South Asian countries, which will connect the power grids of the Republic of Tajikistan, the Kyrgyz Republic, the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan and the Islamic Republic of Pakistan.

This project will reduce the energy deficit, will contribute to the formation of a new energy market, the establishment of trade co-operation of partner countries, and the creation of new jobs, taking into account a number of economic, social and environmental benefits. A feasibility study of the project was completed in 2009, and in 2011 the project was approved commercially.

This project for Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan creates favourable conditions for the export of surplus electricity in the summer and will yield a real profit, as well as satisfaction of the needs of the population and the economy of Afghanistan and Pakistan with ecologically clean electricity.

It is expected that exporters of electricity, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan in May and September will deliver to importing countries, Afghanistan and Pakistan, up to 5 billion kW / h, including Tajikistan for 3 billion kW / h.

The implementation of CASA-1000 project is the first step in implementing a set of measures and co-operative arrangements to strengthen communication and infrastructure links between the regions of Central and South Asia, which in the future will create conditions for the development and welfare of the peoples of the region.

The total cost of the CASA-1000 project is estimated at 1 billion US dollars. To implement this project, Tajikistan attracts 320 mln US dollars of investment, Kyrgyzstan - 209 million, Afghanistan - 354 million and Pakistan - 209 million US dollars.

It is expected that the first phase will build a high-voltage 500 kilowatt power line with a length of 477 km from Datka of Kyrgyzstan to Khujand of Tajikistan, and then begin construction of high-voltage transmission line from Tajikistan to Afghanistan and from that country to Pakistan with a length of 750 km of power transmission lines.

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‘With the story of economic migration featuring almost relentlessly, it can be difficult to bring a fresh and engaging voice to the subject, yet Davlat Tolibshohi achieves this in Cranes in Spring.

It is as though he is telling the immigrant’s story for the first time, and his narrative hooks the reader throughout. The sincerity of the author and his protagonists shines through.’

ISBN 978-1-910886-06-9

9 781910 886069

— Paul Wilson is a long-time writer on the Silk Road and author of The Alphabet Game.

RRP: £14.50

Available on Amazon Now!

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TRAVEL

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DREAMING OF THE SEA Story and Photos by Stephen M. Bland

Unable to make our desired destination understood, my brother and I disembarked beneath a boundless sky on the outskirts of the ghost town of Moynaq, a place described by painter, archaeologist and art collector, Igor Savitsky – founder of the State Art Museum of the Republic of Karakalpakstan - as the ‘wasteland of the Soviet dream.’ It was fifty degrees Celsius in the shade, except there was no shade to be had. Dogs barking heatedly, shoeless children circled us, wanting to shake our sweaty, luggage encumbered hands.

Colourless tumbleweeds danced idly across the town’s single road as we ploughed onwards. Stopping to ask the few people we chanced upon the location of the gastnitsa, most just stared back blankly, those that did respond invariably pointing in opposing directions. The way throughout Asia, it was better to give a misleading answer than to offer no information at all.

Burnt and dehydrated, we’d been walking for an hour and three-quarters when I tripped on a rock, my bags coming down on top of me. Prostrate upon the ground with grit in my mouth, I was about ready to wilt, when like a mirage a purple ZAZ-966 appeared, sparks flying from its exhaust as it scraped along the asphalt.

From this vision of a vehicle a rotund, Weeble-like man emerged, and then another, and another, until there before us stood seven men, gigantic in girth if not height.

And they spoke English.

‘My name is Big Rashid,’ the first introduced himself.

‘These are my brothers: Gennadiy, Viktor, Yuri, Lavr, Arkhip and Adolf.’

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TRAVEL ‘I’m Stephen and this is my brother Stan,’ I said, clasping his outstretched hand. ‘We’re looking for the hotel,’ I explained as he hauled me upright.

‘Da, the Oybek,’ Rashid nodded knowingly. ‘Come,’ he added, taking pity on us after scrutinizing my dishevelled state.

The nine of us somehow ramming ourselves into his car, I perched upon Adolf’s lap with my head wedged between the front seats.

‘We’ve been looking for ages, but nobody knows where the hotel is,’ I wheezed, craning my neck to avoid being hit by the gearstick.

‘But why would anyone in Moynaq know?’ Rashid snickered. ‘They will never stay there.’

It was a valid point.

‘But there’s no sign for the hotel,’ Stan protested from his writhen position in the footwell.

‘Ha,’ Big Rashid scoffed. ‘In Oz’bekiston you must pay extra to have sign.’

Rashid and his brothers, it transpired, were ethnic Russians from Kyzylorda in Kazakhstan. I asked what they were doing in Moynaq, but my query met with stony silence and darkened expressions, it was obviously a question too far.

Minutes later we parked outside a long, nondescript edifice, literally bursting out of the car as its doors swung open. From behind a tall iron fence, a mongrel growled its welcome, drooling as it bore its teeth.

‘Oybek, go,’ Rashid said, motioning for us to enter the compound.

Lining up to wave us goodbye, the seven siblings cast imposing shadows in the late afternoon sun.

We’d come to Moynaq to visit the Aral Sea, or rather the ship graveyard where the sea used to be. Draining of the Aral dates back to the US Civil War, when finding his supply of American cotton under threat, the Russian Tsar decided to use the sea’s tributaries to irrigate Central Asia - Uzbekistan in particular - to create a

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Russian cotton bowl. As early as 1908, the geographer and climatologist A.I. Voekov referred to the Aral as ‘a mistake of nature,’ a refrain the Soviets would later come to embrace wholeheartedly in their hunger for the white gold. Each bale of cotton soaking up 1.8 million litres of water, the sea’s trunks were siphoned off in leaky pipes which rarely reached their destinations, the Aral shrinking to one-tenth its size between 1960 and 2007.

At its peak, Moynaq was home to sixty thousand people, mostly fisherman and their extended families, the Aral Sea producing up to thirty percent of the Soviet catch and saving Russia from widespread famine in the 1920s. Accessible only by air and ferry well into the seventies, the town also served as a popular beach resort for bureaucrats, its airport hosting fifty flights a day at its peak. By the eighties, though, tourism had dried up. Digging channels through the sand in pursuit of the diminishing sea, Moynaq’s fishermen discarded their ships where they became grounded.The sea’s major source, the Amu Darya River no longer reaching its historic terminus, a local saying goes: ‘When God loved us, he gave us the Amu Darya, when he ceased to love us, he sent us Russian engineers.’

Today, the town’s population number less than two thousand, the remnants of the sea almost two hundred kilometres away across the manmade desert from which a billion tonnes of salt and dust are blown into the atmosphere every year. A spate of NGO interest which followed the collapse of the Soviet Union led to another saying: ‘If every scientist and journalist who visited the Aral Sea brought with them a bucket of water, the sea would be filled again.’ Unable to overcome corruption endemic throughout the region, most NGO’s have long since given up on the Uzbek portion of the Aral. As the last of the so-called Large Aral Sea quietly dies, the people of Moynaq have found themselves left to their fate.

Atop a bluff behind the hotel stood a concrete monument to the disappeared inland sea, a line of ships laid out on the former seabed below. The sheer scale of the sand-salt desert was stupefying. The hulks on the seabed played out their lingering demise, all rust and graffiti with only the buzzing of insects to break the silence. Huge dragonflies patrolling the exsiccated tract which offered nothing but loss and decay, the extent of the tragedy was immediately palpable.

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TRAVEL Striped sunlight spilling through the skeletal ribs of their hulls, sun-baked trawlers lay slowly oxidizing. Animated by history, these inert objects took on an ethereal vitality in opposition to the overwhelming sense of desolation surrounding them. Thorny grey and fuchsia pink thistles destined to become tumbleweeds shook as brackish gusts whipped across the vast emptiness once so teeming with life.With the sea gone, the region was subject to searing summers and freezing winters, five hundred species of bird, two hundred mammals, a hundred types of fish and countless insects unique to the region all now extinct.

At dusk, children came out to play on the jagged boats, devising games with sticks and discarded cans, serrated metal and broken glass peeking through the sand around them. With the sun setting behind the promontory an aurora pink light fell across the desert, a chill wind whistling through the ship cemetery, itself an extension of the other-worldliness which pervaded the whole town.

Back at the hotel, with nightfall the regular power cuts became more conspicuous. At dinner, we sat around the bare candlelit table, our hirsute, barrel-chested host directing as a babushka and her daughter dished up manty, ravioli style dumplings in a broth to be soaked up with lepyoshka.

Our room being the only one occupied, as midnight approached the pitch-dark floor took on an eerie aspect, shards of broken glass rattling in the windows.

The town abandoned to packs of wild dogs, vehicles passed at a rate of less than one an hour. With no light pollution, the stars glistened with a rare lustre. It was just us, the dogs and grandma belching at the edge of the world.

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CO

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Home to the descendants of Jenghiz Khan’s Great Horde and a single nation of Persians, in the nineteenth century the once hugely important Silk Road states of Central Asia became a pawn in the ‘Great Game’ of expansion and espionage between Britain and Russia. With Afghanistan left as a buffer between these two empires, the rest of the region soon fell to Russian imperialism, disappearing for over a century behind what would become known as the ‘Iron Curtain’.

With the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, the five new nations of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan were born, in most cases against their will. Propelled to the centre of a new Great Game through a combination of their strategic location and the discovery of vast oil and gas reserves, since independence Central Asia has seen one bloody civil war, two revolutions and seven dictators, one of whom presided over arguably the world’s most fully formed cult of personality ever.

In Does it Yurt? Travels in Central Asia or How I Came to Love the Stans, journalist Stephen M. Bland travels through the region, exploring its rich folklore, history and modern politics.

A hugely readable account filled with amusing anecdotes, the book reveals the difficulties and charms inherent in visiting the gems that Central Asia has to offer.

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HISTORY

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NATIONAL ART OF LAHIJ RECOGNISED BY UNESCO

3 came copper manufacturing centres and copper manufacture itself started to also become an art.

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A number of travellers and historians have written about the rich metal deposits of Azerbaijan and their use. One of them was Albanian historian, Moisey Ka-

Azerbaijan art is known in many spheres of art and has made a generous contribution to world culture. Undoubtedly, metalwork also plays its role among these kinds of art.Ancient ore and mining remains discovered on the territory of Azerbaijan prove that as far back as the era of the late Stone Age rich deposits of iron ore were extracted there by hand and simple drilling. Metal artworks from Nakhchivan, Mingachevir, Gadabey, Qadabay, Qazakh, Ganja and other places have been found dating back 5000 years.

One of the important stages of metalwork development came when copper was discovered, because this enabled people to make various tools that they could use in farming. Several big cities in the Middle Ages be-

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HISTORY Copper-smiths often engraved their signatures and dates according to the Moslem (Hijri) and Christian calendars, as well as lines from the literary works of great poets Sadi, Hafiz, Nizami and other classics, religious words, prayers, names of imams and edifying words.They each made their mark on history as unique pearls of Azerbaijan culture preserved nowadays in world museums. Such types of things can easily be seen among the exhibits at the Azerbaijan National Museum of Art. Throughout the history of Azerbaijan many have devoted themselves to copper work. There are more than 40 types of handmade copper works, including dinnerware, tableware, water jars, milk jugs and home things. Since ancient times the main copper production centres were Ganja, Nakhchivan, Shamakhi, Baku, Ardabil,Tabriz and Lahij. From the nineteenth century Lahij became the main copper production centre, made by craftsmen who decorated their work with complicated

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lankatuyski, who lived in the seventh century. He wrote: “In the mountains of this beautiful country are extracted gold, silver, copper and yellow paint...” In 1474 Venetian traveller, Kontarini, stayed at the palace of the ruler of the Aghqoyunlu state in Uzun Khasan and noted that everyday about 400 people in the palace of governor were served a meal on copper tableware of various types.

At the beginning of nineteenth and twentieth centuries copper tableware, made by Azerbaijani craftsmen, was often exhibited and remarked upon by appreciative audiences. In particular the craft was seen at both the 1850 exhibition, “Works of The Trans-Caucasian land”, and the 1873 “World-wide Vienna” exhibition.

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and delicate patterns. Articles made in Lahij were considered to be leading examples of the quality of work among the central cities of that period. In the eighteenth century in Azerbaijan the metal was decorated using 5 technical methods: smithery, engraving, molding, tracery and enamel.

Recently the Lahij craftsmen received the news that “Lahij copper production art” had been included into the list of representatives of non-material cultural heritage by UNESCO, which underlies the significance of this type of art in the region.

Images: 1. Copper-smith workshop. Baku. 1927 2. Jug. Shirvan. 19th century 3. Bathhouse trunk. Garabagh. Late 19th century 4. Sherbet dish. Basqal. Hijri 16 shaban (name of month) 1307/1890 5. Satil (a copper bowl for holding liquids).

Lahij. 19th century 6. Milk pail. Lahij. Hijri 1238/1821 7. Tray. Azerbaijan. 19th -20th centuries 8. Serpush. Lahij. 19th century 9. Jug. Ganja. 18th-19th centuries Text & photos by Deputy Director for scientific work, Dr. Khadıja Asadova

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CUISINE

THE SPECIAL NATURE OF CAUCASIAN CUISINE

by Tatiana Lari

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Khinkali

Ethnic cuisine always reveals the character and mentality of its people. Every nation has a lot of “food� related proverbs and sayings and many rituals, rites and customs associate with eating. The people of the Caucasus are famous for their hospitality. Because the life of those who lived in the mountains was usually severe, people had to overcome the difficulties of the natural environment and constantly defend against enemies.

The guest could always count on shelter and food and this was not just the basic provisions but always the best that the house good proffer, including the most delicious food. There is a saying in the region that for three days you are a guest but on the fourth, the younger brother.

Caucasian cuisine is a rather relative term, however, referring to the collective traditional dishes of people living in the Caucasus region, Caucasian cuisine is heterogeneous however. It consists of several cuisines.

Armenian cuisine is considered to be the oldest in the region which is why it cooking is complex and multistage. Also, it is characterised by an abundance of stuffed dishes and beef is usually chopped rather than minced. Dishes will usually feature lots of onion, melted butter mixed together into flavoursome combinations.

Azerbaijani cuisine is distinctly traced back to the influence of Iran with fish dishes, chestnuts, and sour seasonings based on a pomegranate being popular. Iranian saffron is also often used with great effect.

Most of all, however, it is Georgian cuisine that wins the prizes, because it uses lots of cheese, nuts, dairy products and spices to create a Georgian feast worthy of separate description. Such food leaves an indelible impression on all who try it.

Dishes of North Caucasian cuisine are more ascetic, they are not so popular and use less widely known vegetables and spices than in the rest of the Transcaucasian cuisine.

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CUISINE The long-term existence of the Caucasus at the crossroads of different religions and cultures is reflected in the cuisine: it tolerant to a wide variety of foods and tastes. One more characteristic of Caucasian cuisine is the use of open fires for cooking food. On these open fires are cooked not only meat but also fish, vegetables, and even some dairy products. The frying pan is hardly used.

Sometimes, some of the dishes have different names that originate from different nationalities, though their essence remains the same. A number of identical meals spread throughout the Caucasus, regardless of national or historical-geographical area. For example, shashlyk.

This dish, which is considered in Russia and around the world aa typical Caucasian, is familiar even to many pastoral people. As for the name, shashlyk, despite its undoubted Turkic origin, no one in the Caucasus, including the Turkic Azerbaijanis, can fail to explain the word, based on the vocabulary of their language.

In Georgia shashlyk is called mtsvadi, in Armenia, khorovats, while in Azerbaijan, kebab. The word “shashlyk” is used only by Russians, who borrowed it from the

Crimean Tatars in the XVIII century (“Shishlik” from the word “shish” - a skewer), to refer dishes prepared on a spit, and from the Russian word it passed into European languages. Shashlyk is the trump card of Caucasian cuisine. A lot of Caucasian people consider shashlyk as the national dish and there is an abundance of different recipes with it. Meat dishes are very popular in the Caucasus and usually its people use lamb, beef, veal and poultry in their dishes.

In the Caucasus since time immemorial, livestock has been part of the traditional Caucasian and the Caucasian table is unthinkable without such products, as yogurt (native Caucasian product), ayran, sour milk and a variety of cheeses. Cheese is usually pickled as in hot climates such method of preparation is ideal. The preparation of cheeses is the pride of Caucasian cuisine. Putting together all cheeses of local varieties, it does not give way to the European range. There are very unusual cheeses. Cheeses are rarely eaten in their natural form, but rather is actively used to prepare a variety of dishes: fried, boiled and baked in dough, for example.

Many dishes use corn flour - mchadi, muchari, churek, siskal and Goma, all of which are used with cheeses and meats. Pies are baked from unleavened dough with different fillings. Especially famous are the Ossetian pies - the dough for them is thinly rolled and stuffed (with meat, beet tops, pumpkin or cheese). Soups are thick, hearty and very tasty, and based on meat and bone broth. It’s often a technique to use acidic or sweet and greasy combinations for the preparation of traditional Caucasian soups. It is considered that the Caucasian dishes are always spicy hot. This is not quite true. It is much more correct to call Caucasian cuisine not spicy but spiced: with parsley, dill, tarragon, mint, basil, thyme.

The food is also full of snacks using wonderful vegetables: spinach, sorrel, mallow, quinoa, asparagus, wild garlic and celery for example. Meat, fish and vegetable dishes are sure to fill with garlic, black and red pepper, vinegar and spices.As a seasoning, vinegar, pomegranate juice and crushed walnuts are commonly used. Mushrooms in the Caucasian kitchen were unpopular and considered a bad food.

Sauces are also an important part of Caucasian cuisine.

Meat, fish and vegetable dishes are usually served with sauces that highlight their flavor. Caucasians have long been able to make excellent desserts, that are known

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Dolma

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CUISINE

Lobio

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worldwide such as baklava, nut kozinaki, kada, Turkish Delight, churchkhela and scherbet.

Alcoholic drinks are an essential part of the traditional Caucasian culture. In the northern Caucasus, a low-alcohol drink made from millet or corn, called bahsyma (Buz, Bosa) is popular. No holiday goes past without a ritual bowl of buza. Ossetian dark homemade sweet beer (Bagan), in Kabardino-Balkaria is popular along with home-brewed beer (Taulu) which has been present for many centuries - it is dark and thick, a bit like Bavarian beer and brewed in a copper boiler. Wine in the Caucasus is an important part of the meal. Red wines are considered a source of health and longevity. Chacha - a fruity brew strength of 50-60 degrees, tastes like grappa. There is arak, which is made from corn or barley (sometimes by double distillation), and the taste and smell reminiscent of Irish whiskey.

The early origin of the state independence of Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan and a high development of the national culture, their links with the ancient states of the Middle East and the Mediterranean, in particular with Rome and Byzantium, and then the destruction of ancient civilization and national traditions as a result of conquest and long enslavement by neighboring Muslim States, have all had a serious impact on the material culture and cuisine of the peoples of the Caucasus.The peoples of the Caucasus have each developed their own cuisine, retained their own special culinary flavor.

This is evident not only in the names of national dishes, but also in the peculiarities of the national culinary technology and its aroma spectrum. Caucasus Cuisine has great popularity throughout the world. Alexandre Dumas enthusiastically talked about it to his compatriots, returning from a trip to the Caucasus. Caucasian cuisine is a distinctive and original: Satsivi, kharcho, chakhokhbili, achma, khinkali, hychiny, khachapuri, adjika, bozbash, lobio, hash, kebab, kyufta-bozbash, Petey, dolma, ajapsandali – they all have unique aroma, unforgettable tastes and a variety of colors. No food lover should miss out trying (and then admiring for life) the delicious variety of Caucasian cuisine on offer!

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TRAVEL

NATURAL WONDERS OF SOUTHERN KAZAKHSTAN SAYRAM-UGUM NATIONAL PARK Text By Eugenette Morin

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It is calm, silent at the end of the Tian Shan mountain range in the Sayram-Ugum State National Park of South Kazakhstan.That won’t last as the sun rises early, snowy peaks glisten and birds break out into song. The view is breathtaking, bathed in the colors of another beautiful day.

The camp wakes slowly as people stumble out of their tents; whispering good morning to each other and adding a layer to ward off the temporarily fresh, cold air. It is chilly this morning‌ we are in the mountains after all.

While one of us fills the kettle with sparkling, clear water for coffee from the rushing Sayram Su river, others collect wood, start a fire and get out the breakfast kit for us to fry some eggs before we separate for the day.

The sun comes up over the mountains quickly and those going up Mount Altus, 3020M high, start their hike early. They will return in the early evening; exhausted but euphoric, stunned by the hidden beauty of the hostility surrounding them and awestruck by the demanding terrain set in such splendour. The guides from the Alpinism Federation of South Kazakhstan are instrumental in the success of this excursion.

The climb is difficult with an uneven shale terrain and tall grasses; but the views, the wind and exertion make one feel alive. The smells of sage, mint and wild garlic give this expedition an almost tasty, gourmet flavour.

This mountain is a feast for the senses.

A few have decided to trek and picnic at concealed locations, protected by the Sayram Su gorge about 1.5 hours trekking away from camp. Clear, crisp and cold water awaits them at the end of their journey. The lakes are exquisite. The peace and tranquility of nature here is communicative and restorative.

The gorge is amazingly beautiful with sharp, jagged edges. Just follow the river, listen to it as it meanders gently and trickles through fallen logs. The terrain slowly becomes rockier, slightly treacherous but the view will more than reward the efforts of the trekkers. Some flowers do well in this harsh environment and add a dash of red or yellow to the see.

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TRAVEL Tomorrow, everyone will slowly break camp, relax and breathe in the peaceful serenity of this magical place before returning to the hectic beehive of the city of Shymkent, approximately 50 km away.

The lakes are clear and you can see right to the bottom, enjoying bright blue surrounded by the hues of grey, beige, brown and green from the gorge.The scene is delightfully inviting and relaxing.

As early evening approaches, activity resumes at camp.

While the fire is relit, and water put on to boil, the group gathers to prepare a meal together. There are many stories to share, sharing gratitude for this day in time and space, thankful to have basked in the splendor of Sayram Su; even for a short time.

The evening will pass quickly, sharing stories and laughter around the fire before retiring into an exhausted slumber, perhaps one of the best sleeps ever in the silence and majesty of natural, unspoiled beauty.

We are a small group of 10 people passing through Shymkent who decided to take a few days to get away from the city and enjoy the local mountains. The diversity of activities to do is one of the highlights of Sayram Su. Some of us stayed at camp, lazed around, caught up on some reading and went on short walks along the river, while others indulged in more strenuous exercise.

Weekends or 3 day-2 night excursions of this type are entirely possible at reasonable prices with the Alpinism Federation of South Kazakhstan. Rental of tents, sleeping bags and other camping and/or climbing gear is also available. Guides are absolutely necessary (and very welcoming) for a successful and memorable experience.

This is only one of many possible sportive or cultural expeditions available in South Kazakhstan.

Useful information: Olga Dashko, President of the Alpinism Federation of South Kazakhstan, is the person to get in touch with at olgadashko77@mail.ru. Olga doesn’t speak English but if you write to her, she can always google translate it or send it to her translator.

She will answer in Russian or have her translator answer your questions.You can also get in touch with the Association for the Development of Tourism in the South Kazakhstan Region at: +7 702 902 5609 or stictourism@gmail.com.

The entrance to the park is approximately 5 km away from the camp itself and you need to pass through a fenced area built in 2010-2011.

Because cars need to be registered with the park authorities, the Federation has cars and drivers that are listed all the time. If you want to bring your own vehicle, you need to get in touch with Olga.

At camp, there is a cafeteria, shower and electricity for those who prefer to concentrate on sports instead of relaxation.

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PAST EVENTS

WARWICK BALL Despite being far from their motherland, Kazakh students in the UK are among the first to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Independence of the Republic of Kazakhstan. Thus, the alliance of Kazakhs abroad “KazAlliance” organised an annual spring ball at Warwick University, one of the top universities in the UK.Young man and women dressed in Kazakh ethnic gowns were there to welcome the arriving guests attracted most of the attention, striking the imagination of the multicultural audience with unique and colourful style of their attire. The deputy ambassador of the Republic of Kazakhstan and the representatives of the Ministry of Education and the centre of international programmes “Bolashak” were also among the guests of the Warwick Ball. The ball was officially opened with a traditional “Shahu” ceremony, which is associated with great celebrations in Kazakh culture. The traditional performance of debutants accompanied by the Kazakh Waltz was incredibly beautiful and eye-catching, because they had been practicing for over a month prior to the event to hone skills they were honored to demonstrate that evening. Then followed a quiz on the

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history of Independent Kazakhstan and its outstanding personalities, such as Alikhan Bukeikhanov, Amir Kashaubayev, Hiuaz Dospanov and other big names who have hugely contributed to Kazakhstan’s gaining independence and promoted the image of the great Kazakh steppe. There was also a competition of future brides – “kelin”, where young ladies were to demonstrate the knowledge of Kazakh national customs and culture. As to young men, they participated in a powerlifting competition – “kotermek”. In the end everyone in the room, all the guests and participants performed an ancient nomad dance “Qara zhorga”. It is worth noting that previous Spring Ball of Kazakhs in the UK was dedicated to the 550th anniversary of Kazakh khanate and gathered over 130 guests from all over the UK.

text & photos by Yerkenaz Arinova

ANNOUNCE

YOUNG TALENTS OF KAZAKHSTAN CONQUER LONDON

Maide Akan is a young writer, illustrator and eco-designer of Astana, Kazakhstan. She is just 11 years old and composes, writes and illustrates stories about Aysu who is a brave Kazakh girl who not only loves nature and animals, but also leads a bitter struggle with the environmental problems of our time.

In anticipation of Expo 2017 in Astana, in the autumn of this year, the British publishing house “Hertfordshire Press” will publish the first book by Maide Akan under the name «Aysu and the Magic Bag». The book tells the amazing story of Aysu, a girl whose life is no different from ordinary children, until one day Aysu meets a magical bird. The bird is a fairy of nature, and tells Aysu about the many problems with environment, eventually asking for her help.

That is how the amazing adventures of Aysu begin as she seeks to protect nature and win the struggle for a clean environment. The book launch will be held as a part of the “V Open Eurasia and Central Asia Book Forum & Literature Festival”.

In addition to attending school, like any other child, and her literary activity, Maide Akany is founder and designer of her own brand: eco-AYBAG. The company manufactures environmental bags for children and adults with a unique design from one of Maide’s illustrations.

The eco-brand was created under the slogan “Protecting environment is a task not only for adults, but also children”.

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CONTENTS 5

WELCOME WORD 6

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V LITERARY CONTEST “OPEN EURASIA AND CENTRAL ASIA BOOK FORUM & LITERATURE FESTIVAL – 2016”

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THE BIG INTERVIEW: MINTIMER SHAYMIEV FIRST PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF TATARSTAN

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OUTSTANDING PEOPLE OF EURASIA

BRITISH AMBASSADOR TO KYRGYZSTAN INTERVIEW: ROBIN ORD-SMITH

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UZPROMSTROYBANK: A UNIQUE INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITY

SUPPORTING CLOSER TIES BETWEEN EUROPEAN AND EURASIAN UNION AN OPEN LETTER FROM THE RUSSIAN EMBASSY IN LONDON

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EURASIAN CREATIVE GUILD LONDON

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THE RENAISSANCE OF RUGBY ON THE KAZAKH STEPPE

THE FAILED INTEGRATION OF CENTRAL ASIA…SO FAR…

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FLAGS OVER BERLIN TRUTH WIL COME OUT

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THE ARCTIC ZONE OF SILK ROAD

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TAJIKISTAN: CASA-1000 PROJECT OFFICIALLY LAUNCHED

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A MUSLIM IS NOT A TERRORIST A TERRORIST IS NOT A MUSLIM:DRAWING PARALLELS BETWEEN JIHAD AND TERRORISM

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DREAMING OF THE SEA

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NATIONAL ART OF LAHIJ RECOGNISED BY UNESCO

AN INTERVIEW WITH HOLLYWOOD PRODUCER CYRUS YAVNEH

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THE SPECIAL NATURE OF CAUCASIAN CUISINE

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DOWNWARD IS HEAVENWARD

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NATURAL WONDERS OF SOUTHERN KAZAKHSTAN SAYRAM-UGUM NATIONAL PARK

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SAMARA-SAMARKAND: THE HERITAGE AND MODERNITY IN THE DIALOGUE OF CULTURES FROM THE VOLGA TO THE ZERAVSHAN

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WARWICK BALL

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YOUNG TALENTS OF KAZAKHSTAN CONQUER LONDON

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KAMAL HASANOV WINNER OF OECABF - 2015’s NEMAT KELIMBETOV AWARD IN VIDEO FILM CATEGORY

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THE CITY WHERE DREAMS COME TRUE A Collection of Four Stories by Gulsifat Shahidi Viewed from the perspective of three generations, Shahidi presents a rare and poignant insight into the impact which Tajikistan’s terrible civil war had on its people and its culture during the early ‘90s. Informed partly by her own experiences as a journalist, these beautifully interwoven stories are imbued with both her affection for her native land and her hopes for its future. The narrators - Horosho, his granddaughter Nekbaht, her husband Ali and his cousin Shernazar - each endure harrowing episodes of loss, injustice and violence but against all odds, remain driven by a will to survive, and restore peace, prosperity and new opportunities for themselves and fellow citizens.

ISBN: 978-1910886205 RRP: £14.50 AVAILABLE: WWW.AMAZON.CO.UK WWW.DISCOVERY-BOOKSHOP.COM

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For queries or additional information, please contact:

Address: Tel: E-mail: Website:

UZPROMSTROYBANK JSCB Investor Relations Team 3 Shakhrisabzst., Tashkent 100000,Uzbekistan +998 (71) 140-79-64; 120-45-00 (ext. 1392) investor.relations@uzpsb.uz http://www.uzpsb.uz/