OCA MAGAZINE #43

BUILDING THE LANDBRIDGE WITH EURASIA

[ EURASIA ]

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH OKSANA ZHUKOVA: I CAN FLY AFGHANISTAN’S FATEFUL FALL: AN EYEWITNESS ACCOUNT LESSONS FROM THE HOT DAYS OF THE KAZAKH WINTER THE ALPHABET SHIFT IN KAZAKH LANGUAGE THE ‘SILK ROAD’ BETWEEN JAPAN AND UZBEKISTAN

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EDITOR-IN-CHIEF NICK ROWAN PUBLISHER MARAT AKHMEDJANOV EDITOR’S ASSISTANT VITALINA HALAVACH DESIGN ALEXANDRA REY

OPEN CENTRAL ASIA MAGAZINE #43 SPRING 2022

Cover: Oksana Zhukova see p.6 MAGAZINE PUBLISHED FOR EURASIAN CREATIVE GUILD

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EDITORIAL TEAM GARETH STAMP RAZA SAYED TATIANA SHEVCHENKO DR. AL ARTAMAN (UAE & C. A) CONTRIBUTORS ELDOR TULYAKOV MURAT UALI PETER LINDSAY MARINA CLARK NICK ROWAN ENZE FOIGT PAVEL KOSSOVICH SPENCER HAWKEN TATIANA LARI MARIN EKSTROM LEORA EISENBERG

ADVISORY BOARD ELENA ASLANYAN, ARMENIA ALDONA GRUPAS, UK ANATOLY LOBOV, GEORGIA VICTORIA LEVIN, ISRAEL WARREN WILLS, AUSTRALIA ELENA BEZRUKOVA, KAZAKHSTAN AZIM AKMATOV, KYRGYZSTAN SURIA ESENTAEVA, KAZAKHSTAN BAKHTYGULMAKHANBETOVA, KZ ANASTASIA KUZMICHEVA, BELARUS ALINA MOSEIKINA, CYPRUS MARINA PODLESNAYA, MOLDOVA JONATHAN CAMPION, UK OKSANA ZHUKOVA, NATALIE BAYS, UK BRUCE GASTON FARKHOD TOLIPOV NATALYA BURLAKOVA ASYLAI AKISHEVA RUSTAM BETANAI AINUR NAZARYMBETOVA STEPHEN M. BLAND DISTRIBUTION TIMUR AKHMEDJANOV WEB NAIMATT BUTT

Disclaimer : The information contained in this publication is for general information purposes only. The information is provided by OCA Magazine 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 OCA Magazine.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 Belarus to the UK Embassy of Kazakhstan to the UK Embassy of Kyrgyzstan to the UK Embassy of Russian Federation to the UK Embassy of Tajikistan to the UK Embassy of Turkmenistan to the UK Embassy of Uzbekistan to the UK CATBIG, TEAS

FROM THE EDITOR this is concerning. The likes of Kyrgyzstan, Armenia, Ukraine and Georgia have less than a third of the population double vaccinated at the time of writing.The threat of high caseloads still threatens to overwhelm public health systems.These are pressures that these countries can ill afford at a time when economies thought they were turning the corner from the damage of the previous 18 months. Where countries have lacked access to vaccines there is a continued duty on the world to do more to grow access and fast. Otherwise, we risk learning the Greek alphabet far faster than we wish. The world may be learning to live with the virus but not all at the same pace or with the same risks.

Meanwhile, January produced terrifying scenes in Kazakhstan. Peaceful protests over the rise in fuel costs quickly turned violent leading to the worst bloodshed in the state for 30 years. Officially 225 people were killed, many more injured and over 10,000 people detained. Kazakhstan sought the help of neighbour Russia to quell the riots, invoking the support of the Russian-led Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO) for the first time. There is no presumption of innocence – all protesters labelled “terrorists” by the government, which itself was replaced as the President, KassymJomart Tokayev, tried to restore order. It is true that the reWelcome Word gion will benefit from being stable, but the scenes and stories As we approach the second anniversary since the start of coming out of the country are concerning – a heavy handed the pandemic, the arrival of the Omicron variant at the end witch-hunt of any and all who may be trying to peacefully of 2021 brought a dark cloud over life that felt like it might express their concerns will not solve the underlying issues of slowly be returning to an element of normality.The pandem- rising costs of living and energy prices. It would not surprise ic wasn’t over, but we were learning to live with the virus. me to see this replicated elsewhere if governments do not Omicron set all of that back – the new variant had both a try and find a more collaborative approach to addressing the transmission and a vaccine evasion advantage that has made post-pandemic inflation and other issues affecting all of us. it dominant.

Virus mutations are nothing new – they will keep happening, as will gain of function mutations that make a virus more effective at doing what it does best, infecting and replicating itself. But the panic of nations, closing borders, re-imposing restrictions and adding new rules with ever shorter notice continued without abatement. The good news, however, is that this wave appears to be less severe than previous waves.

The variant itself appears less severe, and vaccine and natural immunity have helped ensure that individual outcomes are better post infection.Vaccines are being tweaked and anti-viral drugs will help reduce disease impacts – the speed of response by our scientists continues to amaze me.

But of course, all this talk of vaccines remains moot in regions where access to or uptake of vaccines has been limited.

Less than half of the populations in Eurasia are vaccinated with at least both doses. Ignoring the fact that full vaccination is now looking like requiring three (or more) doses,

P.S. As we go to print, news is filtering through of Russian military personnel and equipment having crossed the border into Ukraine. This is a fast moving and tragic set of scenes, and one which looks, sadly, to neither be quick nor bloodless.

We sincerely hope that such unnecessary loss of and injury to life will cease in the nearest of time and that both sides will be able to accommodate a more peaceful way of life together soon. We will be watching developments closely and report more in the next issue.

Enjoy the issue!

Nick Rowan

Editor-in-Chief Open Central Asia Magazine WWW.OCAMAGAZINE.COM

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COVER STORY

I CAN FLY Interview: Oksana Zhukova Oksana Zhukova is a multi-talented, multi-award-winning creative person who cannot but fail to impress you when you meet her. She is General Director of the ArtMedia production centre, a leading journalist, prose writer and public figure.

She is a member of the ECG Advisory Council, academician of MARLI, winner of the ECG Film Festival in the Documentary nomination, winner of the Open Eurasian Literary Festival and Book Forum in London, and head of the public diplomacy projects “ArtMedia Tour:We are together” and “ArtMedia.We draw with a word”. OCA finds out more….

thirty years, mostly working in television. I started as a correspondent for the Economic Review, I also was a production editor, a newscaster, a special correspondent for political programs, an author and a host of a program on culture and art. When I studied for two years at the preparatory courses at the Faculty of Journalism at Moscow State University, at the School of Junior correspondents and the Press Center section of the Minor Academy of Sciences, I published my own youth newspaper; since then I have been creating my own projects. Along with my work on television, my online magazine “Gallery of Stars” appeared, and then “ArtMedia. We draw with a word”. I wrote on social issues for newspapers and magazines, I was the head of press services. Now I continue to cooperate with the media and I run the ArtMedia production center, which has a wide range of activities, including the production of documentaries.

OCA Magazine: Oksana, tell us about yourself and your creative activity.

Oksana Zhukova: I consider myself a person of the world and an avid traveller. Creativity gives me the opportunity to fly, it inspires me. My favorite topic is people. My favorite planet, the one I name in my poems, is the planet of Love - Sunny Taurida, my homeland, its mountains, sea and pink lakes, and my favorite city is Evpatoria, where our art base “Pink Lake” is located near the Black Sea, where people often come to participate in our public diplomacy projects “ArtMedia Tour: We are together” and “ArtMedia. We draw with a word”.

By education I am a philologist, TV journalist and TV director. I have been a journalist for about

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OCA: Your works made it to the finals of the competition in London “Open Eurasian Literary Festival and Book Forum” (OEBF) last year and won in one of the nominations. What is the story behind this?

OZ: I got to the final of the OEBF competition in three nominations “Prose”, “Small prose” and “Poetry”, with the novel “At the Height”, the story “The Karadag Monster” and a series of my poems “Poetic Illustrations”. I began to write poems for photographs and paintings when I hosted an author’s program on television, fifteen years ago. I create poetic illustrations for my own paintings and for the paintings of my artist friends from different countries of the world. I wrote one of the first illustrations in verse for Inna Aslanova, a member of the Eurasian Creative Guild (London), and now I am writing a book together with Tommy Barr,

met ten years ago, during the period when I was doing interviews with famous people. It was a period of creative crisis, I could not work, because I experienced a personal tragedy, my mother died that year. The last exclusive interview was then recorded with Robertino Loretti, there was no strength and desire to continue the project. Just at that moment Elvira Timofeevna’s sponsor offered me to do an exclusive interview with her.The story is based on this exclusive, but at the same time there are many lyrical digressions and landscape sketches of my native peninsula.

a representative of the Royal Society of Arts (Great Britain). All prose works are based on my work on television, in newspapers and magazines.

The story “The Karadag Monster”, which describes a sharp social topic was published in the Literary portal “East-West”, and on the official channel of the ArtMedia production centre you can find a poetic TV report from Pink Lake to the paintings of artists - participants in our public diplomacy projects, authors of our informational, literary and artistic platforms “ArtMedia”.

I have long wanted to write a story about a real man of our time. I have been working in journalism for about thirty years and I interviewed many prominent people from different parts of the world, but I wanted to show the beauty of the soul of the wonderful representatives of my beloved peninsula and demonstrate to the whole world the beauty of my native Taurida. I tried to combine all this in a book about a unique woman who saved others, forgetting about herself. She became an example of fortitude not only for me, but also for many others, being the only woman in the world who conquered all the seven-thousanders of Eurasia three times and she is Elvira Timofeevna Nasonova. Elvira Timofeevna was eighty last year. To commemorate this date, I presented her with the first prize named after my mother Raisa Gorbunova (for many years of saving people) and dedicated to Elvira Timofeevna the story of a real person of our time “At the Height”. We

OCA: Did the documentary film, based on your story win at the London Film Festival?

OZ: Yes, exactly, based on the story “At the Height”, a documentary film in English “The Way to the Heights” was created with the personal savings and resources of the team of our production centre “ArtMedia”. The goal was the same, the creative team of the production center wanted people not only in the East, but also in the West to know more about our Taurida, its magnificent nature and heroic people. “The Way to the Heights” won and was shown in a cinema in central London. Now our production centre “ArtMedia” is working on the Russian version of the film.

During the filming, Elvira Timofeevna proved to be a real hero. Being eighty years of age, neither a sore leg nor violent protests prevented her from conquering the next peak. I am grateful to fate that she gave me a meeting with this unique woman, who became an example of fortitude for me, she reached incredible heights, despite numerous injuries, physical and mental.

We plan to publish the story “At the Height” in Russian and English, and with the film we will participate in other international film festivals, so it is not in the public domain yet.

OCA: What personal creative projects are you planning?

OZ: After winning a literary competition and a film festival in London, I was elected to the jury of the film festival, an ambassador and a member of the Advisory Council of the Eurasian Creative Guild (London) and the chairman of the expert council on journalism. This is very honorable. I think this public work will take a lot of time, now the members of the Executive Committee and I have developed a marathon of mini-competitions

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in the genres of journalism, on a given topic, which is designed to unite us even more, so not only journalists and publicists can take part in it.

In the coming year, my personal creative plans include to complete our project with an artist from the UK, a member of the Royal Society of Arts, Tommy Barr and make a video presentation, to film a short filmannouncement of my “Pink Lake Tales” (I write them in verse and prose), separately for adults and children and to develop our joint “fairy tale” project with Aldona Grupas, who wrote a fairy tale about our art trip around England and my visit to London and called it “Princess of the Pink Lake”. In addition, I plan to continue filming TV reports that combine journalism and poetry for my cycle “Poetic Illustrations” for paintings by contemporary artists. But the main project is the collection “I Can Fly”. Since childhood, we have been carrying a load of resentment, pain, disappointment, envy, jealousy behind our backs, which does not allow us to fly high, gain wings, believe in ourselves and share a piece of our soul with people around us, take off and soar freely in harmony with ourselves and the world.This collection will include my lyrical-philosophical, portrait and social essays, stories, novels “The Dream of the TV presenter” and “Lepa”, separate chapters from the “Tales of the Pink Lake” for adults, poems from the “Poetic Illustrations”.

OCA: You devote a lot of time to social activities, tell us about your projects in this direction?

OZ: Friendship between peoples, cooperation through culture and art for the sake of world peace, for some people these might be just big words and hackneyed grandiloquent phrases, but for me it is the embodiment of a bright childhood dream of preserving fragile peace on Earth. My dear grandfather, Fedya, told me about

the horrors of the Great Patriotic War. My mother often told me about her childhood, destroyed by the war, full of hardships and troubles. Her father, my grandfather Yakov, died in 1945, just a month before the Great Victory, and my grandmother had to raise seven children alone. My mother often said:“We will be able to overcome everything, if only there was no war, if only people would not kill each other.” In my early childhood, I dreamed of becoming a cosmonaut, and in my teens, I wanted to become a messenger of peace, like Samantha Smith or Katya Lycheva. I became a TV journalist and, thanks to my beloved work, I managed to organise international projects, bringing together creative people from around the world. Our virtual public diplomacy project “ArtMedia. We draw with a word” celebrates its anniversary. Ten years ago we published the first article by a foreign journalist, the same year as the public diplomacy project “ArtMedia Tour: We are together”. The authors of the Internet portal “ArtMedia. We draw with a word” invite to the peninsula the heroes of their publications — wellknown figures of art and culture, and we hold creative meetings in different cities of the peninsula, presenting the work of our and foreign journalists, writers, poets, actors, musicians and artists on the same platform, or vice versa, we demonstrate creativity of our authors, going abroad. The tenth anniversary of the public diplomacy project “ArtMedia Tour: “We are together” was celebrated not only on the peninsula, but also far beyond its borders. Anniversary creative meetings started in Yevpatoriya in early spring and ended on the eve of the Old New Year.Despite the pandemic, Tauris was represented in the works of the project participants, including abroad.This year the project was attended by artists, journalists, poets, prose writers, actors, singer-songwriters and musicians from the UK, the Netherlands, Italy and Germany.

The anniversary year for our team also coincided with my personal anniversary and with the anniversary of the main person in my life, my good wizard - Son. With his unique abilities that he showed in early childhood, he inspires me to all victories and achievements. I have been learning from him all my life and striving to become better.

In the year 2022, I want to wish us all health, kindness and light, a flight of inspiration and new tops in creativity, but most of all - peace! Peace in the world and in our souls.

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ECONOMY

UZBEKISTAN PLEDGES ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AS A PRIORITY

A

fter broad public discussions, Uzbekistan has adopted its five-year Development Strategy for 2022-2026. It consists of seven priority directions and one hundred goals Uzbekistan is willing to achieve within five years. This strategic document will serve Uzbekistan as a baseline for further reforms in all spheres.

The Strategy foresees the implementation of various measures that should create the basis for joining a number of “states with the above-average income”.

The country has identified target goals in concrete numbers and introduced the mechanisms of reaching those goals. Further economic liberalisation, privatisation in most spheres, competition, elimination of monopolisation, the attraction of more foreign investment, price stabilisation, support of the development of “driver spheres of the economy,” and decentralisation that gives more authority to the regions are

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among many other priorities identified in the Development Strategy for 2022-2026.

For instance, a target goal for the country is a 1.6-times increase in GDP per capita in the next five years and for per capita income to reach $4,000 by 2030 by ensuring stable high growth rates in all sectors of the economy, including energy, industry, machinery, mining, agriculture and others. Another important aim is to ensure macroeconomic stability and gradually reduce the annual inflation rate to 5 per cent by 2023. This year, the state intends to decrease the inflation rate to no more than 9 per cent.

Looking at the proposed industrial policy reforms outlined, one can see that the country will continue ensuring the stability of the national economy and increasing the share of industry in the GDP by increasing the volume of industrial production by 40 per cent. For that, priority areas have

been identified, and each consists of its own target numbers.

These goals include implementing large investment projects in metallurgy, such as an increase in the production volumes of gold by 26 per cent and silver by 42 per cent, and a 2-fold increase in copper and ferrous metal products. Production in the chemical industry will be worth $2 billion by developing the chemical and gas chemical industries and bringing the level of natural gas processing from 8 to 20 per cent. Additionally, the plan calls for double the production of building materials, growth in the leather and footwear industry by over 3 times its current size, a similar increase in pharmaceutical industry products, and furniture products growing by 2.8 times.

All of these plans require an uninterrupted supply of electricity to the economy. Therefore, in addition to other planned measures, the active introduction of green technologies in all areas, an increase in energy efficiency by 20 per cent, and a

reduction in emissions of harmful gases into the atmosphere by 10 per cent are proposed. For example, by 2026, there is a planned increase in electricity production by an additional 40 billion kW/h, bringing the total to 110 billion kW/h. Furthermore, the government intends to save about 3 billion cubic meters of natural gas by bringing the share of renewable energy sources up to 25 per cent of energy production by 2026. In conjunction with this, reducing the emission of harmful gases into the atmosphere to the tune of 8 million tons is also a priority.

Another important goal is the transformation of the digital economy into a core “driver” sphere of the economy. Implementing work aimed at increasing the digital economy’s volume by at least 2.5 times is also a goal to strengthen the country’s potential in this new sphere.

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ECONOMY

Planned reforms need a constant flow of investments that require an appropriate investment environment and the rule of law. Accordingly, taking measures to attract the necessary $120 billion over the next five years, including foreign investment of $70 billion, is another crucial goal for the government to realise. Moreover, the country is planning to reform its capital markets. Thus, it is planning to increase financial resources in the economy by bringing the capital market volume from $200 million to $7 billion over the next five years.

Completion of the transformation of the banking system, bringing the share of banking assets of private banks from 20 to 60 per cent in 2025, in general, is a goal to reform the banking sector and increase the affordability of decent banking services.

Uzbekistan plans to increase the Republic’s exports by 2026 to $30 billion to maintain sustainable economic development.

Hence, bringing the share of the private sector in exports to 60 per cent is a priority. Accordingly, by improving the system of providing organisational and financial assistance to exporting enterprises, the country is willing to increase the current number of exporting enterprises from 6,500 to 15,000. Expanding the geography of exports of goods from 115 to 150 countries is also expected.

To further support entrepreneurship, the government plans to reduce the tax burden on business entities by 2026 from 27.5 per cent to 25 per cent of GDP and decrease VAT from 15 to 12 per cent, as well as reducing profit tax for telecommunications, banking and finance sectors from 20 per cent to 15 per cent.

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The government is planning to increase the economic potential of the regions by carrying out decentralisation reforms to support the development of the districts further. Keeping in mind that agriculture reserves a high volume in the state’s GDP, the annual growth rate of agriculture is expected to be at least 5 per cent, which should lead to the increase of farmers’ incomes by at least two times. Furthermore, Uzbekistan plans to implement a more differentiated approach in developing districts and communities. As such, depending on the main specialisations of communities, be it different types of farming, textile or other, government plans further support those driver areas in that community, addressing the peculiarities of each specific community separately.

Acceleration of the processes of Uzbekistan’s accession to the WTO is also among the priorities of the Development Strategy of Uzbekistan. In the meantime, the expansion of exports of finished products to European countries within the framework of the GSP + system will remain a priority.

Uzbekistan has identified several priorities for economic transformation in its Development Strategy 2022-2026. The realisation of all these measures requires high potential and substantial resources. As such, co-operation with its allies and integration into the world community have been prioritised in many of the goals set in the Strategy.

Eldor Tulyakov, Executive Director at the Development Strategy Centre in Uzbekistan

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VIEW

AFGHANISTAN’S FATEFUL FALL AN EYEWITNESS ACCOUNT

T

he night passed and dawn arrived. As usual, I left home at 8 o’clock in the morning to go to the office. I got to my office, and everyone there was astounded by the Taliban’s progress.

It was clear from the faces of my colleagues that something was wrong. Everyone felt that something big was going to happen. It was like the approaching storm before the flood. That morning we held a news-conference as usual. Our head of department told us that in the future we should come to work with traditional clothes (the same clothes that were common under the Taliban`s watch).

There were reports of the fall of Kabul’s neighbouring provinces being heard with little or no conflict.The Taliban were advancing quickly towards Kabul. At around 12 noon on the same day, news showed that the Taliban reached the gates of Kabul. And after 20 years, the Taliban returned to Kabul. Everyone was worried about what was happening before our eyes. Everyone was afraid of a prolonged war with the accompanying de-

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struction.There was a scramble by government officials trying urgently to get back to their homes.

The people of Kabul were in a hurry - everyone was panicking and trying to get to safety. The commotion continued until the end of the day but no one really knew what was happening. The only thing that was clear was that the Taliban really had reached the capital of Afghanistan. Efforts to temper the panic and potential for bloodshed were launched by Afghan allies and some government officials. At 6 pm it was announced through various media and sources that the president had escaped. These were the moments when Afghanistan was suddenly thrust in a power vacuum.

The Taliban reached the centre of the capital overnight.

People were still asking themselves one question, however. How can it happen that Afghanistan, with all its facilities and comprehensive global support, is failing to stop the Taliban? After twenty years of immense presence and support of the United States and with a large well-equipped army, including tanks and aircraft,

Afghanistan fell in less than a month. The United States had spent billions of dollars on equipping and training Afghan forces since 2001.

It was believed that the government had the capability to prepare one hundred and eighty thousand soldiers for military operations. Given this, how did the country fall so quickly and without even a whimper? The answer to this question, unfortunately, has various aspects.

1. The government was surprised by and overly hopeful for the Doha peace talks.

The government did not want to disrupt the Doha process by launching large-scale military operations against the Taliban, and relied more on a defensive strategy. However, the Taliban used the opposite approach – a stronger side will get more points in negotiations - so they tried hard to take control of several

provinces in order to appear to have more strength in the negotiations.

2. Unprofessional appointments, especially in military positions in the name of rejuvenating government institutions.

The government made appointments and appointed people to military positions who had no experience of war and did not know the geography or politics of Afghanistan. This only served to aid the deterioration of the situation, and caused the security forces to lose their morale easily while the Taliban’s morale grew stronger day by day.

3. Corruption Corruption was another key factor in the fall of Afghanistan. Over the 20 years of the Comprehensive

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Global Conference, billions of dollars were donated to Afghanistan. Unfortunately, much of it was not distributed in the right places. The former finance minister has now revealed that most of these forces were imaginary and high-ranking government officials pocketed these imaginary soldiers’ salaries. In twenty years there were of course achievements in terms of the development of the media, women’s rights and education, but these could have been even greater. Corruption has undoubtedly harmed the people of both Afghanistan and the United States.

FAST FACTS: People killed during the Taliban seizure of Afghanistan American soldiers – 2,448 NATO soldiers – 1,144 Afghan soldiers - 66,000 Afghan civilians – 47,245 People killed by Taliban and other groups – 51,191 Assistants - 444 News Reporters - 72 (Source unknown)

And now, spontaneously with the withdrawal of the Americans, people are becoming disappointed with all their achievements in the fields of education, human rights and freedom of speech.Worse still, all people are afraid that the Taliban will accuse and seek retribution against people that co-operated with the former government and foreign forces. Life in Afghanistan remains fuelled by and filled with fear.

Story by Rustam Betanai

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FOCUS

UK RESPONSE TO TRAGIC EVENTS IN KAZAKHSTAN FOCUSES ON FINANCE

By Stephen M. Bland

I

n January of this year, popular protests the like of which have not been seen since 1986 erupted across Kazakhstan, and although they were ignited by a rise in fuel prices, the anger behind them spoke to a long-standing discontent with the authorities. Crushed with an iron-fist and the assistance of Russian-led Collective Security Treaty Organization [CSTO] forces the first time the organisations troops have been deployed in such a manner - 227 were killed and 6,000 arrested according to official figures, though Human Rights groups say the true numbers may be far higher.

The uprising, which started in Zhanaozen on January 2nd and quickly swept across the country, seemed to come as much of a surprise to exiled opposition leaders as they did to the authorities. These events were also unexpected in the UK, where the government monitored the situation closely, but was in no position to deliver more than platitudes. Certainly, the UK didn’t want CSTO forces to become involved - as this could be used as a precedent for future action in other countries - and claims in Russia and China the protests were foreign-led were rightly summarily dismissed as disingenuous.

On January 6th a Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office [FCO] statement called for a ‘proportionate’ response from Kazakh law enforcement, but its concern was equally with regards to Kazakhstan’s ‘close relationship’ with the UK and the ‘destruc-

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tion of property and buildings.’ In a speech delivered on January 20th - the thirtieth anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the UK and Kazakhstan - the British Permanent Representative to the OSCE, Ambassador Neil Bush struck a similar tone, expressing ‘regret [for the] loss of life,’ but again emphasising the ‘destruction of property.’

Sadly, as I noted in an interview with the BBC World Service, a significant proportion of media coverage in the UK focused on financial aspects, such as oil workers walking out and the six-day internet shutdown costing crypto-miners approximately £15 million and sending its value plummeting, rather than the human cost.

Smuggled-out videos of victims didn’t play on the news, and neither did statements by exiled oppositionists such as Yerzhan Dosmukhamedov, the founder of the Atameken Party, that ‘most of them were shot, exactly the way KGB used to conduct its executions in 1937.’

It is perhaps telling that from 2011-16, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair served as an ‘official advisor’ to Astana, whitewashing Nazarbayev’s regime for a fee estimated by the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project to be £20 million. In the four quarters to the end of Q3 2020, total trade in goods and services between the UK and Kazakhstan stood at £1.8 billion.

In the UK, attention has now turned to the amount of Kazakh money linked to the old elite which is slosh-

ing around in the British economy. According to a KPMG report, in a country where there is effectively no line between state and private assets, 162 people control around 55% of Kazakhstan’s total wealth, and Britain has long been a favoured safe-haven for the ill-gotten gains of oligarchs. Accounts posted in October 2021 show foundations controlled by Nursultan Nazarbayev boasted £5.8 billion in assets - including over £2.2 billion in cash - held via a company called Jusan Technologies, a subsidiary of which, a Kazakh bank, received a multi-billion dollar state bailout. Registered in the UK, suspiciously, it has a single employee.

On February 9th, London-based international affairs think tank, Chatham House called on the UK government to use sanctions to help the Kazakh people. The author of the report, Thomas Mayne, told OCA Magazine that billions has ‘been transferred out of Kazakhstan since it gained its independence, and a large chunk has ended up in the UK, especially our real estate markets. [We] recorded over £500 million of properties held by the Nazarbayev family and associates of the regime. Now that the UK has a new Global Anti-Corruption and Human Rights sanctions programme, modelled on the US Global Magnitsky Act, we have an opportunity to sanction some of these individuals, and freeze their ill-gotten gains.Whether this will happen is a different matter - I don’t sense there is much political will, despite over 200 people being killed in the recent disturbances and countless allegations of corruption.

There’s also the question of what this money was doing here in the first place – our anti-money laundering legislation may be strong, but if concerns are not reported by real estate agents and lawyers, and are not followed through investigations by the National Crime Agency, then those laws and regulations are essentially useless.’

With its cabal of pin-striped enablers, for decades Britain has not only turned a blind eye, but actively courted dirty money from kleptocrats. Thus it was that the subject of the biggest fraud case in British history, the Kazakh oligarch Mukhtar Ablyazov - who has judgements against him totalling over £3.5 billion - was not only able to own four London properties but also procure a “golden visa” allowing his son indefinite leave to remain in the UK. ‘The most amazing thing about it was there were really no background checks,’ Lord Wallace of Saltaire, government whip and spokesperson in the House of Lords for the FCO

from 2010–2015 told OCA Magazine. ‘It demonstrates the extent to which we’ve preferred as a country not to look too closely at where money is coming from.’

OCA Magazine spoke to Roman Borisovich from the NGO, ClampK, which organises ‘kleptocracy tours’ in London, visiting properties owned by oligarchs, including Kazakhs.

‘Sometimes shell companies are created because an entity can’t be owned by a single person, so five companies could be set up just for the purpose of one owning another; so there’s no way of linking an individual to this company,’ he explained. ‘And it’s not only people who lost money to these kleptocrats, it’s people who are losing their place on the property ladder because it’s impossible for the average Londoner to purchase anything. This has led to the appearance of ghost areas, like Ennismore Gardens, SW7, places where the majority of properties are owned by kleptocrats who don’t live there and don’t rent them out. This is known as the “lights out London” phenomenon that devastates whole neighbourhoods.’

The Russian invasion of Ukraine has served to bring this issue into even sharper focus, with a renewed hope that legislation promised by David Cameron in 2016 may finally come to pass. ‘Britain has long served as a “laundromat” for dirty money and reputations from around the world,’ Director of Policy at Transparency International UK, Duncan Hames told OCA Magazine.

‘It’s important the new legislation leaves the corrupt or those evading sanctions nowhere to hide their wealth.’

However, huge holes in the latest raft of sanctions and the ‘grotesque underfunding’ of crime agencies have led Borisovich to conclude that the UK is the ‘weakest link in the Western alliance against the Russian invasion of Ukraine.’ Arguing that the UK’s response has so far been largely symbolic, the author of Moneyland, Oliver Bullough characterised Boris Johnson’s claim in the House of Commons on February 23rd that no government could ‘conceivably be doing more to root out corrupt Russian money’ a ‘ludicrous… inversion of reality.’

Over 87,000 properties in England andWales are owned by anonymous companies registered in tax havens.

Asked to comment, the FCO failed to respond.

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HUMAN RIGHTS

CENTRAL ASIA: PERILOUS EDGE BETWEEN FEMALE TRADITION AND ABUSE

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eing born a girl continues to be a considerable risk factor in many geographical regions, and Central Asia is one of the case examples where violence committed against women and girls is high. According to the latest data of OECD, up to 59% of women in Central Asia are subjected to beatings, sexually abused or otherwise ill-treated, given the region’s existing traditionalism, socio-cultural factors and religious beliefs.

Historically, women have played a subordinate role to men in Central Asian societies. The daughters-in-law (“kelin”, “gelin”) were openly neglected in their husbands’ families, in addition, bride kidnapping (“kyz alyp қashu”, “ala kachuu”), arranged and early marriages were widely practised and considered revered traditions in parts of Central Asia. Later, the socialist system doubled the burden on the shoulders of women.

Even though being endowed with relative freedom and certain rights, along with housekeeping, women from Soviet Central Asia had to carry out social and industrial duties. Yet, given the formal Soviet privileges, the patriarchal structure ingrained in Central Asian societies was challenging to overcome and completely erase from the consciousness of traditional societies.

The 1990s independence of the Central Asian states did not improve the countries’ position in achieving gender equality and eliminating violence against women. All states still have a patriarchal social system with great respect for traditional and spiritual foundations, which in many respects still assigns a secondary role to women and does not allow them to control their own lives. In turn, religious overtones, to some extent, began to throw even more fuel on the fire, promptly shaking the position of women and girls. As a result, one may interpret traditions and customs differently, which can sometimes escalate into gender violence.

Central Asian news feeds increasingly report domestic violence, bride kidnapping, “kelinism”, early marriages and other forms of abuse. Although, presumably, this is because people begin to speak more openly, pay more attention, and understand that such cases are not a manifestation of respect for traditions or religion but a violation of women’s rights.

in Bishkek, a group of men abducted 26-year-old Kanatbekova. A local shepherd found the abducted woman’s and kidnapper’s bodies two days later in a car.The case caused a public resonance and outraged protests with calls for layoffs and other official actions.

Likewise, arranged marriages are still not uncommon in Central Asian states. For instance, in Tajikistan, parents of young people can choose a spouse for their son or daughter. Sometimes it happens that families even forcibly marry their children without considering his/her opinion. Such marriages are nothing more than forced marriages, in which a forcedly married young woman may suffer more as a result of violence from her husband or his family.

Early marriage is another problem that violates the rights of underage girls and is closely related to the problems mentioned. Child marriage in Central Asian countries remains an acute problem, and girls from rural areas are the most vulnerable to cases of child marriage. They often get married directly after finalising or during high school, which negatively affects their education. These girls, as a rule, are forced to drop out of school, never having the opportunity to finish their education, and subsequently to have further career development.

For instance, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan occupy some of the leading places in the practice of kidnapping girls for marriage. One of the most recent cases in Kyrgyzstan that strongly sparked civil society outcry was the bride-kidnapping of Aizada Kanatbekova. In April 2021,

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HUMAN RIGHTS All these forms of gender violence are intertwined, mutually causal and may, in some cases, bring on “kelinism” and domestic violence. A phenomenon of “kelinism” (new brides’ forced subservience to their mothers-inlaw in their husbands’ households) exists in all Central Asian countries, which at worst is nothing more than slavery and institutionalised family violence. Such manifestation of “kelinism” can have tragic consequences.

One of the striking examples took place in Kyrgyzstan in 2017: a young woman decapitated her mother-in-law after experiencing bullying and violence. Another example was the case of Mukhlisa Kadambaeva that has called attention to domestic violence in Uzbekistan.

The young woman was found hanged after her parents alleged brutal abuse by her husband’s family.

Unfortunately, violence against women and girls in Central Asian countries seems to be normalised, often viewed as a private affair of each family, and rarely prosecuted. A survey in Uzbekistan found that only about 10% of male respondents did not object to domestic violence, arguing that husbands were justified using force if provoked by their spouses. While in Tajik society, 97% of men and 72% of women believe that a woman must endure domestic violence in order to preserve the family. Parenthetically, domestic violence in Tajikistan is still not criminalised and is at the drafting stage.

Conclusion Polarised foundations still exist in Central Asian societies with a patriarchal and traditionalist orientation, prescribing an active role for a man and a passive position for a woman. This aspect is the first and foremost aspect affecting gender policy and the regulation of gender-based violence in these states. The ideas of gender equality and non-discrimination are yet far from being deeply embedded in Central Asia’s public consciousness and culture. As long as women are seen as belonging to men and not as individuals with equal rights, as long as forms of violence against women are justified by traditions and customs, Central Asian societies have a long way to eradicate violence against women and fully respect women’s rights.

Asylai Akisheva PhD Candidate – Public Intl Law Law School Koç University

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ECOLOGY

CHERNOBYL FALLOUT: RECOVERING THE LANDS OF BELARUS

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ollowing the Chernobyl nuclear power plant accident, most of the radioactive emissions settled in the thirty-kilometre zone around the nuclear power plant itself.The population from this region were resettled, and the Polessky radiation-ecological reserve was created on the territory. About 70% of the radioactive fallout fell on the territory of Belarus, as a result of which the level of contamination of its territory is the highest of all countries affected by this tragedy. 20% of all forests in Belarus are still polluted, and 6,000 km2 of land have been withdrawn from agricultural use in accordance with legislation. 109,000 people were resettled. According to calculations made by the Institute of Economics of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus, the total damage caused to the republic by the Chernobyl disaster, calculated for a 30-year period in overcoming it, is estimated at 235 billion US dollars, which is 32% of the republic’s budget in 1985. Irreparable damage was done to the Republic of Belarus, which had to experience the enormous socio-economic, political, environmental and medical consequences of the accident.A significant part of the damage is in the Mogilev region.

An area of 11.2 thousand square kilometres, covering 14 districts of the Mogilev region, was exposed to radioactive contamination. In such conditions, it is practically impossible for quick self-recovery of the affected territories, or the direct restoration of the facilities located on them. We can only talk about a long-term rehabilitation process, and only when it is safe for people and businesses to return to the sites of past radioactive contamination.

On the territory of radioactive contamination, depending on the density of soil contamination with radionuclides and (or) the average annual effective dose of irradiation of the population, the following zones of radioactive contamination have been set up: 1. zone of evacuation (exclusion) - the area around the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, from which the population was evacuated in 1986 (30-km zone and the territory from which additional resettlement of the population was carried out); 2. zone of priority resettlement; 3. zone of subsequent resettlement; 4. zone with the right to resettlement; 5. zone of residence with periodic radiation monitoring

Radioactive contamination of soil entails significant problems in agriculture, primarily associated with the acceptable quality of food products produced from them. Soils of natural ecosystems have also suffered significantly. The physicochemical state of radionuclides in the soil and, first of all, the number of their mobile forms are the determining factor in the processes of migration of radioactive substances in the soil profile and along the trophic chains.

Radioactive contamination is the ultimate technogenic load on the human environment, after which it loses its ecological attractiveness and becomes partially or completely unsuitable for the fully-fledged life of people. In such a situation, investment activity also practically ceases, primarily on commercial projects that imply a return on investment in the near future.

At the same time, the authorities are taking measures to restore these lands. So, in 2015, the experimentally south eastern region of the Mogilev region was singled out for as a priority area of economic development.

This includes the lands of the Krichevsky, Klimovichsky, Krasnopolsky, Kostyukovichsky, Slavgorodsky, Cherikovsky and Khotimsky districts.

By the adopted regulations, it extends until 2025 the main provisions of the laws providing preferential terms for doing business and investing in these territories. This will create additional conditions for the integrated development of this region, improving the living standards of the population.

The state has determined the procedure for providing organisations with payments from the republican budget to reimburse up to 35% of capital costs that they will incur when implementing investment projects between 2021-2025. The list of these projects is determined by the government on the basis of proposals from the Mogilev Regional Executive Committee.

In the development of the real sector of the economy, the modernisation of cement plants should be noted.

They were transferred to local types of fuel - peat briquettes. As a result, the share of local fuels in factories increased to 30 percent. The quality and volume of products remained the same, but the costs decreased.

The cement cluster in the Krichevsky region has been supplemented by a new plant for the production of

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ECOLOGY

cement-particle boards, which was opened by Belzarubezhstroy. Food - production of “Domochaya” corn sticks. With the participation of the Development Bank’s funds in the village of Peregon, Slavgorodsky District, the Mogilev Meat Processing Plant has built a pig-breeding complex for 24 thousand heads. To date, this is the largest project in the southeastern region.

On the territory of the Slavgorod region, a production site for bottling honey was launched on the territory of the Krasny Pischevik - Slavgorod Unitary Enterprise. It is planned to process up to 300 tons of useful product here annually. And next year, the production of confectionery products will start operating in Slavgorod.

Woodworking workshops were built in Klimovichsky, Kostyukovichsky, Krasnopolsky forestry enterprises, drying complexes - in Krasnopolsky and Cherikovsky.

Also, the necessary equipment was purchased for the forestry enterprises. In the segment of small and medium-sized businesses, a number of industries were created, new jobs were organised.

These examples show the effectiveness of the chosen method of supporting the Chernobyl territories. The special legal status of the region makes it possible to

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organise profitable investments for potential investors. In view of the above, despite the negative consequences of the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, the affected regions have a fairly stable rate of development, which allows them to ensure the life of the population at a decent level.

Natalya Burlakova, Expert of the Economics Department of the Klichev District Executive Committee

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OPINION

LESSONS FROM THE HOT DAYS OF THE KAZAKH WINTER

Disturbances in first half of January 2022 caused by popular unrest in Kazakhstan can be remembered as the ‘Kazakh winter’ – events which shocked the very foundation of the political system of this state.They revealed a deeply rooted vicious regime of diarchy which the first President of Kazakhstan N. Nazarbaev created – the regime of the power of him, by him and for him (to paraphrase Abraham Lincoln’s dictum: “Democracy is the government of the people, by the people, for the people). This ‘Kazakh winter’ revealed a very controversial, perplex and dangerous development of the state.

It wasn’t controversial, perplex and dangerous only for Kazakhstan but also for the whole Central Asia which will likely face direct or indirect challenges related to the situation in this Central Asian country. What kind of challenges? They are twofold; it should be noted that: 1) each individual Central Asian country side by side with its own specific problems, experiences similar problems to Kazakhstan; 2) all five countries of the region are regionally interconnected, interdependent and are engaged in a regional integration process.

In the wake of the “Kazakh winter”, it becomes obvious that the Kazakh President has two options: to consolidate his own power at the expense of democratic reforms or to speed up reforms with some risk for the autocratic political regime. Similar options do exist in all countries of the region (just like in all authoritarian countries of the world). Therefore, some lessons should be taken by all in the region.

Throughout independence, Kyrgyzstan has been moving from “revolution” to “revolution” and has already seen 6 presidents. Its symbolical image of the “island of democracy” in Central Asia appears to be a myth.Turkmenistan has moved from one dictator to another one.

Tajikistan has been developing under one president all this period since the end of the civil war in 1995. Uzbekistan has a second president who came to power

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after the death of his predecessor. Finally, Kazakhstan has experienced a “two-presidents” system until the overthrow of the first head of the state and transition of power ended up with country-wide popular unrest.

None of these Central Asian countries have been able to manifest themselves as a democratic/democratising/ liberalising polity. So, political systems of all Central Asian states are quite similar to each other, in one way or another way.

Moreover, the tasks of democratisation are actually the same everywhere, since they imply a checks-andbalance system of powers, existence of independent opposition parties, independence of the judiciary, independence and high authority of the parliament, active civil society and so on. From this point of view, one can assume that similar social, economic and political problems will likely cause a similar reaction on other parts of the population.

Another important lesson is in relation to what can be called the “test of unity”. Unity and regional integration of Central Asian countries can be challenged in the context of the “Kazakh winter” in two ways: 1) countries concerned can take an isolationist stance with respect to the country-in-unrest in order to prevent any spill over of disturbance across the borders and reduce the probability of challenges to authoritarian regime; 2) as it happens everywhere with countries mired in domestic unrest and revolutions or civil wars, external forces can take geopolitical benefits from such conflicts either by supporting their proxies or even by directly meddling in the conflicts.

The ‘Kazakh winter’ didn’t prompt Central Asian countries to isolate themselves from Kazakhstan or from each other; on the contrary, they expressed moral and diplomatic support to Kazakhstan. However, the tokens of the second challenge – geopolitical – were observable in this case. The Russia-led Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) forces were, for the first

time, used in Kazakhstan, but not against an external aggressor but against internal rioters and protesters.

Moreover, they were not operationalised for a dynamic military mission, but for the static tasks of guarding governmental buildings and the airport of Almaty. Activation of the sleeping military block coincided, accidentally or not, with exacerbation of tension between US/ NATO and Russia and Moscow’s ultimatum delivered to the West on security guarantees. That ultimatum openly asserts that the former Soviet space belongs to the Russian sphere of influence and ignores the independence and sovereignty of Central Asian states.

In this geopolitical context, the main lesson of the hot days of the ‘Kazakh winter’ is that Central Asian countries must strengthen their regional unity and accelerate the integration process which would be the best response to the above-mentioned challenges: democratic reforms and the “test of unity”. Destructive geopolitics will undoubtedly undermine both democracy and integration in this region. Regional integration will be the best option to address these challenges. This scheme works as follows: A) The recent past period of almost a decade of frozen regional integration, especially related to self-isolationism of Uzbekistan, demonstrated that it cannot but cause mutual mistrust and increase tension between and among the countries concerned. Such disunity can be capitalized by those geopolitical forces which pursue the “divide-and-rule” strategy and intend to impose upon the “conflicting” countries of the region its role of a mediator (CSTO’s January “mission” in Kazakhstan can be the hypothetical case or a prototype of such a scenario).

B) Authoritarian systems are by nature antagonists of integration. They can declare their co-operative stance and even support regional economic and trade cooperation, however, should some political disturbances occur in their country (like in Kazakhstan), they, in order to survive, appeal for help to an extra-regional allied great power, instead of democratically coping with such cases. Regional integration, in turn, can help create the common system of mutual assistance which will be free from geopolitical deviations.

due to become a Treaty very soon. This document says, among other things, that their alliance is a key factor in strengthening peace, stability and security in Central Asia. The two sides expressed their determination to closely cooperate in the sphere of foreign policy and advance mutual interests and ideas of regional unification for the sake of securing pace and stability in Central Asia. They also stressed the importance of achieving mutually acceptable solutions of regional issues by Central Asian states themselves.

This Declaration was, in fact, an essential message to the region and to the world concerning the above ‘test of unity’. From this perspective, in particular, the creation of a regional system of mutual assistance and collective security would be of vital importance for addressing different intra-regional and extra-regional threats, including cases similar to the “Kazakh winter”.

Dr. Farkhod Tolipov Director of the Non-Governmental Research Institution “Knowledge Caravan” Tashkent, Uzbekistan

In this regard, it should be mentioned that on 6th December 2021, the presidents of Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan signed a Declaration of Alliance which was

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HISTORY

JAPANESE VALENTINE CHOCOLATE A PERSONAL CO-INCIDENCE

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ever as a British child and Canadian teenager, did I imagine that I might be working across Eurasia, let alone living in Central Asia; the heart of Eurasia. I can honestly say, my life has been far richer as a result, though not due to any planning on my part. My arrival here next to the Mountains of Heaven, the Tien Shan, was a surprise. Being sent by Deutsche Morgan Grenfell investment bank from the financial City of London to Tokyo, Japan, set the context for my later fate working in Russia, Ukraine, and ultimately my arrival in Central Asia. Those were fateful days, but I do not regret them.

It is often said by those with no experience of Central Asia that it has no history. This is most definitely not true for anyone who digs a bit deeper. Central Asia is exceptionally rich in history and culture.You can drown in it if you dig deeply enough, like finding a new

well by accident. I have discovered so many countless gems of Eurasian history, of individual fascinating human experiences, sparkling for those watching carefully, criss crossing the ancient silk route paths from Europe to Asia and back again.

One key event leaving a deep impact on Eurasian history was the Russian revolution, of course. Often forgotten is that the Russian revolution was also a Central Asian revolution, “Vostok delo tonkoye”. Its terrible impact across Eurasia was profound, wrenching families and people apart from where they grew up and from whom they loved. One of many stories that fascinates me, is the experience of the Czech Foreign Legion and their amazing and ultimately tragic attempt to return home via the Russian Far East after the Russian revolution.

Many traumatic stories continued even again during re-

cent times with the collapse of the Soviet Union. Often the pre-Soviet family, and particularly Central Asian clan-based system, was what kept society going, despite the severe economic collapse that followed the Soviet system implosion. Now, the region is making history again, whether through economic renaissance or increasing cultural expression. I am very much an active observer, if not a very occasional minor participant in this new Central Asian expression of character.

My wife’s own family recently discovered a previously unknown Soviet twist to their history. Lidia is Belarussian, a champion of Russian culture, but gets very depressed at any sign of Soviet times. Every time I am away on business, she hides my Soviet souvenirs like pictures of a dead relative. To her family’s total surprise, they recently discovered their descent from a Polish officer, one of the survivors of Poland’s conflict

with the Soviet Union. Consequently, my wife is eligible for Polish citizenship, so strong are her Polish roots.

Yet with no previous knowledge of her Polish history and with her Belarussian culture so strong, she can’t quite integrate her new history. At least, that’s how it seems to me when I tease her about being Polish. Her Polish grandfather, once captured, totally converted from being Polish to becoming a complete Belarussian Soviet citizen hiding any of his Polish origins. The Soviet Union, and 20th century Communism, did this to many people.

Many curious and largely forgotten histories have popped up at me in Eurasia like summer grasshoppers during my 23 years in Central Asia. Whether it is the ancient history of the region or more recent stories entwined in the agonising birth and death of the So-

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HISTORY viet Union. The history of the mysterious Tocharians - the Wu chi - linked to whisky, Teklamakan’s buried cities, and the invention of the wheel. The Sacha and the Scythians, with their grand capital in Issyk (Issaac) and their misty links to the Old Testament and the origins of the Anglo-Saxons; the Angelic sons of the Sacha.

Even the angels appear to have originated from Central Asia, with Herodotus based maps placing the Seraphim and Cherabim in control of tributaries of the Caspian in ancient times.

Ungern Sternberg, a dedicated Russian aristocratic officer leading a fanatical Central Asian Buddhist army. Von Ungern Sternberg and his budhist army often fought against overwhelming odds. Eventually, the odds caught up with him, burying his treasure in a secret location and then dying a tragically lonely death near Mongolia. Rumours of the two youngest Romanov children have largely been forgotten now, only remembered by a dwindling cadre of aristocratic descendants and the Russian Orthodox Church.

Several stories during the many internecine battles and civil conflicts that characterised the birth of Soviet Central Asia fascinate me. The various alliances made by survivors of the Khanates with the Czech Foreign Legion fighting together, against others, or alone and

One story stands out through the years, though it is really one of my wife’s stories. It is about the discovery of Morozov descendants in Japan while I was working in Tokyo. This particular branch of the famous Morozov family was thrown to the wolves during the Bolshevik

ultimately leading to the Legion to the Far East of Russian. The Siberian express and later the Amur, the Far East of Russia, was consequently run for several years by survivors of the Czech Legion. Once, visiting the Czech graves on a hill above Vladivostok, I was abandoned by my driver, who wrongly assumed I was gloating over the Soviet dead. I had to walk back to the port; there was no Yandex back then or taxi I could call. Vladivostok’s economy was completely hammered with society hanging on by a thread at the time.

justification for their revolution and sweeping seizure of industrial assets. They were lucky to escape Russia with their lives, leaving most of their wealth behind as they fled to America.

The story of the collapse of Russian aristocracy, the Romanov’s and their aristocratic society in Russia, Central Asia, and the Far East, has so many acutely heroic and inevitably tragic storylines. Whether it is the Romanov family themselves, dying a public death in the House of Special Purposes near the British Consulate in Yekaterinburg, or the White Russian General, Von

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For those who may not remember the famous aristocratic industrial family of the Morozov’s, where arguably one of Russia’s biggest victims of the Bolshevik mob. Some senior post Soviet Russians sometimes wonder what happened to the various descendants of the Morozov family.

The Morozovs were one of the most famous, if not THE most famous, industrial families, patrons of the arts, and philanthropists of Russia prior to the October 1917 revolution. Now that Russians are free to appreciate their pre-communist heritage, they are beginning to recognise the huge cultural contribution of

the Morozovs. Their founder, Savva Morozov, was a serf who started a Silk-weaving business. Savva’s descendants went on to become the richest people in Russia, largely built on the textile trade and banking. A line of the family even moved into the cotton textile trade in pre-revolutionary USA. Many of Russia’s famous theatres, dance schools, galleries, and bookstores, owe their origins to the Morozovs. After the 1917 October Revolution, the Morozov textile factories, banks, and related businesses were nationalised, and the family ruined - at least in Russia.

After fleeing to America, the ‘Japanese’ Morozovs travelled to Brazil and then Japan where they eventually started a fine chocolate business in the 1920’s, founded

by Fyodor Morozoff – the name now changed to look more anglicised. This venture was the foundation of today’s famous Japanese Morozoff Chocolates. Their first store opened in 1931. The Morozoff’s fine chocolate business defined Valentine’s Day in Japan from the very beginning. By tradition, Japanese girls give their boyfriends Morozoff chocolates. Apparently, the more valuable the boyfriend, the more expensive the chocolates. Before this tradition, valentine’s day was completely alien to Japan, as was chocolate. The Morozoffs eventually lost control of the business, starting another business of their own - Kobe and Ginza based Cosmopolitan Confectionary. Morozoff Chocolates Ltd went on to become a Nikkei 225 company - one of the biggest companies in Japan This fascinating story came to us by chance. My wife moved with me to Tokyo and would often visit two cozy little Russian bookstores. One of the bookstores had a small cafe, where Lidia would often have tea before returning home to the other side of Tokyo in Jiyugaoka, where we lived. On one occasion, when drinking tea, Lidia was approached by an elderly European gentleman who asked where she was from. They started chatting, during which the elderly gentleman remarked on how familiar Lidia looked. As it turned out, someone who had once been very close to him looked exactly like Lidia. It turns out this person, though far older than Lidia, had been born only a few kilometers away from Lidia’s birthplace, Povitya, on the Ukrainian side of the modern border. Lidia and the gentleman became good friends and occasionally met again for tea in the Russian bookstore cafe.

Eventually, we realised this elderly gentleman was Valentin Fedorovich Morozoff, 1911-1999, eldest son of Russian born founder of Morozoff Chocolates, Fedor Dimitrich Morozoff, 1880-1971. Valentin was President of Kobe based Cosmopolitan Confectionary and possibly the original inspiration for Morozoff Chocolates Valentine theme. Both Fedor and his son Valentine are buried in Kobe Municipal Foreigners Cemetery. Lidia met Valentin for chats in 1996 and 1997, but sadly Valentin died shortly after we moved back to Europe in 1998. Though Lidia realised that Valentin and Fedor were descendants of the famous Russian industrialist family, it was only when she told me who she met that I realised Valentin and his family were founders of the Nikkei 225 Morozoff listed company.

I took the time to find out more about Morozoff Chocolates, Cosmopolitan Confectionary, and the Morozoffs. The Morozoff family were close to two Soviet Ambassador’s to Japan and met many Russian characters of note during their visits to Japan, including individuals such as Tolstoy’s daughter. Upon his death, Valentin’s private papers have been archived in a major US historical institute.

Sadly, we only found out that Valentin had died when I originally went to write this article. On a happier note, Japan enjoys possibly the finest chocolate covered confectionaries in the world. “When life is good, everything is covered in Chocolate”. https://www.morozoff.co.jp/ written by Bruce Gaston gastonbruce@gmail.com

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ISSUE

THE ALPHABET SHIFT IN KAZAKH LANGUAGE

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ver years of research and work in Kazakhstan, I view – and its belief that Kazakhstan is leaving it behind. have seen many Latin representations of the Kazakh alphabet. Some were pockmarked with apostro- History of Alphabet Shift and Language phes – others riddled with diacritics. Others still im- in Kazakhstan posed Latin letters incorrectly on the Russian language.

Kazakhstan is among the most Russified former Soviet Over the past century alone, Kazakhstan has switched republics – and even today, Russian remains the primary alphabets three times (Arabic, Latin, and Cyrillic, respec- language of government, science, and business despite tively) – with a fourth on the horizon. Unsurprisingly, state efforts to promote linguistic “Kazakhization”. the decision to switch alphabets yet again met with a This prevalence of the Russian language in Kazakhstan variety of reactions, both domestically and internation- is integrally related to the continued presence of the ally. Kazakhstani newspapers have generally upheld the Kazakh Cyrillic alphabet: in the Soviet era, the Russian shift as a move toward modernization, while many Rus- language was a symbol of modernization, as was its assian ones have reacted negatively. Indeed, the Russian sociated alphabet, Cyrillic. In that vein, former presimedia has relied prominently on Soviet-era tropes of dent Nazarbayev has claimed that the switch to Latin “culture” and “cultured-ness” (kul’tura and kul’turnost’, is also part of Kazakhstan’s modernization process, respectively) in its coverage of the Kazakh alphabet which could be perceived as part of being “cultured.” shift, illuminating its reliance on a deeply Soviet world-

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The Soviet idea of “culture” has deep roots. Scholar Svetlana Boym writes that “in the nineteenth century culture is often synonymous with literature, and Russians are defined less by blood and by class than by being a unique community of readers of Russian literature.” In the Soviet context, however, “culture” extended beyond this 19th-century conception of literature to include the qualities of the individual who had read these books: in the 1920s, discussions of “cultural revolution” “became the advocacy of kul’turnost’, which “include[d] not only the new Soviet artistic canon but also manners, ways of behavior, and discerning taste in consumer goods. Culturalization is a way of translating ideology into the everyday.” Such ideology, naturally, had to be adapted to the individual republics. In the case of Kazakhstan – previously a largely oral culture – creating “national culture” (“artistic canon,” in Boym’s words) meant, among other things, creating a canon of Kazakh national literature that reflected history and tra- Latin script destroys the accessibility (and thus reledition while simultaneously espousing Soviet ideology. vance) of the Soviet-created literary canon for future generations of Kazakhs, who would now be unable to Iurii Bogdanov’s article in Izvestiia, largely concerns engage in their “national culture.” itself, rather, with the logistical issues of Kazakhstan’s alphabet shift – but he is nevertheless sure to men- Nikita Mendikovich writes more caustically about the tion “[the shift’s] negative impact on the development impact of the alphabet shift on Kazakh “national culof the humanities, as well as the possibility of access ture” on Lenta.ru. The article opens by claiming that to literary and scientific heritage.” This is clearest in “yet another attack on the Russian language and Cya quote from Bulat Sultanov, the director of the In- rillic is unfolding in Kazakhstan,” reinforcing the relastitute for International and Regional Cooperation at tionship between the Russian language and Cyrillic althe Kazakh-German University: Bogdanov cites him, in phabet. Mendikovich quotes Askhat Aimagambetov, the a short albeit separate paragraph, as saying that “during Minister of Education, as saying that “education in the the Soviet years, a solid mass of literature was formed state language [Kazakh] should be dominant,” followed in Kazakhstan – and it was all translated and published by a timeline of the alphabet shift. Mendikovich makes in Cyrillic. All of this will be lost for future generations.” it clear that Kazakhstan’s “national culture” will be corrupted by this alphabet and attendant language shift: “in Although Sultanov does not explicitly credit the USSR reality, Minister Aimagamembetov’s motives in speaking with creating modern Kazakh literary culture, he admits out for the Kazakhization of schools… have little to that a period of great literary creativity and formation do with concern for the national language or national of literary heritage (also viewed as “national culture”) culture.” Indeed, Mendikovich states that Kazakhstan’s took place during the Soviet era – when it was largely level of “national culture” will drop following Latinizaproduced in Cyrillic. He does not, for example, refer tion, as he claims that the overwhelming majority of to the period when Baitursynuly’s reformed Arabic al- Kazakhstani media – especially books – is in Russian. phabet was used to print Kazakh texts or the pre-So- With that, Mendikovich claims that “the Kazakh lanviet period during which many Kazakh stories, legends, guage has practically stopped being used in literary or and songs were orally preserved. Sultanov’s – and thus, academic texts”: for him, Russian is the superior “lanBogdanov’s – emphasis is specifically on the creation of guage of culture,” given its dominance in the sphere a printed body of national Kazakh literature in Cyrillic of the printed word – and Cyrillic must reign within which bears the positive Soviet legacy of the Russian it. According to Mendikovich, the “secondary status” language. For Sultanov and Bogdanov, however, the new of the Kazakh language precludes it from attaining the

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Russian language’s prestige – meaning that the Cyrillic alphabet, too, will remain culturally superior as long as Russian remains dominant in Kazakhstan’s literary and media sphere. Even after Latinization.

Mendikovich also quotes Kazakhstani philologist Dastan El’desov as saying that “instead of the language of Abay and Auezov, we have the language of newspaper journalism [publitsistika] and social media, in which it is very hard to write texts on philosophical, legal, academic, and other subjects.” In that one sentence, Mendikovich juxtaposes two versions of the Kazakh language: “the language of Abay and Auezov,” both of whom were included in the Soviet Kazakh literary “culture,” and the “language of newspaper journalism and social media,” which were not. The “language of Abay and Auezov” is rendered in Cyrillic, given that their writings were largely canonized in the Soviet period, while the “language of newspaper journalism and social media” is increasingly rendered in Latin – online. The former is considered “cultured,” as it represents the peak of Kazakh literary culture; the latter is not, as it cannot discuss “philosophical, legal, academic, and other subjects,” which was the content of the Soviet-era, Cyrillic, Kazakh literary world. Mendikovich laments the degradation of a language and alphabet that, in his

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view, represented the peak of Kazakh literature and, consequently, culture.

It may appear strange that Russia – a sovereign nation – concerns itself with the loss of culture in Kazakhstan, another sovereign nation. Yet Kazakhstan has been not only aligned with Russia, but also been under its control (whether in the USSR or the CIS) for the whole century – and is now changing one of its most visible outward symbols of adherence to the Russian space and Soviet legacy. Consequently, the Russian media relies on tropes that extol the “gifts” of the Soviet era to Kazakhstan, i.e., culture: a worldview rooted in conceptions of the Soviet past to which Kazakhstan is expected to conform some thirty years after independence.

The Russian media analyzed here posits that Kazakhstan is leaving its Soviet past behind, even if doing so entails a risk to its “culture,” its literature, and its art.

by Leora Eisenberg

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HERITAGE

THE ‘SILK ROAD’ BETWEEN JAPAN AND UZBEKISTAN

O

ne of the highlights of Tashkent’s rich array of historical and art museums is the Ikuo Hirayama International Caravanserai of Culture. The exterior alone is remarkable, with its two looming buildings surrounded by a garden of cypress trees. However, going inside the building and learning about the life and artwork of its namesake, Ikuo Hirayama, is what truly leaves a lasting impression.

Mr. Hiroyama led an extraordinary life capturing the mystique of Uzbekistan and the Silk Road in his traditional Japanese-style paintings. Today, his legacy continues with the work of the Ikuo Hirayama International Caravanserai of Culture and its aim of bridging Japan, Uzbekistan, and the Silk Road through artistic and cultural exchanges.

He went on to study art and graduated from the Tokyo University of the Arts in 1952, where he specialised in nihonga, or Japanese-style painting. Initially, Mr. Hiroyama focused on Japanese and Buddhist motifs in his artwork. However, in 1966, he visited Turkey as part of an artists’ delegation that set out to examine ruins in the country. This trip sparked Mr. Hiroyama’s fascination with the cultural heritage of the Silk Road, and he would later visit several countries associated with the historic route.

Biography

He was especially fascinated with Uzbekistan and the other then-Central Asian Soviet republics and captured the intrigue of the region in his artwork. Mr. Hirayama was able to depict some of Central Asia’s most iconic images - say, elaborate madrassas or traders traveling on camelback - and paint it in the nihonga style’s distinctive combination of detailedness and delicateness.

Ikuo Hirayama was born in 1930 in Setoda, Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan. His childhood love of drawing would set the course for his future career in art. Another major event in his formative years - surviving the atomic bomb that fell on Hiroshima in 1945 - would shape his commitment towards peace activism.

Mr. Hirayama collected various artifacts from his Silk Road journeys - many of which are currently on display in the Hirayama Ikuo Silk Road Museum in Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan - and campaigned to preserve and restore numerous historical sites that he had encountered in his travels. In the course of his career,

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Ikuo Hirayama

he worked alongside such illustrious organizations as UNESCO, the Tokyo National Museum, and the Japan Art Academy Exhibition to promote artistic and cultural treasures from all over the world. Mr. Hiroyama passed away in 2009, but his influence continues to link Japan to Uzbekistan and the Silk Road through the Ikuo Hirayama International Caravanserai of Culture.

The Ikuo Hirayama International Caravanserai of Culture Ikuo Hirayama’s fascination with the Silk Road extended beyond the visual beauty of these countries. He was also dedicated to reviving the rich traditions of this legendary route. He placed special emphasis on Uzbekistan, as he viewed it as “the historical and spiritual center of the Silk Road [that] connects the countries of the East and West.”1 Furthermore, Mr. Hiroyama’s experience as a survivor of the Hiroshima atomic bomb instilled a commitment in him towards promoting international peace. He believed that cultural diplomacy was a particularly effective tool in learning about other nations and forging friendships based on a mutual understanding and respect towards one another.

Mr. Hiroyama’s admiration for Uzbekistan, as well as his wish to see a Silk Road renaissance, gained increased salience following the Central Asian states’ declaration of sovereignty in 1991. He viewed this event as a golden opportunity for “integrating Uzbekistan with worldwide cultural and scientific society.”2 Thus, he wanted to do his part to expedite this process by forging closer Uzbek-Japanese relations.

In 1999, Mr. Hiroyama met with Tursunail Kuziev, the Chairman of the Academy of Arts of Uzbekistan in Japan. They discussed the idea of creating a cultural center to display the history of the Silk Road and strengthen Uzbek-Japanese ties. Their objective became a reality when the Uzbek government helped fund and establish the Ikuo Hirayama International Caravanserai of Culture in 2002. Since its opening, the institution has strived to “popularise” the cultural heritage of Uzbekistan, Japan, and other Silk Road countries”3 through its various activities.

The institution serves as “both a museum and a scientific and cultural center.”4 The site features two main buildings: one building contains a library, conference hall, and working areas, while the other one has a labo-

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HERITAGE

ratory, scientific facilities, a vestibule for cultural events, and exhibition halls. As for its functions, the Ikuo Hirayama International Caravanserai of Culture holds art exhibitions featuring the artwork and artifact collection of Mr. Hiroyama. It also sets up cultural events, including master classes, concerts, symposiums, and educational courses. The institution organises archaeological expeditions and uses its laboratory to examine excavated items from those ventures. The grounds of the Ikuo Hirayama International Caravanserai of Culture also feature a cypress-filled Friendship Garden and a “Hiroshima Peace Stone” made from a piece of pavement in Hiroshima that now serves as a symbol of peace. Despite the relatively young history of the center, it has already formed connections with global museums and research institutions to uncover the history of Uzbekistan and the Silk Road and share that heritage with the rest of the world.

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At first glance, Uzbekistan - the centre of history’s greatest continental trade route - and Japan - a historically insular island nation - seem to have no common ground. However, thanks to the initiatives of Ikuo Hirayama, these seemingly two distant countries became connected to one another via art and culture. Just as the caravanserai of yore served as a meeting place for traders to share their customs and ideas with one another, the Ikuo Hirayama International Caravanserai of Culture allows for Uzbek and Japanese cultural exchanges that can subsequently spread the heritage of the Silk Road to the rest of the world.

by Marin Ekstrom

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TOURISM

BELOW ME THE SILVER-CAPPED CAUCASUS LIES

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Below me the silver-capped Caucasus lies...

A stream at my feet rushes, foaming and roaring.

I watch a lone eagle, o’er the peaks calmly soaring Drift near as he motionless circles the skies.

Here rivers are born that tear mountain asunder And landslides begin with a crash as of thunder.

Here float solemn storm-clouds; and through them cascade Swift torrents of water; they plunge o’er the edges Of great, naked cliffs and spill down to the ledges That patches of moss and dry brushwood invade.

Beneath spread green groves, lush with herbs and sweet-scented Where birds dwell in peace and where deer browse, content.

Lower still in the hills, nestle men; flocks of sheep The pasturelands roam; to the gay, flowery meadow Where courses Arafva, her banks clothed in shadow, A shepherd descends. In a narrow and deep Ravine a poor horseman lurks, tense and unsleeping, And wild, laugh-crazed Terek goes tumbling and leaping.

He lashes about like a beast in a cage With food out of reach, full of hunger and craving, And licks at the boulders, and, howling and raving, Strikes out at the shore in a frenzy and rage.

Alas! He is thwarted: the mountains surround him; Mute, threatening giants, they press darkly round him.

Alexander Pushkin The Caucasus

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TOURISM

T

hese words of Alexander Pushkin still characterise North Ossetia - Alania. Among the constellations of the North Caucasian republics, Ossetia shines unusually brightly and this is the only region where the language, beliefs and customs of the mysterious Alanian tribes are almost completely preserved.

The unity of man and nature in culture These are nomads of Scythian-Sarmatian origin, the language of modern Ossetians speaks of their belonging to Indo-European peoples, and their beliefs are distinguished by a syncretic nature. These are tribal cults and elements of world religions that have preserved a rich heritage of paganism. The unity of man and nature, the deification of certain places: natural mountains of individual stones, trees, groves, springs, artificially created for sacrifice and prayers, which Ossetians perform to this day, as well as many festive funeral rites. They strictly adhere to many traditions to this day: weddings are celebrated according to ancient customs, rituals at the birth of children, for example, the naming squad is a separate festive ritual, then the ritual of introduction into the family and protection from the influence of “evil forces”.

Quite recently, in the middle of the 20th century, a custom that was adopted by the Scythian-Sarmatian tribes - the dedication of a horse to the deceased and the installation of cirts (gravestones), which migrated from the Scythian culture to the Alanian, and then to the Ossetian, disappeared quite recently. There are such monuments only in North Ossetia and Alania.They are not necessarily buried; they often stand as memorial signs near the roads.

History and architecture Ossetia is a small Caucasian republic which is endowed with unique traditions and historical monuments. Fortresses, towers, ancient settlements and crypts have been preserved in the gorges. The largest in the Caucasus Dargav crypt necropolis is located on its territory, and the vast Koban burial ground was discovered, which gave its name to the most ancient Koban culture.

In the 19th century, the capital of Ossetia, Vladikavkaz, became the centre of the Terek region, which included Dagestan, Chechnya, Ingushetia, Kabardino-Balkaria

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and the Stavropol Territory. Therefore, the city had a huge number of educational institutions, developed industry and trade.The first theatre in the North Caucasus, terrains for cycling, the first cinema in Russia, and a railway. These were all built in Vladikavkaz. There was also established a Belgian concession, which not only built factories for the processing of non-ferrous metals in cities and mountains, but also launched a tram in Vladikavkaz. Therefore, the architecture is beautiful, buildings in the Art Nouveau and eclectic style prevail, many old buildings have been perfectly preserved, although more than 20 churches belonging to different denominations were destroyed during the Soviet period.

Breathtaking landscapes North Ossetia has an unusually beautiful nature and many magnificent locations. But glaciers are something special, bewitching and alluring with their scale, grandeur, beauty and inaccessibility. Most of them can be reached only on foot or by cable car, and each of them

is unique and recognisable. The area of glaciation is more than two hundred thousand square meters, but the glaciers have been retreating and decreasing lately.

It is worth coming to Ossetia for the sake of the mountains alone. At any time of the day and time of the year, you can endlessly watch the snowy peaks emerge from behind the clouds. Stunningly beautiful views from the passes, numerous gorges - all this together restores mental balance and enriches the inner world.

Cuisine And of course, a little about Caucasian cuisine. Famous Ossetian pies this year took second place in the Tastes of Russia competition in the Cultural Heritage nomination. Why? It is customary to put three pies on the festive table in Ossetia, and before eating them, it is customary to pray for prosperity, abundance and other good things. Only two pies are put on a memorial table. Authentic Ossetian pies can be tasted only in this republic, because Ossetian cheese is produced only

there, and pies with other cheeses, accordingly, have a completely different taste. Do not believe it if someone told you that it can be replaced with feta cheese, mozzarella, feta or suluguni!

They make pies with various fillings: with cabbage, wild garlic, pumpkin, cherries, potatoes, beans... But pies with cheese, beet tops and minced meat are considered classics. Real Ossetian pies are made from yeast dough and generously greased with butter. If they are heated in a skillet with oil, they only taste better the next day.

Ossetia has very strong traditions of hospitality, they love feasts and observe a lot of different rituals, which makes Ossetia a truly original, unique republic.

You are always welcome!

by Tatiana Lari

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EVENT

REVIVAL OF THE TASHKENT FILM FESTIVAL

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I

n September 2021 Marat Akhmedjanov invited myself and two film related companions to represent the UK at the Tashkent Film Festival in Uzbekistan, a festival returning after a 24 year absence. Like a moth to a flame I was drawn to the event, as were my fellow travellers Oliver Guy Watkins and Peter Blunden. I think its fair to say there was a level of “imposter syndrome” with our attendance to the festival, while attendees had been promised, there had been little clarification of whom would be attending, so to very quickly find ourselves in the company of Steven Seagal, Luc Besson, Rob Minkoff, Franco Nero, Gerard Depardieu to name but a few was slightly overwhelming, the repeating question “why am I here?” playing over and over in our heads.

Tashkent Film Festival clearly wanted to make an impression, no sooner had we arrived at Uzbek Film, there was a feeling of extravagance. To the left of the main building was a media hub, where 100 or so frantic looking people dashed around from one area to another, checking over profiles, doing social media posts and feeding data to other parts of the building, in some area’s interviews were being conducted. After we had a number of short interviews, I glanced over to a monitor where my Internet Movie Database file was being examined, one thing was for certain, they wanted to be age, but the spritely inquisitive nature of a teenager, his contribution to Uzbek and Russian cinema the thing up to date with everyone’s background. of legend, as important a soul as the likes of Scorsese, Having attended the media hub, we moved to a vast hall Kubrick or Friedkin. Like ourselves he could not grasp where Franco Nero, Rob Minkoff, Steven Seagal and why we were there, not because of status, just because many other film industry representatives addressed the people from the United Kingdom in Uzbekistan are regional press launching the festival. This opulent main without a doubt a rare jewel. Hamroyev, was followed hall told the story of Uzbek cinema through images of up by another fascinating encounter with the documovies that had so much importance to the people of mentary filmmaker Aliaskar Fathullin, the Uzbekistan the country. The afternoon events went so swiftly, that equivalent of Michael Apted, a man who’s filmmaking we were soon encouraged to return to our hotel to truly charts the story of a nation of change. prepare for the evening events, having travelled across the time zones for ten hours over two flights, this was The night was a bizarre experience for a westerner, an opening ceremony so grand it makes the likes of the a welcome opportunity for some downtime.

Our first night at the Tashkent Film Festival was like Eurovision Song Contest look like a low budget talent a strange dream, hours of confusion, culture changes show. After the initial opening ceremony, accompanied and jet lag made us feel as if we had been teleported by the Tashkent Film Festival anthem, succession upon onto the red carpet with little understanding of how succession of performers appeared on stage, reprewe got to be there. Once there we were interviewed senting culture, dance and song. Intermingled with Uzby one, two, three different reporters in close succes- bek culture was important cultural classics from world sion, before having our first encounter with the won- cinema, including operatic numbers from the Fifth Elderful Ali Hamroyev, who spent much time talking to us ement and the empowering ballad of The Umbrellas about film, England and the wonder of life. Hamroyev a of Cherbourg. The night led us into even more underfilmmaker of some sixty plus years had the wisdom of standing that we were in a different culture as we set-

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EVENT

tled down for a midnight dinner at the Hyatt Hotel with Minkoff, Nero, Seagal and a few hundred others.

Tashkent Film Festival had a unique viewpoint for a festival. While it acknowledges legends of cinema both at home and away, its focus was on empowering the young and new filmmakers. Having invited film students from around the world, all expenses paid, they were tasked to create a film in 5 days, then show that film to not just an audience, but a judging panel that included some of the greatest film makers on the planet a judging panel chaired by Timur Bekmambetov director of Night Watch, Wanted and Abraham Lincoln:Vampire Hunter.

Having attended some of the largest festivals in the world, Tashkent Film Festival immediately catapulted itself into one of the worlds biggest challenger film festivals, an event so grandiose that your glass will never run dry, your plate never be empty and your heart anything less than amazed. Every venue, every “opening” of a new and exciting building dedicated to the moving image, grander and more co-ordinated than the last, each day leading to a more out of body experience than the last, which ultimately culminated in the crescendo that was our final night.

After 7 exciting days of film, nothing truly prepared us for our final night at the Festival, rather than arriving to a door, our car took us down a red carpet where we exited the vehicle straight into the world’s press.When we arrived, we addressed the nation live on Z’or TV. This truly discombobulating experience, put each of us on the back foot, giving us a a feeling of euphoria and elation that literally kept us alert for the entire night and well into the following day.

Much more than the festival of course is a capital and a country, a country where alien speaking Englishmen were made to feel like kings. It did not matter that we never knew Uzbek or even Russian, everywhere we went we were greeted by open warm hearts of the countries youth, thrilled to be talking in English to real English men, to talk of the country they love, a country that is evolving at such a rapid pace that each and every day gives them a real feeling of passion for their country, a thrill to be alive in this time. Uzbekistan is a country that is open to the world and Tashkent’s Film Festival is a festival that with much care, attention and cultivation has the ability to become one of the world’s leading film festivals, and where better to enjoy the medium of a film, than in a country so incredible it feels like a living movie.

by Spencer Hawken

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ECOLOGY

RESPONDING TO BURABAY’S ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEMS

A

t the end of the nineteenth century, the economic development of Burabay and the increase of its population inevitably led to unlimited exploitation of its natural resources. Excessive deforestation led to the formation of wastelands, which were used by pastoralists for grazing.These cattle were then supplied to the local cannery, which was very beneficial for both nomadic suppliers and butchers.

At this time, Borovoe was already well known as a resort area. Both sick and healthy people began to flock here, the presence of which did not have the best effect on the nature around. All this prompted the administration of the region to deal with the issues of limiting the use of the natural resources of the region.

In this regard, it became necessary to put the forest areas back in order and improve communication to-

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wards visitors. The first step towards this was the formation of the state forestry in Borovoye in 1898. Putting the local forests in order greatly contributed to the establishment of the Forest School. The first forest inventory was carried out by the teachers and students of this school, and the norms and methods of forest management were established.

From that moment, attention to Borovoe increased from the side of the authorities and advocates of nature conservation. With the approval of the scientist V.V. Baryshevtsev a completely new stage in the social and scientific life of the region began. It was V.V.

flora and fauna. The study of this complex, which constitutes the nature of Borovoye, began at the time of the settlement of the steppes of Northern Kazakhstan

by Russian settlers. Then the baton was taken over by scientists of the twentieth century, both pre-revolutionary and Soviet.

Throughout the past century, the ecological state of the region depended has on human economic activity.

However it had a negative impact on the water regime of the lakes and rivers of the resort area. So, over the past 35 years, the level of lakes in the region has fallen by 1.5-2 metres. Islands appeared on the lakes of Shchuchinskoye and Bolshoye Chebachye. The water receded hundreds of metres from the shore in places.

The decrease in the depths of lakes, especially Karasu and Bolshoye Chebache due to their silting, the formation of copropel and irreversible volumes of water, caused changes in the temperature regime and general mineralisation of the water in them. This led to a disturbance in the water balance of the resort area and pollution of ground and surface waters.

In the 1930s, the Borovoe resort became an All-Union resort. People from all over the country came here to be treated and improve their health. Today, Burabay has ceased to be a resort in the broadest sense of the word. Of the remnants of the once developed system of medical institutions, only a few sanatoriums remain (Shchuchinsky, Okzhetpes, Almaz, Zeleny Bor), and some departmental health resorts (the Seifullin sanatorium).

Today the resort area is visited as a large entertainment complex. Companies and families from the cities come here mixed with romantics and students with their unpretentious plans to spend the weekend “in nature”.

In addition, in the last decade, Burabay has become a fashionable venue for various kinds of conferences, summits, sports competitions and events (festivals of art song lovers and biker gatherings included).

Baryshevtsev who came up with the idea of creating a nature reserve in Borovoe. But it became a reality only in 1935.The reserve “Borovoe” was created in the sanitorium resort area with significant settlements that already existed. This feature was reflected in its organization: the territory of the reserve was divided into a buffer zone, where settlements were concentrated, All these factors have a negative impact on the state and into a zone of “reserve”, completely excluded from of the resort area. The impacts are widespread: 1) A colossal technogenic load on nature. In the vicinity economic use. of Burabay there are more than a hundred objects of Since the establishment of the reserve, its employees, tourism and recreation (boarding houses, sanatoriums, in addition to protecting natural resources, began to hotels, cafes, etc.). Each facility is supplied with a waconduct scientific research on the subsoil, soil, water, ter supply, heating, sewage, and lighting systems. These

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communications are carried out in the soil, not only soil covers and layers are disturbed, but also aquifers feeding of lakes and streams; 2) Anthropogenic impact.

of the Caspian. Or maybe this is the result of human activity (for example, the exorbitant consumption of water in the 1960s for the industrial enterprises of the city of Shchuchinsk), but some kind of decision needs The territory of Burabay is visited by about a million to be made. Otherwise, Borovoy is threatened by the people each year (in both summer and winter seasons). picture that Professor S.S. Golubinsky painted back in Such a large number of vacationers provides good in- 1940: “... the processes of drying up of the lakes will go come. But tourism here is not organised well enough. forward rapidly, the bare mountains will lose their atAfter the visitors have departed, there are piles of gar- tractiveness with all the negative consequences. At the bage, broken trees, broken glass in the lakes, painted same time, the meaning of being a resort, sanatoriums stones and rocks, and fires occasionally happen. Not to and rest houses will be lost, and the existence of the mention the huge number of vehicles. Employees of the Borovoe Reserve will already be aimless.

Burabay National Natural Park simply cannot physically control such an influx of people; 3) The state of the Pavel Kossovich lakes. Everyone knows that Burabay lakes are getting shallower. This was reported as early as the beginning of the 20th century. Scientists insist on the need to clean the bottom of the lakes, on which silt is deposited and clogs the sources that feed these lakes. It is not known whether this is the case or the lowering of the lake level is just a natural phenomenon that occurs over a period of several hundred years, as in the case

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6—10 MAY

2022 BURABAY

KAZAKHSTAN

BURABAY INTERNATIONAL SHORT FILM FESTIVAL In 2022 best short films of the participants of the Eurasian Film Festival will be shown within the framework of “Voices of Friends” poetry and art festival. For all the participants from 2019, 2020 and 2021 it is free of charge.

For all questions, please, contact us: info@eurasianfilmfestival.uk Instagram: @eurasianfilmfest Facebook: @ECGFilmFestival WWW.OCAMAGAZINE.COM

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LITERATURE

POETRY-PAINTING FROM TATARSTAN

Since ancient times, philosophers have tried to prove whether man possesses “innate ideas” or whether all his comprehension is merely the result of sensory experience.The very existence of “original poetry”, visual poetry, and poetry in general, is perhaps a direct proof of the existence of these very innate ideas, sometimes unconscious for their bearer.

Poetry and painting bear in itself the idea of the ancient man who felt, and even was able to reflect in his life and work, but was not yet aware of rationally abstract forms of comprehending the world. Its intuitive layer is enormous.

So, let’s move to modern life. One of the most advanced publishing houses in Russia,Tatar Book Publishers, recently published a book called “Poetry-painting.

Shig’ri-synly sangat”. Its authors are the famous poetess from Kazan, Enze Voigt, and founder of ornamentalism, and the painter from Ryazan, Alexei Akindinov. The

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two-hundred-page, full-colour edition comes in hardcover and includes 91 paintings by the master of the brush. The “Poetry and painting” project is unique, because it is the first time in the history of literature and art when the creative tandem of the poetess and the artist was embodied in print. The book was preceded by three years of extensive work by Enze Voigt with original paintings by Alexei Akindinov. In the paintings she read the signs, symbols, encrypted in the patterns of the subjects. A cycle of poems “Poetry-Painting” was created in two languages - Russian and Tatar - using Enze Voigt’s unorthodox method of poetry, which differs from lyrical classical poetry. It is a new trend in creative work, which has no analogues in the world today.

On the pages of this colourful album, paintings are presented as a unified art in synthesis with original poems.

When the poetess became acquainted with the pictures of Alexey Akindinov for the first time she saw them not only from the outside but also from the in-

side - she sensed in the signs and ornaments certain hidden secret messages. Alexei’s paintings became carriers of unknown information, which Enze Voigt began to read like books, and even to hear the voices of the paintings. Her poems began to broadcast the hidden information captured in the countless patterns of Alexei Akindinov’s paintings.

In the book readers can see pictures of painter Aleksey Akindinov, the founder of ornamentalism, and read the hidden meaning of ornaments, in verses written by poetess Voigt Enze Nurislam with a purely human note, which emanates from each work. Alexei Akindinov’s art is also recognisable in all his unique works - almost all his paintings are prophetic as well as energetic paintings.

the capitals used in old Russian texts, the calligraphic and artistically made first letters of the chapters, in the “design” of which, quite often, laid down the idea of the text. J. Marr wrote about returning a letter to its meaning, who believed that literature is capable of its own “graphic modulation” and, therefore, poetry should develop the culture of handwriting, moving away from the strict classical typographic fonts. Then poetry will get closer to the intermediate form accessible to the artist. And then it becomes fully artistic.

The poet Enze Voigt has managed to achieve something that was unfathomable until today, something that has no parallel in the world today.

The idea for the Poéso-painting series did not come about overnight. The process was preceded by extensive work with the works of Aleksey Akindinov, the founder of ornamentalism, in which you can read certain signs.

A cycle of poems, entitled Poem-Painting, was created in two languages, Russian and Tatar, using an unorthodox method of poetry, which differs from lyrical classical poetry.This is a new direction in Art, which currently has no analogues in the world. Akindov is the first painter in the world whose works have been translated by a poetess into the language of high poetry in a meaningful way.

by Enze Foigt

In “Poetry-Painting” you can see history.

The history of the Russian school of visual poetry is commonly traced back to Simeon Polotskiy, who created figurative poems, sometimes quite complex and visually spectacular. However, this school in a peculiar form existed from much older times. In old Slavonic texts, in order to save expensive parchment, titling was common: abbreviating frequently used words with a title on top. As a rule, they were words-ideas of a religious nature (Lord, Mother of God, Father, etc.). Their representation was fixed in people’s memory for many centuries in the form of pictures - “Socrates” (as we would say now) with a titlo. It was only later that D. Burliuk wrote about introducing the titling back into the Russian language and “compacting” it. The same thing - “visual pervopoesia” - can also be said about

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BOOK REVIEW of 1050 AD. Eight beautifully written chapters take us on a quest covering not just the people but also the geology of the region. The origin of the Caucasus mountains and development of the Black and Caspian seas which shape the region today, is particularly interesting and new. Baumer covers pre-historic cultures from the Neolithic to the Iron Ages that simply have had so little air time in popular history and whose stories deserve to be told – both from a northern and southern Caucasus perspective. Baumer covers the usual Silk Road culprits such as the Scythians, the Romans, the Sassanids and the Seljuks but also liberates new folk such as the Kingdom of Kartali (Iberia) and how local Armenian Christianity and Armenian Kingdoms developed.

With such eclectic history it is no wonder that it is claimed over 50 languages can be understood within the region’s borders today.

C

hristoph Baumer is a distinguished historian and chronicler of events, full stop. The more of Baumer’s extensive and expansive works you read, the more you realise that very few rival him, not just for the breadth of subjects that he covers but the detail and clarity with which he espouses the narrative of these often hidden parts of the world.

In 2012, this publication reviewed the first of Baumer’s four-volume set on the History of Central Asia. This inaugural series was ambitious in itself, however as Baumer is now able to masterfully tackle huge swathes of historical time and geographical boundaries, it is no surprise that he has decided to take on the Caucasus.

So, when this magazine got the chance to review his latest book, it was clear that another treat was in store.

The new series, The History of the Caucasus, covers 2 million years of human inhabitation in the Caucasus region, right up to today. Baumer tackles the swathe of empires that have risen and fallen in the Caucasus region.The first volume starts with the emergence of the first populations outside Africa until Seljuk conquests

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What sets Baumer apart from other history books on the region is the sheer magnificence of the publication – just holding it you know this is a serious work that will enlighten you. Once you delve into its 386 pages, the beautiful illustrations and vivid photography captures your imagination even before you have begun to read. Of particular use are the detailed maps showing movements and positions of various empires throughout the course of the region’s history. This remains, however, more of an academic or reference book given its size and complexity. The difficulty with such books is that they don’t lend themselves to being read easily from an armchair or out and about and hence it is a feat in itself to read through cover to cover. That’s not to put the book down in any way, just to make readers aware that this is for the serious adventurer or scholar, much like Baumer himself!

— Christoph Baumer is a leading explorer and historian of Central Asia. He is President of the Society for the Exploration of EurAsia and is a member of the Explorers’ Club, New York, and of the Royal Asiatic Society, the Royal Geographical Society and the Royal Society for Asian Affairs, London.

by Nick Rowan

ART

BALCHIK, AN ARTIST’S INSPIRATION

B

alchik is a Black Sea coastal town and seaside resort in the Southern Dobruja area of northeastern Bulgaria. It is 35 km southeast of Dobrich and 42 km northeast of Varna. It sprawls scenically along hilly terraces descending from the Dobruja plateau to the sea, and is often called “The White City”, because of its white hills.

“To me, the flowers are residents of this holy place.

The purity and beauty of these sinless creatures is a constant inspiration....”

Part of Romania from 1919 to 1940, Balchik is now popular as a tourist destination and hosts a thriving art and cultural scene. The Balchik Art Gallery moved to its current location – a former high school built at the end of the 19th century – in 1987.

Music is also an inspiration for Natalya’s art. Having graduated from the Tashkent Conservatory as a violinist, she briefly performed in an orchestra and fronted a pop music band as a vocalist! “I love singing, and never shy from bursting into a song”, says Natalya.

Led by Director Radostina Encheva, the Gallery regularly showcases work by local artists. They were delighted to welcome Natalya Rovenskaya, a member of the Eurasian Creative Guild, to exhibit, as a part of their September 2021 Art Festival.

She is enjoying immersing herself in the sites and sounds of Balchik life and looks forward to getting to know other local artists and contributing to the unique ambiance of her new home town.

Natalya moved to Bulgaria from her birthplace in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, five years ago, and lives in Balchik with her Bulgarian partner,Yan.

“Rather than capturing exact landscapes of the garden, I am painting my fantasy, inspired by the colours” says Natalya, “almost with a kaleidoscope effect”.

Article by Peter Lindsay & Marina Clark museum_balchik@abv.bg

Having always enjoyed painting as an amateur artist, Natalya embraced the free time caused by the recent Covid lock-down and rediscovered the joys of being creative! The paintings on display in this exhibition, entitled “Heavenly Gardens”, were inspired by the vibrant colours of the many flowers and trees around Balchik’s Royal Botanical Garden.

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SOCIETY

WE TRY HARDER! It would be foolish not to acknowledge Europe’s greatness.

But it would be just as unwise to forget about the greatness of Asia.

Jawaharlal Nehru

I

n 2020, at the height of the coronavirus pandemic, amidst the misery of quarantine and self-isolation, an idea was hatched to create a Russian language online literary journal for members of the Eurasian Creative Guild. A writer from St. Petersburg, Gumer Karimov, took the initiative and brought this idea to life. Gumer became this new journal’s founding father, and named it the East-West Literature Portal.

together Russian-language writers, taking authors from little-read regional publications and putting them in the spotlight of the Eurasian creative space. The organisation’s task is to build cross-cultural bridges between East and West, Asia and Europe, from Moscow to the remotest villages, and from the taiga to the British Channel. The most important tool in building these bridges, of course, will be the Russian language.

It’s well-known that Russian is spoken widely across the post-Soviet space, and in many diasporas in countries further afield. After the fall of the Soviet Union, Russophone authors and readers found themselves living in independent republics. Many of them left these countries to settle in other parts of the globe, from Europe to America and Australia. It was Marat Akhmedjanov who began the process of bringing these emigree communities together again, by founding the Eurasian Creative Guild and OCA Magazine. In doing so he has introduced Eurasian authors, particularly from Central Asia, to an enormous English-speaking audience. The East-West Literature Portal follows the trail that Akhmedjanov has blazed, but its mission is more modest. It simply attempts to promote and bring

So far in 2021 East-West Literature Portal have published authors from Kazakhstan, Israel, Belarus, Armenia, Crimea, Moscow, Kyrgyzstan, Georgia, Bashkortostan and North America. Next year they will be joined by writers from Siberia, Azerbaijan, the Baltics,Western Europe and Australia. These cross-cultural bridges have already been built, or are under construction.

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The first 11 issues of the journal were published on Blogger.com, under the address https://literaturnyiportal.blogspot.com. In May 2021 the portal moved to its own website, http://litportalvostokzapad.albionartclub.co.uk/main/. That it gained this independence was largely thanks to Aldona Grupas, who became the PR manager for the Portal. Alongside Aldona in Birming-

ham, the editorial board is made up of: Anatoly Lobov The English writer Rudyard Kipling once wrote: from Tbilisi, Alina Moseykina from Larnaca in Cyprus, and Murat Uali.

“Oh, East is East, and West is West, and never the twain shall meet, The publication is registered in Great Britain and its Till Earth and Sky stand presently at God’s great Judgbase is largely in Birmingham, however the editors live ment Seat”. throughout Eurasia.Texts are selected and edited in Almaty, Saratov, Tbilisi, Larnaca and Birmingham – and, of Perhaps if Kipling had lived today he’d change those course, discussed over Zoom. words, especially if he read this journal where East meets West, and there is never any judgment.

In contrast to printed literary journals, the East-West Literary Portal is completely free for both readers and authors and all editors are volunteers. Besides the usual sections for Prose, Poetry and Opinion, there is also a Music Room, a Cookery Show and a Literary Kaleidoscope. What also sets the publication apart is the many photo, audio and video materials that are used.

While the journal focuses on literature, it does try to make as much use of digital technologies as possible, as well as music, recipes, humour and other topics.

In the 1960s and for fifty years afterwards, the American car rental company Avis used the slogan “We Try Harder”. This was nominated as one of the ten best slogans of all time, inspiring everyone who wasn’t first in what they do. The company started small, but went on to become one of the biggest firms of its kind in the world, offering hire cars in 165 countries. Avis’ universal slogan resonates not only in business, but in any type of activity. The East-West Literature Portal may only be beginning its journey and it is far from the biggest or best-known journal in literary circles, but it is clear that it follows the slogan: “We try harder!”

Murat Uali, Editor-in-Chief of the East-West Literature Portal

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ECG

SUCCESS AT THE TENTH OPEN EURASIA LITERARY FESTIVAL & BOOK FORUM FROM 15 – 19 DECEMBER 2021, THE INTERNATIONAL OPEN EURASIAN LITERARY FESTIVAL & BOOK FORUM (OEBF) WAS HELD IN UZBEKISTAN FOR THE FIRST TIME, BRINGING TOGETHER PARTICIPANTS FROM 15 COUNTRIES AT VENUES OF TASHKENT AND SAMARKAND.

T

he Open Eurasian Literature Festival & Book Forum (OEBF), organised by the Eurasian Creative Guild (London) in cooperation with the British publishing house, Hertfordshire Press, has become a meeting place for writers, poets, artists and other representatives of various fields of art for the tenth time.

This year marks 10 years since the founding of the Open Eurasian Literary Festival & Book Forum, and for the same period it serves as a platform for building an intercultural dialogue between East and West, where creative people, cultural, educational and charitable organisations can exchange experiences. The festival has already been held in Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Thailand, Sweden, Belgium and the UK, and for the first time in its history, this year it was held in Uzbekistan. More than 130 participants (online and face-to-face) from 15 countries of the world held 25 events together in sunny Tashkent and Samarkand over 5 days.

This annual event has become a symbol of the victory of art and the desire to create over the fear and confusion of the pandemic. The festival began with a special closed meeting of festival participants. Guests from countries including Kazakhstan, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, Great Britain and Poland met in the picturesque gallery Human House - the official partner of the festival in Tashkent - to get acquainted with the festival program in more detail.

The highlight of the evening was the Christmas market, which participants visited at the Tashkent International School (TIS), a partner of the festival. The concert prepared by the schoolchildren, the fair and the Christmas atmosphere were an excellent preface for an informal get together among friends, old and new. There were

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warm and sincere conversations with hot tea and traditional Uzbek food. Each guest was given the opportunity to explain a little bit about themselves and present their work.

The working program of the second day, December 16, was held at the site of the festival partner Lotte City Hotel Tashkent Palace. An important event on the second day of the festival, and an excellent start to the program, was the traditional annual presentation of new books published by Hertfordshire Press in 2021 and works by the winners of the “Open Eurasia” contest from 2020. During the presentation, participants and guests were greeted by the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Kyrgyz Republic to Uzbekistan, Ibragim Yunusov.The Ambassador attended this event to support the OEBF-2014 laureate Bubaysha Arstanbekova (Kyrgyzstan) and to emphasise the importance of publishing her book “Queen Kurmanjan of the mountains” about the legendary woman leader of the Kokand Khanate, Kurmanjan-datka. OEBF-2019 laureate Mikhail Kunitsky (Belarus) also presented his new book, published in London. His children’s book “Traveling on Four Feet” received very warm reviews from the participants and guests of the festival.

A young director and a student of the London Film Academy (LFA), Timur Akhmedjanov (Great Britain), presented the Russian-language edition of his comic book “Elish and the Wicker Tale”, based on the book by Azerbaijani writer Kamran Salayev, winner of the 2018 OEBF Maria Shevel Prize. This charity project, created to help children with autism, continues to be in demand and is spreading in other languages of the world.

Hertfordshire Press manager Aknur Nurtaza also presented a range of literary novelties.

• The Annual Literary Almanac of the Eurasian Creative Guild “Thread 5” • Daniel Ahmed (UK) - “The Final” charity comic • Nick Rowan (UK) - “Silk Road Revisited” • Gareth Stamp (UK) - “The Egret and the Cow”,“The Goat that wanted to travel” • Gulsifat Shakhidi (Tajikistan) - “Farkhod from Navghilem” • Aldona Grupas (UK) - “A History of Lithuanian writers in the United Kingdom” • Sergey Bely (Ukraine) - “Maestro and the Muse” / “Maestro and the Muse” in English and Russian • Christopher Jones (Australia) - “Meet the‘ Stans” • Farhat Tamendarov (Kazakhstan) - “Hunting Dogs” • Poetic Almanac “Voices of Friends” A highlight of the second day was the creative performance of a special guest - a famous writer and “mascot” of the festival from the very first year - Janusz Leon Wisniewski (Poland). The author of a dozen bestsellers with a total circulation of more than 2,000,000 copies (and this is only in Russia) shared his invaluable experience and personal story of how a mature university professor got on the pages of Playboy and became one of the most widely read authors in Eastern Europe.

An incredible master class titled, “How to allow yourself to create and help people see the results of their creativity?” was given Elena Bezrukova, the Ambassador of ECG (London) in Kazakhstan, and Chairperson of the ECG Expert Council (London) for Business Coaching. All participants were placed in unusual conditions, from where everyone had to find a way out. The participants of the master class noted the incredible benefits and great pleasure derived from this process.

At the end of the working program of the 2nd day of the festival, a discussion was held on the topic “How to make the world a better place?” Executive Director of ECG (London) Tayna Kaunis and British publisher Marat (Mark) Akhmedjanov shared their successful experience in conducting crowdfunding campaigns related to creative and social projects. A separate topic was the presentation of development programs for the creative residence ECG HORIZONS Burabay, which began its work on the shore of Lake Shortankul (Shchuchye) of the Burabay (Borovoe) National Park in Northern Kazakhstan.

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TOURISM Despite such a rich program, all the guests were looking forward to the official Opening Ceremony of the festival, which took place on the evening of the same day, December 16, at the Tashkent International School.

The floor for the opening ceremony was given to the Vice-Chairman of ECG (London) Marat Akhmedjanov, who recounted the history of the creation and development of the festival, and also emphasised the importance of such events for building cultural bridges between countries. Denise Woddingham, Director of the British Council for Culture in Uzbekistan, also welcomed participants. Then the guests were greeted by TIS Director Bill Kralovets and the festival’s guest of honour Janusz Leon Wisniewski. Of note was the support of the ceremony by the partners of the festival the Sharaf Rashidov Foundation represented by chairman of the board Yakubov Iskander Sandzharovich and the chief consultant Muminov Kamal Musaevich. Within the framework of the opening ceremony, all official participants also spoke with a welcoming speech, presenting themselves and their projects.The other guests of honour were representatives of the Embassies of Great Britain, Poland and Kyrgyzstan, Webster University, Sulzhina Irina Vladimirovna, co-ordinator of educational programs of the Rossotrudnichestvo office in the Republic of Uzbekistan, head of the Polish cultural centre “Swietlica Polska” Oleg Skuridin, and others.

A festive concert was also held, which was opened by a young student of TIS, and laureate of international competitions, Sophie Singh Gill. Other wonderful performers and creative groups of Tashkent also took part in the concert: the State Conservatory of Uzbekistan (Rakhmonov Asatilla, Toshpulatov Sanobar, Makhmudjonova Maftuna, Kamolova Khulkaroi, Khabibullaeva Sevara), the Institute of Uzbek National Musical Art named after Yunus Rajabiibo Sabirova Iroda, Sodirboeva Nilufar, Azamova Dilnavoz, Turgunova Gulsanam), Polish Cultural Center “Swietlica Polska” (Denis Sotnikov).

Festival partner, the Courtyard by Marriott hotel (Tashkent), became the key venue for the third festival day on December 17. The working program was opened by the presentation of film projects by the Scientific Medical Society (NMO Kazakhstan), during which colleagues spoke about their unique experience of art therapy and creative projects designed to help children with oncology and their loved ones. It was also explained why the research medical organisation find it

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so important to be a corporate member of ECG (London) and what opportunities this opens up for children and employees.

The highlight of the Tashkent program was a discussion and the press-conference on the topic “Cultural bridges”, where the main speakers were Marat Akhmedjanov, Elena Bosler-Guseva, Elena Bezrukova, Janush Wisniewski and Taina Kaunis. Important issues such as the reform of the Uzbek language and a decrease in the level of reading in different countries among readers under 35 years old were raised.

The Tashkent Film School for Youth, “Focus School”, invited Timur Akhmedjanov, originally a native of the city of Chirchik (Uzbekistan), from Great Britain, to share his experience of entering and studying at the prestigious London Film Academy.

At the end of the working program of the third day a creative lecture on the fine arts and a presentation of paintings by Yulia Ward and Elena Bezrukova was held.

This creative event took place in the Human House gallery and gave the participants and guests of the festival an immersion in the creative process of the artist.

Majestic Samarkand received festival delegates between 18-19 December with an almost summer warmth and incredible architecture. The luxurious Bek Samarkand hotel, a partner of the festival, became the place where the most sacred part of the festival took place. The “Voices of Eurasia” marathon, traditionally held within the OEBF every year, brought together festival participants and allowed them to read their works and explain a little about themselves.

The annual reporting meeting of the executive committee of the Eurasian Creative Guild (London) was the traditional summing up of the year, as well as the announcement of the results of elections to the main bodies of the Guild for 2022.

According to the results of electronic voting, Gareth Stamp, UK, was elected as the Chairman of ECG (London) for 2022.

Based on the results of electronic voting and the decision of the ECG (London) Executive Committee, the following composition of the Advisory Board was elected:

Elena Aslanyan, Armenia Aldona Grupas, UK Anatoly Lobov, Georgia Victoria Levin, Israel Warren Wills, Australia Elena Bezrukova, Kazakhstan Azim Akmatov, Kyrgyzstan Suria Esentaeva, Kazakhstan Bakhtygul Makhanbetova, Kazakhstan Anastasia Kuzmicheva, Belarus Alina Moseikina, Cyprus Marina Podlesnaya, Moldova Jonathan Campion, UK Oksana Zhukova, Crimea Natalie Bays, UK Election of the Executive Committees of the Expert Councils for 2022: Poetry Expert Council Chairman - Mikhail Ananov Executive Committee - Victoria Levin, Sagyn Berkinalieva Expert Council on Fiction Chairman - Elena Aslanyan Executive Committee - Aldona Groupas, Zhanna Shvydkaya Visual Arts Expert Council Chairman - Ekaterina Zgurskaya Executive Committee - Yusuf Krykbesov, Larisa Pak Expert Council on Translation Chairman - Elena Bosler-Guseva Executive Committee - Alina Moseikina, Jonathan Campion Expert Council for Business Coaching Chairman - Elena Bezrukova Executive Committee - Marina Alyassova, Marat Akhmedjanov Film Industry Expert Council Chairman - Michael Sagatis Executive Committee - Marat Fayzullin, Maksud Sarsembaev

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ECG EVENTS Expert Council on Journalism Chairman - Oksana Zhukova Executive Committee - Murat Uali, Pavel Kosovchich Independent Expert Council Chairman - John Farndon Executive Committee - Carolyn Walton, Nick Rowan The evening ended with an enchanting Awards Ceremony of the winners of the Open Eurasia international literary contest. In 2021, more than 1000 applications were submitted for the contest by participants from 53 countries of the world. As is tradition, the ceremony was chaired by Vice-Chairman of ECG (London), Marat Akhmedjanov.

The winners of the Open Eurasia 2021 contest in the “Prose” category:

The Kazat Akmatov Prize 1st place: Inna Chaika (Italy) - Kazat Akmatov Prize ($ 3.000) 2nd place: Zulkhumar Kendjayeva (Uzbekistan) 3rd place: Michael Krechmer (Israel) and Nadezhda Voronova (Russia) The Kazat Akmatov Prize was solemnly presented by his son Azim Akmatov. He shared the history of the establishment of the award, as well as the important role that Kazat Akmatov played in the life of the Guild.

The diploma for the second place was presented by Elena Bezrukova.

Winners of the Open Eurasia-2021 contest in the ”Poetry” category: 1st place: Maria Muchinskaya (Belarus) - I. Artem Dudnikov Prize ($ 1,000) 2nd place: Leon Nadine (Great Britain) 3rd place: Jose Luque Montero (Spain) and Alexander Kazarnovsky (Israel) The award was established by the Guild Executive Committee in honor of the young and talented poet Artyom Dudnikov, Guild Ambassador in Moscow, a native of Uzbekistan, who died from COVID-19 in the spring of 2021. The prize was presented by Marat Akhmedjanov.

The winners of the Open Eurasia-2021 competition in the “Translation” category:

1st place: Andrey Grodzinsky (Uzbekistan) - $ 7000 grant from Hertfordshire Press 2nd place: Alla Krechmer (Israel) and Yulia Ganetskaya (Japan) 3rd place: Elena Korolyeva (Russia) and Tatiana Zhukova (Ukraine) The diploma for the first place was awarded to Andrei Grodzinsky by Janusz Wisniewski. He wished the author many future creative successes.

The winners of the Open Eurasia-2021 competition in the “Minor Prose” category:

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1st place: Shakhrizat (Kazakhstan) - “BelRos” Prize from Oleg Nesterkov ($ 1,000) 2nd place: Elena Bosler - Guseva (Kyrgyzstan) 3rd place: Perisat Abdalieva (Kyrgyzstan) The prize was presented by the translator and longtime member of the Guild Dana Jeteyeva.

The winners of the Open Eurasia-2021 competition in the “Illustration” category: 1st place: Katerina Zgurskaya (Russia) - Prize “Vector. Poetry of strokes” from the association “BelBrand “($ 1,000) 2nd place: Marina Vernalis (Russia) 3rd place: Emilia Gojayeva (Azerbaijan) The prize was presented by Timur Akhmedzhanov.

Open Eurasia 2020 winners in the “Non-fiction” category:

The winners of the Open Eurasia-2020 contest in the category “Best Female Work”:

1st place: Victoria Levin (Israel) - Prize from OCA magazine ($ 1,000) 2nd place:Vera Sytnik (Russia) 3rd place: Teimur Atayev (Azerbaijan) and Anna Finchem (Slovakia)

1st place: Elena Bosler - Guseva (Kyrgyzstan) prize named after Marziya Zakiryanova 2nd place:Victoria Nenya (Ukraine) 3rd place: Linda Small (Germany) and Julia Ganetskaya (Japan)

Winners of the Open Eurasia-2020 competition in the “Children’s Literature” category:

The award was presented by the executive director of the Guild Tayna Kaunis.

1st place: Mikhail Kunitsky (Belarus) - I. Maria Shevel Prize ($ 5.000) 2nd place: Grigory Gachkevich (Moldova) and Elina Zakharchenko (Ukraine) 3rd place: Dmitry Karabutov (Kazakhstan) + Alex Garlev (USA)

Laureate, a new prize: Khoja Nasreddin for the best work in the field of satire ($ 500) was the representative of Tajikistan - Gulsifat Shakhidi.

The third place was awarded by Vitalina Golovach, for the second place by Yulia Vard, for the first place - by Marat Akhmedjanov.

The Generals Prize from the International Association “Generals of Peace for Peace”, the highest award of the Association - the “Dove of Peace” medal for the best work dedicated to the theme of strengthening, peace, friendship and mutual understanding between peoples was received by the Bashkir satirist Masel Salimov (Russia).

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EVENTS The following laureates were awarded with certificates from the International Association “Generals of Peace for Peace”: Vadim Kurashin (Kazakhstan) Begizhan Akhmedov (Kyrgyzstan) Lusine Aleksanyan (Armenia) Natalia (Lina) Lee (Kazakhstan) Muminova Dinara (South Korea) Julia Olshevskaya-Hatzenboller (Germany) Mayra Suleimenova (Kazakhstan) Sergey Bely (Great Britain) On December 19, an informal meeting with a special guest of the festival, Polish writer Janusz Leon Wiśniewski, took place in Tashkent at the Polish Cultural Centre of Uzbekistan. Representatives of the Polish community were able to ask all their questions regarding creativity, migration, socialisation and the creative path of the author.

In the evening, an unusual bar-library opened at the Courtyard by Marriott hotel. Marat Akhmedzhanov, Yanush Leon Vishnevsky, Aliaskar Fatkhullin, Tayna Kaunis and Timur Akhmedzhanov expressed their warm wishes to the hotel and its general manager Alexander Bakanov on behalf of the literary festival.

In the online format, the festival program included the following events: On 16 December, the winner of the Open Eurasian Literary Festival & Book Forum 2020 in the category “Children’s literature” Nelly Kopeikina held a presentation of her book “Contemporary Russian Fairy Tales” On 17 December, an online marathon “Voices of Eurasia” was held for all participants who could not join the festival in person.

On 18 December, a meeting of the Eurasian Creative Guild’s Expert Council on Translations “Peculiarities of Translation of Children’s Literature” took place.

On December 19, the winner of the Open Eurasian Literary Festival & Book Forum 2020 in the category “Best Female Work” Adolina Gordon held a presentation of the book “The Saga of a Strange Woman”.

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ECG (London) expresses special gratitude to the partners of the festival: Human House Gallery, Sharaf Rashidov Foundation, Courtyard by Marriott, Lotte City Hotel, Orient Star and Bek Samarkand, Tashkent International School, Swietlica Polska Polish Cultural Centre, State Conservatory, Institute of Uzbek National Musical Art named after Yunus Rajabi and Shams Turon Trans Auto.

OEBF is the only literary festival in the world that, since 2012, has been promoting the literature of the Eurasian region at an international level. The festival provides an opportunity for authors to promote their work, exchange experiences and find like-minded people from around the world to implement joint projects.

At the moment, the submission period is open for the 11th literary competition “Open Eurasia-2022”.

Contacts: konkurs2022@ocamagazine.com +44 7490 576010 (Anna Lari) Reference: Eurasian Creative Guild (London) is a public organisation that promotes filmmakers, artists, poets, writers and designers. The main mission of the Eurasian Creative Guild (London) is to instil a love of creativity, to give people the opportunity to touch the beauty, and reveal new facets of their creative nature.

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book of the year HERTFORDSHIRE PRESS

CATALOGUE

BLUE RIVER

by Zinaida Longortova (2016) ENG / KHANTY HARDBACK ISBN:978-1-910886-34-2 RRP: £17.50

CRANES IN SPRING

by Tolibshohi Davlat (2015) ENG / RUS HARDBACK ISBN: 978-1-910886-06-9 RRP: £14.50

MAN OF THE MOUNTAINS

by Abudlla Isa (2014) ( OCABF 2013 Winner) ENGLISH PAPERBACK ISBN: 978-0-9930444-5-8 RRP: £14.95

KASHMIR SONG

by Sharaf Rashidov (translation by Alexey Ulko, OCABF 2014 Winner). 2017 ENGLISH RRP: £24.95 ISBN: 978-0-9930444-2-7

AND LONGER IFE LASTS

by Ion Jani ISBN: 978-1913356163 RRP: £9.99

68 OCA MAGAZINE

THE BEST DAY OF THE YEAR THE DAY THAT DAD RETURNED Maral Hydyrova (2017) ENGLISH PAPERBACK ISBN: 978-1-910886-65-6 RRP: £12.50

KAРА Автор Султан Раев (2015) РУССКИЙ / RUSSIAN ISBN: 978-1910886137 RRP: £24.50

WIND ISBN: 978-1910886915 RRP: £17.50

best female AUTHOR

ALDONA GRUPAS NURSE, GIVE ME A PILL FOR DEATH true stories ISBN: 978-1910886922 RRP: £9.95 PB / £14.95 HB

FOREMOTHER ASIA

by Natalia Kharlampieva (2016) ENG / SAKHA HARDBACK ISBN: 978-1-910886-22-9 RRP: £17.50

LIFE OVER PAIN AND DESPERATION

by Marziya Zakiryanova (2014) ENGLISH HARD BACK ISBN: 978-0-99278733-2 RRP: £14.95

STOCKHOLM SYNDROME S.S. NAZAROVA (2017) ENGLISH ISBN: 978-1-910886-60-1 HARD BACK RRP:£17.50

THE LAND DRENCHED IN TEARS

by Söyüngül Chanisheff ENGLISH PAPERBACK ISBN: 978-1910886380 RRP:£24.50

RECYCLED

by Anna Komar HARDBACK ENGLISH ISBN: 978-1910886816 RRP:£17.50

MY NEIGHBOURHOOD SISTERS

by Gulsifat Shakhidi (2016) ENG / RUS HARDBACK ISBN:978-1-910886-35-9 RRP: £19.95

Тегеран-1360 Жанна Голубицкая ISBN: 9781913356118 Paperback RU |2020 £19.95

WWW.OCAMAGAZINE.COM

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POETRY

HERTFORDSHIRE PRESS

COLORFUL TEARS

by Khosiyat Rustam ISBN: 978-1-913356-12-5 RRP: £12.95

MY HOMELAND, OH MY CRIMEA

by Lenifer Mambetova (2015) ENG / RUS HARDBACK ISBN: 978-1-910886-04-5 RRP: £17.50

“THE WORLD DISSOLVES LIKE A DREAM” by Leyla Aliyeva, 2018 ENG HARDBACK 978-1-910886-76-2 RRP: £14.95

The “LIRA” award for the best poetry in the literary competition “Open Eurasian Book Forum and Literary Festival - 2019”

In this jewellike collection of poems from Kyrgyz poet Sagyn Berkinalieva, the poet explores her own personal destiny and her memorable insights into love, plumbing the raw feelings that cut through her heart in the course of one memorable encounter. Berkinalieva’s own unique and genuine voice shines through poignantly on every page.

SAGYN BERKINALIEVA

Published works: 1) «Sheet covered with the dust» (Publishing house «Biyiktik» – 2014).

2) «Girl dancing in the sky» (Publishing house «Great mountains» – 2019).

In 2016 she took part in the competition for young poets and won the Audience Award.

Diploma winner for active participation in the competition of young poets «Mekenge taazim» and «Besh Akin» in 2017.

Diploma winner of the Festival of Eurasian Week of Culture, which was held in Great Britain (London).

In 2019 she had participated in an International Competition of Eurasian Creative Guild in Belgium (Brussels).

She won the first place in the nomination of poetry and was awarded the «Lyre» medal for the best female lyrics.

In 2019 she was awarded «The Best Poet of the Year» in Kyrgyzstan.

SAGYN BERKINALIEVA

Member of the National Writers’ Union of Kyrgyzstan, member of Eurasian Creative Guild, member of the Writers’ Union of North America (German department).

GIRL DANCING IN THE SKY

Poetess – Berkinalieva Sagynbubu Abdusamatovna (Kyrgyz Republic)

edited by John Farndon

GIRL DANCING IN THE SKY

RRP: £12.95

I THINK WE SHOULD JUST LIVE

by Ekaterina Khlebnikova ISBN: 9781913356217 Paperback ENG \RU | 2020 £9.99

GIRL DANCING IN THE SKY

by Sagyn Berkinalieva ISBN: 9781913356217 Paperback ENG | 2020 £12.95

ONE OF YOU

by Lenar Shaehov ISBN: 9781910886472 Paperback ENG | 2017 £9.50

70 OCA MAGAZINE

BELARUSIAN WHALES

by Anastasiya Kuzmicheva ISBN: 9781910886458 Hardcover EN | 2017 £14.50

МАЭСТРО И МУЗА Сергей Белый ISBN: 978-1-913356-28-6 Hardcover RU | 2021 £17.50

MAESTRO AND MUSE Sergey Bely ISBN: 978-1-913356-39-2 Hardcover ENG | 2021 £19.95

WWW.OCAMAGAZINE.COM

71

history

HERTFORDSHIRE PRESS

VANISHED KHANS AND EMPTY STEPPES

by Robert Wight (2014) The book opens with an outline of the history of Almaty, from its nineteenth-century origins as a remote outpost of the Russian empire, up to its present status as the thriving second city of modern-day Kazakhstan. The story then goes back to the Neolithic and early Bronze Ages, and the sensational discovery of the famous Golden Man of the Scythian empire. The transition has been difficult and tumultuous for millions of people, but Vanished Khans and Empty Steppes illustrates how Kazakhstan has emerged as one of the world’s most successful post-communist countries.

HARD BACK

ISBN: 978-0-9930444-0-3

RRP: £24.95

PAPERBACK ISBSN: 978-1-910886-05-2 RRP: £14.50 KANYBEK IMANALIEV THE KAGANATE Overall, The Kaganate is a remarkably skilful and fabulously imaginative prose poetry collection, which explores the overwhelming need for young men to be destructive, the overtly pagan sensibilities of the authors native Kyrgyzstan, along with those disciplines required by adolescent boys to channel instinctive animosities away from their parents into the rigours necessary to become worthy young warriors in such a way that his volume proves virtually obsessive. After all, each one of these observations evokes a subtle type of “second puberty” occurring between older men assaying values above mere materialism, sexuality, and having children - in order to focus on shared spiritual concerns.

ISBN: 978-1910886960 HB RRP:£19.95

VLADIMIR TULINOV THE GUARDSMEN OF HIPPOCRATES No people suffered more during the Second World War than the people of the Soviet Union and the soldiers of the Red Army. Tens of millions perished and further millions were wounded – horrific numbers, which would have been even higher if it weren’t for the efforts of the army of doctors, nurses, and medics who treated the wounded and the suffering. V.M. Tulinov’s The Guardsmen of Hippocrates brings the reader up close to the men and women who fought to save the lives of those struggling to resist the Nazi invasion.

ISBN: 978-1910886946 HB, RRP: £19.95 WEST MIDLANDS HO!

by Aldona Grupas West Midlands Ho! is a compelling work of local history, focused on a particular corner of England but set against a background of tumultuous international events.In the book, Lithuanian author Aldona Grupas reveals the personal tales of Lithuanian migrants who moved to Britain in the wake of World War II. Unable to return to their homeland due to the Soviet occupation, from 1947 onwards, several thousand refugees swapped the refugee camps of Allied-occupied Germany for basic accommodation in Britain, along with jobs in manufacturing and agriculture. In the following decades, they put down roots in Britain, all the while keeping their Lithuanian identity alive. In a series of interviews, Grupas teases out the personal experiences of five members of this migrant community in the West Midlands of England.

PAPERBACK

72 OCA MAGAZINE

ISBN: 978-1913356231 RRP:£19.95

classicS

THE PLIGHT OF A POSTMODERN HUNTER Chlngiz Aitmatov Mukhtar Shakhanov (2015) ENG HARDBACK ISBN: 978-1-910886-11-3 RRP: £24.95

THE GREAT MELODY KINDLE EDITION

by Tabyldy Aktan RRP: 2.40 ENGLISH

“SHORT STORIES FROM AZERBAIJAN” 2018 ISBN: 978-1-910886-72-4 RRP: £19.95 ENG HARDBACK

I AM LOOKING TOWARDS THE EAST

by Gulsifat Shakhidi, 2017 ISBN: 978-1910886663 RRP: £19.95 HARDBACK ENGLISH

BRÄNNANDE SOL, ISANDE VIND, LEVANDE STÄPP

by Dulat Isabekov ISBN: 9789198244977 Hardcover Swedish |2020

A POETIC TREASURY FROM BELARUS: A CELEBRATION OF THE LIFE AND WORK OF VERA RICH

by David ParryJim Dingley SBN: 9781913356040 Hardcover EN \ BY|2019 £14.95

GOETHE AND ABAI

by Herold Belger ISBN: 9781910886168 Hardcover EN|2015 £19.95

WHEN EDELWEISS FLOWERS FLOURISH

by Begenas Saratov and (Shahsanem Murray) ISBN: 9780955754951 Paperback ENG 2012 £12.95

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SERIES

HOWL novel

by Kazat Akmatov (2014) PAPERBACK ENGLISH –RUSSIAN ISBN: 978-0993044410 RRP: £12.50

shahsanem murray

SHAHIDKA/ MUNABIA

by KazatAkmatov (2013) PAPERBACK ISBN: 978-0957480759 RRP: £12.95

THE NOVEL “ARHAT”

by Kazat Akmatov (2015) LANGUAGE ENG PAPERBACK ISBN: 978-1910886106 RRP: £17.50

THE TURKIK SAGA Kairat Zariyanov (2016) LANGUAGE ENG HARD BACK RRP:14.95 ISBN: 978-0-9927873-7-0

UNDER THE WOLFS NEST Kairat Zariyanov (2012 LANGUAGE ENG /KAZAKH HARD BACK RRP:14.95 ISBN: 978-0-9927873-7-0

kairat zakyryanov

13 STEPS OF ERIKA KLAUS

by Kazat Akmatov (2013) PAPERBACK ISBN: 978-0957480766 RRP: £12.95

Raushan

Burkitbayeva - Nukenova

KAZAT AKHMATOV

HERTFORDSHIRE PRESS

SHADOWS OF THE RAIN Raushan Burkitbayeva - Nukenova (2016)LANGUAGE ENG HARD BACK RRP:19.95 ISBN: 978-1-910886-31-1

THE WORMWOOD WIND Raushan Burkitbayeva - Nukenova (2015) LANGUAGE ENG HARD BACK RRP:14.95 ISBN: 978-1-910886-09-0

COLD SHADOWS Shahsanem Murray (2016) LANGUAGE ENG PAPERBACK ISBN: 978-1-910886-27-4 RRP: £12.50

74 OCA MAGAZINE

FINDING THE HOLY PATH

by Shahsanem Murray (2014) RUS ISBN: 978-0-9930444-8-9 ENGL ISBN: 978-0992787394 PAPERBACK RRP: £12.50

TRAVELOGUES FRIENDLY STEPPES. A SILK ROAD JOURNEY

by Nick Rowan (2012)

THE SILK ROAD REVISITED

by Nick Rowan (2020)

This is the chronicle of an extraordinary adventure that led Nick Rowan to some of the world’s most incredible and hidden places.

Take a trip along this remarkable historic trading route that once ran from Venice, through the Mediterranean, across Turkey and Iran, through the Caucasus and Caspian Sea, onwards via Central Asia and finally to China.

HARD BACK ISBN: 978-0-9927873-4-9 PAPERBACK ISBN: 978-0-9557549-4-4

HARDBACK RRP: £34.99 ISBN: 978-1-913356-07-1

ALPHABET GAME

by Paul Wilson (2014) Travelling around the world may appear as easy as ABC, but looks can be deceptive: there is no ‘X’ for a start. Not since Xidakistan was struck from the map. Yet post 9/11, with the War on Terror going global, could ‘The Valley’ be about to regain its place on the political stage? Xidakistan’s fate is inextricably linked with that of Graham Ruff, founder of Ruff Guides. Setting sail where Around the World in Eighty Days and Lost Horizon weighed anchor, our not-quite-a-hero suffers all in pursuit of his golden triangle: The Game, The Guidebook, The Girl. With the future of printed Guidebooks increasingly in question, As Evelyn Waugh’s Scoop did for Foreign Correspondents the world over, so this novel lifts the lid on Travel Writers for good.

PAPREBACK ENG ISBN: 978-0-992787325

RRP: £14.50

MEET THE ‘STANS

by Christopher Jones “If you want to travel in peace, you must howl like the wolves among whom you find yourself,” a 19th century French explorer advised on entering Central Asia. Which was simply the Central Asian version of raising your negroni and slurring ‘When in Rome’. Thankfully, the author discovered, the negroni’s had since made their way to Central Asia, or at least Almaty, as part of the somewhat inconsiderable encroachment made by the modern world.

HARDBACK ISBN: 978-1-913356-15-6 RRP: £17.50 DOES IT YURT? by Stephen M. Bland (2016) Conjuring images of nomadic horsemen, spectacular monuments, breathtaking scenery and crippling poverty, Central Asia remains an enigma. Home to the descendants of Jenghiz Khan’s Great Horde, in the nineteenth century the once powerful Silk Road states became a pawn in the ‘Great Game’ of expansion and espionage between Britain and Russia, disappearing behind what would become known as the ‘Iron Curtain’. With the collapse of the USSR, the nations of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan were born. Since independence, Central Asia has seen one civil war, two revolutions and seven dictators.

LANGUAGE ENG PAPER BACK RRP:14.95 ISBN: 978-1-910886-29-8

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75

children award winning HERTFORDSHIRE PRESS

RHYMES ABOUT BOYS

by Lyudmila Dubkovetcaia (2019) HARD BACK ENGLISH ISBN: 978-1-913356-03-3 RRP: £17.50

MENIK THE MAMMOUTH

by OGDO (2017) PAPERBACK ENG ISBN: 978-1-910886-62-5 RRP: £12.50

СОФЬИНЫ НЕБЕСА, ИЛИ ВОЛШЕБНЫЙ ДАР ГНОМОВ Оксана Гордийко (2019) ISBN: 978-1-910886-97-7 RRP: £14.50

LEIA THE LITTLE MOUSE

by Arina Chunaeva (2019)

TALES OF GRANDMA GULSIFAT

by Gulsifat Shakhidi

ELISH AND THE WICKER TALES

by Kamran Salayev PAPERBACK SQUARE ENG ISBN: 978-1-910886-88-5 RRP:£12.50

HARD BACK ENGLISH ISBN:978-1-910886-90-8 RRP: £22.50

Дневник Ёжика - путешественника, или Где живёт счастье? by Надежда Серебренникова ISBN: 9781913356095 Paperback RU| 2020 £19.50 ELISH AND THE WICKER TALE

by Timur Akhmedjanov ISBN: 9781913356194 Paperback ENG | 2020 £9.99

76 OCA MAGAZINE

HARDBACK ENGLISH ISBN: 978-1-913356-01-9 RRP: £22.50

JUNIOR

THE GOAT THAT WANTED TO TRAVEL ISBN: 978-1913356170 RRP: £9.99

THE EGRET AND THE COW

by Gareth Stamp ISBN: 978-1913356149 RRP: £9.99

РАИМ ФАРХАДИ ОСТРОВ СТИХОВ стихи ISBN: 978-1-910886-56-4 RRP: £14.50

The door to a fairy tale

by Denis Kuvaev ISBN: 9781910886632 Hardcover EN| 2017 £22.50

AYSU AND THE MAGIC BAG

by Maide Akan (2016) CARDBOARD ISBN: 978-1-910886-24-3 RRP: £10.00

ЭТО ЗАВИСИТ ОТ МЕНЯ 7 СПОСОБОВ ИЗМЕНИТЬ ЖИНЬ К ЛУЧШЕМУ Автор Меган Вернер (2017) PAPERBACK RUSSIAN ISBN: 9781910886397 RRP:£9.95

Crane by Abu-Sufyan ISBN: 9781910886236 Paperback EN| 2016 £12.50

POOL OF STARS

by Olesya Petrova (2007) PAPERBACK ENG / RUS ISBN: 978-0955754906 RRP: £4.95

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77

DISCOVERY GUIDES & TRAVEL COMPANIONS

HERTFORDSHIRE PRESS

100 EXPERIENCES OF KYRGYZSTAN

by Ian Claytor ENG ISBN: 978-0957480742 RRP: £9.50

101 Zážitok Z Kazachstanu Editori: Nick Rowan a Roman Vassilenko ISBN: 9781913356255 RRP: £9.50

100 EXPERIENCES OF MODERN KAZAKHSTAN

by Vitaly Shuptar, Nick Rowan and Dagmar Schreiber ENG ISBN: 978-1-910886-15-1 RRP: £9.50

THE TASTE OF CENTRAL ASIA COOK BOOK

by Danny Gordon ENG ISBN:978-1-910886-09-0 RRP: £9.50

DISCOVERY KYRGYZSTAN travel guide

by Ian Claytor ENG, DE, FR, RUS, JAP ISBN: 9780955754920 RRP: £5.95

78 OCA MAGAZINE

DISCOVERY UZBEKISTAN travel guide

by Andrea Leuenberger ENG, DE, FR, RUS, JAP ISBN: 9780957480704 RRP: £5.95

DISCOVERY KAZAKHSTAN travel guide

by Vitaly Shuptar and Dagmar Schreiber ENG, DE ISBN: 9780955754937 RRP: £5.95

DISCOVERY TAJIKISTAN Travel Guide

by Vitaly Shuptar ENG ISBN: 978-09557549-6-8 RRP: £5.95

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79

The scientific and theoretical platform and methodology of the “cognitive-communicative concept of translation studies” are presented on the basis of the “cognitive-linguacultural methodology and the theory of intercultural communication”.

The professional and functional model of a modern translator has been proposed and the competence-based educational paradigm has been developed on the conceptually-grounded platform.

SALIMA KUNANBAYEVA

E IDG BR

INTERNATIONA LP R

S ES

CA M

The work can be applied to the theory and practice of training as well as to the process of upgrading translators, philologists and specialists in the fields of intercultural communication, foreign language education and in other spheres of international correlation.

2016

KUNANBAYEVA S.S.

CONCEPTUALLY-GROUNDED COGNITIVE-LINGUAL BASICS OF FORMING A MULTILINGUAL

KUNANBAYEVA S.S.

The manual is focused on the conceptual basics of cognitive linguistics in the theory and practice of intercultural communication and the formation of a multilingual personality. It describes the patterns of the formation of a global intercultural space; dwells on the conceptual and theoretical foundations of “intercultural communication” as an independent scientific branch; the ways and cognitive-process components of the formation of the “language personality”; the methodological grounds of translation studies and foreign language education.

CONCEPTUALLY-GROUNDED COGNITIVE-LINGUAL BASICS OF FORMING A MULTILINGUAL

HERTFORDSHIRE PRESS

RRP: £14.95 CAMBRIDGE INTERNATIONAL PRESS

ISBN: 978-0957480780 RRP: £19.95

ISBN: 978-1-910886-67-0 RRP: £19.50

ISBN: 978-1-910886-99-1 RRP: £14.95

PAPERBACK ISBN: 978-1910886267 RRP: £18.50

ORAZALY SABDEN

PAPERBACK ISBN: 978-1910886267 RRP: £17.50

LOOKING WEST: A KAZAKH’S VIEW OF GREAT BRITAIN

by Kanat Auyesbay (2016) This new book by the Kazakh broadcaster and journalist Kanat Auyesbay is a fascinating and charming view of Britain. Kanat studied here for a year, living in Norwich with his wife and young son. Here he recounts his impressions of British life and compares aspects of it with life in Kazakhstan. He deals with subjects as diverse as school, charity, public transport, swimming, language and eating horse meat!

PAPERBACK

ISBN:978-1910886373 RRP: £14.50

НУРЫМ ТАЙБЕК ЛЮБОВЬ КО ВСЕМ, НЕНАВИСТЬ НИ К КОМУ! — СМЫСЛ ЖИЗНИ МУСУЛЬМАН-АХМАДИ послание Ахмадийское движение – единственное в исламе, объявившее, в соответствии с предписанием Мухаммада, военный джихад отмененным (с 1891 г.) в связи с появлением мессии-махди (и началом эры прав человека). Ахмад боролся против политизации ислама и восстановил первоначальную – мирную интерпретацию понятий “джихад”.

ISBN: 978-1-910886-73-1 RRP: £14.95

80 OCA MAGAZINE

PROJECTIVE GRAPHICS

by Yelena Bezrukova, Valentina Tikhomirova (2015) This album contains images of an aspiring new art movement known in Kazakhstan as “Projective Graphics”. The images presented in the publication, called “graphelvas” are accompanied by conceptual and explanatory texts, as well as an appendix of works associated with the small, but up and coming movement. This album is intended for a broad audience.

HARDBACK

ENGLISH

ISBN: ISBN: 978 – 0993044434

AZERBAIJAN:BRIDGE BETWEEN EAST AND WEST

by Yury Sigov, 2015

ISBN: 9781913356255

Azerbaijan: Bridge between East and West, Yury Sigov narrates a comprehensive and compelling story about Azerbaijan. He balances the country’s rich cultural heritage, wonderful people and vibrant environment with its modern political and economic strategies. Readers will get the chance to thoroughly explore Azerbaijan from many different perspectives and discover a plethora of innovations and idea, including the recipe for Azerbaijan’s success as a nation and its strategies for the future.

The book also explores the history of relationships between United Kingdom and Azerbaijan.

HARD BACK ISBN: 978-0-9930444-9-6 RRP: £24.50 I AM LOOKING TOWARDS THE EAST

by Gulsifat Shakhidi, 2017 ISBN: 978-1910886663 RRP: £19.95 HARDBACK ENGLISH LOST PARADISE - TRUE PARADISE

by Gulsifat Shakhidi, 2019 ISBN: 978-1-913356-02-6 ENGLISH HARDBACK RRP: £19.95

IGOR SAVITSKY: ARTIST, COLLECTOR, MUSEUM FOUNDER

by Marinika Babanazarova (2011) LANGUAGE: ENG, RUS, FR ISBN: 978-0955754999 RRP: £10.00 SAVITSKY COLLECTION SELECTED MASTERPIECES. Poster set of 8 posters (2014) ISBN: 9780992787387 RRP: £25.00

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81

CONTENTS 6

INTERVIEW WITH OKSANA ZHUKOVA 46

BELOW ME THE SILVER-CAPPED CAUCASUS LIES…

12

UZBEKISTAN PLEDGES ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AS A PRIORITY

50

REVIVAL OF THE TASHKENT FILM FESTIVAL

16

STORY ABOUT AFGHANISTAN’S FALL BY AFGHAN JOURNALIST

54

BURABAY’S ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEMS

22

CENTRAL ASIA: PERILOUS EDGE BETWEEN TRADITION AND WOMAN ABUSE

58

THE WORLD’S FIRST UNIQUE BOOK “POETRY-PAINTING. SHIGRI-SYNLY SANGAT”

26

ASPECTS OF INVOLVING THE CHERNOBYL LANDS IN BELARUS IN THE ECONOMIC TURNOVER

60

BOOK REVIEW: HISTORY OF THE CAUCASUS:VOLUME 1: AT THE CROSSROADS OF EMPIRES BY CHRISTOPH BAUMER

30

LESSONS OF THE HOT DAYS OF ‘KAZAKH WINTER’ FOR CENTRAL ASIAN INTEGRATION

62

BALCHIK, AN ARTIST’S INSPIRATION

64

WE TRY HARDER!

34

JAPANESE VALENTINE CHOCOLATE 34-36 66

38

HISTORY OF ALPHABET SHIFT AND LANGUAGE IN KAZAKHSTAN

SUCCESS AT THE TENTH OPEN EURASIA LITERARY FESTIVAL & BOOK FORUM

85

DR SHAHID QURESHI

42

JAPANESE PAINTER IKUO HIRAYAMA IN CENTRAL ASIA

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We don’t want you to miss out, but if you would prefer not to hear from us please tick there

Dr Shahid Qureshi 4 October 1965 – 10 February 2022

Open Central Asia Magazine was deeply saddened to hear of the sudden demise of one of our friends and close supporters, Dr Shahid Qureshi, on 10th February 2022 at the age of 56.

Dr Shahid Qureshi was a senior analyst with BBC and chief editor of The London Post. He wrote on security, terrorism and foreign policy. During his journalism career, he appeared as an analyst on Al-Jazeera, Press TV, MBC, Kazak TV (Kazakhstan), LBC Radio London. He was also international election observer for Azerbaijan 2020, April 2018, Kazakhstan 2015, 2016, 2019 and Pakistan 2002.

He wrote a famous book “War on Terror and Siege of Pakistan” published in 2009. At Government College Lahore he wrote his MA thesis on ‘Political Thought of Imam Khomeini’ and visited Tehran University. He was PhD in ‘Political Psychology’ and studied Law at a British University. He also spoke at Cambridge University and was a visiting Professor at Hebe University in China.

He devoted his life not only to international journalism, but also to justice and human rights.

Our most sincere sympathies and condolences go to his family and friends who have lost a remarkable and tremendous personality.

IX - OPEN EURASIAN BOOK FORUM & LITERATURE FESTIVAL

11 OPEN EURASIAN LITERARY FESTIVAL & BOOK FORUM th

25-28

th

NOVEMBER LONDON, UK

2022

For detailed information, please contact the following email: lari@ocamagazine.com