Archive sections: ‘Kyrgyzstan’
I appreciate that Kyrgyzstan is not on everyone’s radar … at least one my correspondents has pointed this out to me, what with the numerous other crisis points around the world. Natural disasters, man-made disasters, war situations and civil strife … indeed, it all seems a bit apocalyptic. But then, I’ve had that particular feeling [...]
My father used to have a phrase he would use to say whenever he was astounded by something: “Well, I’ve got a bloody hell …!”. A friend of mine, Paul, had another phrase which he would use in similar circumstances: “The things you see when you haven’t a gun!”
Bishkek is known as the Greenest City on Earth, and it owes this honour, largely, to one man, Alexei Fetisov. Aleksei Fetisov has been described by Daniel Prior as “one of Pishpek’s most brilliant and energetic early enthusiasts”. He is credited with creating the “central greenway” – centered around Prospekt Erkindik – and laying the [...]
Bishkek is renowned for being a “green” city, with more trees per head of population than any other city in Central Asia. It owes this distinction to the Russian Army Engineers who drew up the plans for the city when it became the regional headquarters towards the end of the nineteenth century, and to individuals [...]
About 520 km from Bishkek, 125 km (1.5 hours), from Naryn, 17 km from the end of the paved road (just after the emergency airstrip) 90 km (1.5 hours) short of the border at Torugart, and at an altitude of about 3500m above sea level is the ancient caravanserai of Tash Rabat. According to one [...]
The events of 6th and 7th of April in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, were nothing short of extraordinary. They brought with them great sadness, renewed hope, tragic destruction, victorious triumph and, above all, confusion about what to do next. Ian Claytor, General Director of the Celestial Mountains Companies in Kyrgyzstan, has lived in Bishkek for nearly 15 [...]
One of our partners, is “Silk Road Media”, a publishing house established by Marat Akhmedjanov, an Uzbek citizen, who is based in London. I actually consider them to be one of our most important partners … Why?, well, because one of the most valuable commodities in the modern world is information, especially about a new [...]
Ivan Vasilyevich Panfilov was born in Petrovsk, Saratovsky oblast in Russia, on the 20th December, 1892 – by the old, Julian, calendar, which Russia used at the time … it was the 1st January 1893 in the rest of the world. Not much seems to be have recorded about his life apart from the fact that he commanded the 316th Rifle [...]
The Second World War provided a great shock to the history, development and psychology of the peoples of the Soviet Union. Kyrgyz contingents played a part in defending the motherland – of a population of just over one and a half million, some 363,000 went to fight – and 160,000 were killed. That’s 45% of [...]
In Western Europe the Second World War is usually considered to have lasted six years from 1939 to 1945, however, hostilities probably really began with the Japanese invasion of Manchuria in 1933. Different combatants entered the war at different times: for the Americans the war began with the bombing of Pearl Harbour on December 7th, [...]
