EurasiaNet Series

Controversial race to find Khan's tomb gains international interest. (Photo by Joshua Kucera)

The Search for Genghis Khan: Part Five
PR Plays a Big Role in the Search for Genghis Khan's Grave
BY JOSHUA KUCERA
The Valley of the Khans project, the American-led effort to find the tomb of Genghis Khan, has gone to great lengths to appeal to Mongolian sensibilities. Project leaders have hired Mongolian partners, including two prominent scholars, a "local media and political consultant/liaison" and a public relations agency.

MORE STORIES:

• Part One: In Mongolia, Ambivalence Greets Efforts to Find the Great Khan's Tomb
• Part Two: Trying to Find a Needle without Touching the Hay
• Part Three: Genghis Khan's Legacy Being Reappraised in China, Russia
• Part Four: Mining the Legacy for Modern-Day Profit

Central Asia Remains a Corruption Problem Area, While the Caucasus Registers Mixed Gains
BY JOSHUA KUCERA
Kazakhstan, Georgia and Azerbaijan all showed significant decreases in corruption over the past year, according to a recently published worldwide survey by a Berlin-based watchdog group. The survey also showed that Armenia's rating declined, and the rest of the Central Asian states remained near the bottom of the rankings.

Georgia: Unions Press for Labor Law Reform
BY PAUL RIMPLE
As Georgia strives to recover from the global economic crisis, the government is struggling to find a balancing point between the protection of workers' rights and the need for employers to boost output. President Mikheil Saakashvili's administration is hearing it from both sides. Labor union leaders claim that the government's overriding interest in attracting foreign investment is encouraging businesses to trample on workers' rights. Employers, meanwhile, are worried that potential changes to the labor code could turn off outside investors.

Azerbaijan: Baku Sees Turkey as Tough Customer on Gas Exports
BY SHAHIN ABBASOV
Amid a diplomatic chill, Azerbaijan and Turkey opened a new round of talks November 16 on an energy export price. Recent agreements on gas supplies to Bulgaria, Iran and Russia suggest that Baku is exploring alternative export routes as a means to pressure Ankara into paying significantly more for Azerbaijani natural gas.

Turkey: Government Launches PR Offensive on Kurdish Question
BY NICHOLAS BIRCH
Turkey's political leaders are taking to the road to explain their plans to end a 25-year Kurdish war to the people. The PR offensive is opening amid rising political tensions and dwindling hopes of a multi-party accord on the initiative.

Pressure Grows In Kyrgyzstan For Return Of Death Penalty
BY FARANGIS NAJIBULLAH
Kyrgyzstan, the first Central Asian country to suspend the death penalty, is now considering bringing it back.
A EurasiaNet Partner Post from RFE/RL

Azerbaijan: Outrage and Disappointment Follow Bloggers' Conviction
BY JESSICA POWLEY HAYDEN
Many international and domestic observers worry that the recent convictions of two youth activist-bloggers in Azerbaijan are sounding the death knell for the democratization process in the South Caucasus country.

  EurasiaNet Special Feature

The Music of China's Nomads
See and hear how Kazakhs and Kyrgyz living in China's western Xinjiang Province are using music to preserve their cultural heritage.

Kazakhstan: Nazarbayev Dodges President-for-Life Question Ahead of Astana's OSCE Chairmanship
BY JOANNA LILLIS
As Kazakhstan gears up to chair the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe in 2010, Astana is facing criticism over its recent democratization record. Helping to highlight the country's image issue is the question of whether or not President Nursultan Nazarbayev favors a proposal to dispense with elections and become president-for-life.

Yerevan Goes Modern: $35 Million Museum to Promote Contemporary Art in the Caucasus
A EURASIANET PHOTO STORY BY MARIANNA GRIGORYAN AND ANAHIT HAYRAPETYAN
They have built roads and hospitals; schools and factories. And now, with the recent opening of Yerevan’s $35 million Cafesjian Center for the Arts, members of Armenia’s deep-pocketed Diaspora has moved into modern art.

Kazakhstan: Astana Hires DC Lobbyists to Work on Softening Aid Requirements
BY JOSHUA KUCERA
The government of Kazakhstan has hired a Washington lobbying firm to try to change regulations that require countries to make progress on human rights in order to receive US aid. Kazakhstani officials have indicated that they would prefer to not get the money at all, rather than be subjected to the "insulting" standards.

Turkmenistan: Students Slapped with Five-Year Travel Ban
Students prevented from studying at the American University of Central Asia (AUCA) in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, and later prohibited from traveling to the American University of Bulgaria, reportedly have been placed on a five-year travel blacklist, an opposition news site is reporting.

Armenia: Turkey Reconciliation Proves a Wait-and-See Process
BY MARIANNA GRIGORYAN
Armenia's stormy debate over reconciliation with Turkey has died down in the last two weeks as Armenian politicians circle their wagons, size up their opponents and wait for the Turkish parliament's own decision on ratification of the October 10 protocols to reestablish diplomatic ties between the two states.