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With the tenth anniversary of his flight from the authorities in his homeland of Kazakhstan fast approaching, the raft of transnational court cases involving fugitive embezzler Mukhtar Ablyazov show no sign of abating. In a global saga which stretches from an institutional aversion to tackling kleptocracy in the United Kingdom to United States President Donald Trump's shady business partners, the murky world of Mukhtar Ablyazov even led his family to make a pit stop in the Central African Republic to pick up diplomatic passports. Yet despite having judgements against him totalling $4.9 billion in the British courts alone, almost six years since he fled from the UK to avoid three concurrent 22-month sentences for contempt of court, Ablyazov remains a free man. So who is this criminal mastermind, a man found to have committed 'fraud on an epic scale' in the UK and sentenced in absentia in his homeland of having ordered the assassination of his erstwhile business partner? A country boy turned kleptocrat, current estimates as to the total amount embezzled by Ablyazov stand at in excess of $10 billion, yet from his villa in France, Ablyazov continues to bemoan his plight to be a simple case of 'political persecution.' This is an argument supported by parties such as the NGO, the Open Dialog Foundation, whose activities, a report from a conference held in the European Parliament in November 2017 found, are funded by companies 'flagged and sanctioned by the West.'

Everyone loves fairy tales, both adults and children, and in this book each person will find something both attractive and instructive. In this volume, the heroes of these fairy tales: a wounded dove which refuses to surrender, a tricky monkey called Cutie, an old-time doll named Alyonushka, a naive lamb, a young wolf which does not want to grow bloodthirsty, and other animals will tell their stories to you, my friends and readers.

Elish is a small boy who lives in a small village, a boy who prefers not to socialise, a boy who's a little scared and clumsy, one that sits alone in a shed… wickering? For him, that is his only true talent and passion, the only thing that really matters. It all changes when Elish meets the Rider, a strong warrior from a distant land. After the Rider learns of Elish's talents, he sets off with a new wickered bridle to discuss important matters with the King. The Rider learns of a great threat lurking in the far north… The Dark Wizard, a man who's said to be imprisoning the creative people of his land, where they stay for life and are made to look for a stone. But why a stone? Is something no one can answer. Vashag, the Rider, sets out on a quest to make peace with the Wizard and perhaps also learn of his dark truth. However a couple months have passed and not a sighting or word has been heard from Vashag, people are beginning to fear the worst... Whilst trouble is steering, not all have realised the dangers that are coming, and during a great festival the King holds a competition for the best saddle. Elish hesitantly agrees and after arriving to the city, impresses the King with his excellent wickerwork. Whilst they enjoy a great feast, Babir, Vashag's brother and warden of the land, interrupts the dining and speaks of a wickered bridle he found, belonging to Vashag. People are scared and suggest Elish has something that Vashag needs. Thus with an unwilling purpose and Babir by his side. Elish sets out on an adventure that has him trembling, one to save Vashag and put an end to the Dark Wizard's devious deeds.

The Land Drenched in Tears is a moving history of the tumultuous years of modern China under Mao's rule, witnessed, experienced, and told through the personal lens of an ethnic minority woman, who endured nearly 20 years imprisonment and surveillance regime as a result of her political activism in Xinjiang, or East Turkistan, located in the far west of China.Writing her autobiography as an extraordinary melange of diary and memoir, which oscillates between first-hand narrative and flashback, the author, Söyüngül Chanisheff, traces her unfortunate youth from her university years, when she founded the East Turkistan People's Party as a result of her anger and frustration with communist China's devastating mishandling of the socio-economic life of the people of her native land, through her subsequent imprisonment in China's notorious labour camps as well as under the surveillance regime, to her emigration to Australia.Chanisheff's autobiography is a rare, detailed, and authentic account of one of the most poignant and most fascinating periods of modern China. It is a microcosmic reflection of the communist regime's tragic realities presented through the suffering and hope of a young woman who tied her fate to that of her beloved homeland.

Poetical compositions and "Words of Edification" of the great Abai Kunanbaev for more than two centuries have been the guides of intellectual enrichment for Kazakh people and the whole of humanity. By this reference in the conditions of globalization and new challenges in the XXI century the author offers to readers his own 15 considerations, appealing congeners to look at the world from a new angle, to give a push for innovation, to make a socially economic analysis of the civilization development perspective. Abai's learning is used for the purpose of future humane society building attempts and its moral codices in the XXI century. The author exercises daring judgements, gives deeply conscious offerings and gives examples of values, which can inspire our country to go forward. At the same time the book contains projects and ways for the peoples' right choice for its future.There are also given the brief information about historical figures, which made a tremendous contribution to the historical development of the Turk-Speaking nations, Kazakh people and the wider civilization.The book offers three mega-projects: «Panorama of history of the Turk peoples», «The concept of human survival strategy in the XXI century», «The national idea of spiritual rebirth of Turkestan».The book is intended for a wide audience of readers, espe-cially youth and for those who are not indifferent to the future of human civilization. The author hopes that his book will make a fair share of contribution in Kazakhstan's entering the list of developed democratic states of the world in perspective

In this collection of Mini-Sagas and poems, Parry narrates the final journey taken by his alter ego Caliban from the surreal delights of a lesbian wedding in Liverpool, all the way back to a non-existent city of London.

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. An insightful mix of travel, history and reportage, in Does it Yurt? journalist Stephen M. Bland takes the reader on a voyage of discovery. Travelling to a desert sea, a collapsed Russian gas rig daubed the 'Gate to Hell' and along the 'Heroin highway' atop the roof of the world, the author sets out to explore these lands, unearthing the stories of the people and places behind this fascinating region. Written sharply, vividly… If you're looking for an antidote to chirpy travel-guide descriptions of Central Asia, then this is the book for you.' - Sam Tranum, author of Daily Life in Turkmenbashy's Golden Age. 'Packed with insights into every corner of the region.' - Paul Wilson, Trailblazer Guides writer and author of The Alphabet Game. 'Weaves together my favourite elements of a travelogue: historical context and current observations mixed with a dry sense of humour and amusing anecdotes... Does it Yurt? will result in my journey to Central Asia being that much more rewarding.' - Ric Gazarian, author of 7000KM To Go and Hit the Road India; top 500 travel blogger. 'Stephen M. Bland's writing captures the magical whirlwind flavour of Central Asia in this very perceptive and insightful book. Those who have visited this wonderful part of the world will instantly recognise and reminisce on the many stories of potholed journeys by shared taxi, generous encounters with friendly locals and the inevitable run-ins with bumbling bureaucracy. Those who haven't yet visited will be inspired to book their next adventure as soon as they can put the book down. A thrilling ride from start to finish.' - Nick Rowan, author of Friendly Steppes: A Silk Road Journey 'Deserves to be shared among friends, as well as having a designated place on your shelves. Stephen M. Bland succeeds in bringing the region alive, and his story is an interesting and hard-to-decline invitation to join in his travels.' - Eugenette Morin, writer

Through her childhood reminiscences, Zinaida Longortova brings to life a remote region in far-northern Russia. Extrapolating the folklore and mythology of the Khanty people from her experiences - set around the simple story of a wounded elk calf - the author explores the bonds between humans and nature. Yet whilst this is a novella about a little known indigenous group, the narrative succeeds in harnessing powerful emotions which speak to us all. A timeless story, at once both joyful and melancholy, Blue River is a beguiling tale for all age groups.

In this first ever collection of Sakha poems in our English language, the highly talented poet Natalia Kharlampieva weaves openly neo-Impressionistic threads of common heritage, communal faith and shared ethnicity, into an overall tapestry of cultural optimism. Indeed, to Kharlampieva's mind, the unique significance played by independent women (willing to endure every hardship) in these restorative endeavours clearly signals the spiritual strength of Central Asia. A lesson, moreover, she obliquely suggests the West itself still needs to learn. Of course, in Kharlampieva's case, these powerful declamations are set against the grinding impact of icy expanses on Sakha psyches. And as such, Kharlampieva invites the readers of Foremother Asia into a hardy, but delicate world: a narratorial sphere characterised by the need to survive against all odds. Indeed, once her reader's grasp that the capital city of the Sakha Republic is located a mere 450 kilometres south of the Arctic Circle, they will begin to accept the insights of this crisp and original volume as a singular contribution to Global Text. Unanimously applauded as an impassioned book revealing the delights of a recovered national identity, Kharlampieva also captures Natures savage beauty, as well as the harsh existential truths of life in the far North.QUOTES:While in Yakutia, a local legend mesmerized me: afiery Viking warrior sailed up the Lena river to the land of permafrost and melted the heart of an indigenous woman. Their child was the first Yakut; her voice echoes through the ages in Foremother Asia, leaving no one untouched. Sölvi Fannar Viðarsson, actor, poet, author of A Poet Trapped in a Caveman's Body and Quis Custodiet Ipsos Custodes? Iceland "Whether she writes about love, about friendship, about the fate of her people, or of the entirety of Russia, her words (as if in her hands), hold life. She saves it from a lack of spirituality, hatred, disintegration and chaos, as well as self-destruction ... Happy and rich is the ethnic group that has such people."Sergei Glovyuk, member of the Union of Writers of Russia, Honorable Member of the Union of Writers of Macedonia, Serbia, and Montenegro Poems by Natalia Kharlampieva are like a fine rain falling onto the ground, whereon it becomes water giving life to germinating seeds of kindness, forgiveness, understanding and love ….. "in any country, in any century ..." Lenifer Mambetova, Poet and winner of the best female work OEBF-2014 Republic of Crimea

The hands of our ancestors are ever active. Weaving, as they do, their signs and marks into everything manifest. Hardly a surprise, on reflection, since the departed have always heavily outnumbered those presently surrounding us. Yet, realizing the unending power of our forebears may shock unwary observers, while openly unsettling the faint of heart. After all, ancestral influences can take challengingly repellent, unrepentantly grotesque, or even divinely aesthetic expression. All meaning, on the level of the Global Text, poets usually fall into a necessary burlesque when such spectres appear in verse. Or, contrarily, feel compelled to adopt an overly tragic attitude in order to ward-off their threatening atmospheres. Be either of these errors as they may, the secret power of ancestry is still found in the unlimited semiosis it incarnates in our own lives. A process referentially labelling, as well as cleverly inducing, creative identity. Indeed, not to admit these traditional benefits as an honest (but nevertheless scripted) engagement with ourselves remains the real problem. Although flatly denying literary significations of this kind is cultural blindness to say the very least. Themes, so stated, clearly explored in my own work and unexpectedly shared by the remarkable poetess Lenifer Mambetova. In which case, introducing My Homeland, Oh My Crimea in its first English edition is not simply an honour, but also a reminder of our common humanity. Moreover, as the first Crimean-Tartar poetry collection ever published in the English-speaking world, it is an extremely rare privilege. Certainly, Lennifer's terse and highly evocative style will delight her new readerships. Reminding them through politicized image and lamenting symbol that writer's "learn" prose, although they "express" poetry. The latter being an act of healing, along with the possibility of genuine transcendence.

Sima Omid, a British-Iranian anthropologist in search of her Turkic roots, takes on a university teaching post in Kyrgyzstan. It is the year following 9/11, when the US is asserting its influence in the region. Disillusioned with her long-standing relationship, Sima is looking for a new man in her life. But the foreign men she meets are mostly involved in relationships with local women half their age, and the Central Asian men she finds highly male chauvinist and aggressive towards women. Soon after her arrival, one of her students is kidnapped for marriage and is killed in an attempt to escape. When she questions the girl's sister and her friend, they respond, "What can we do. It's our culture". This impels her to pursue a research journey to far corners of the country, gaining shocking insight. Sima also explores the spread of radical Islam in the country, meeting with fundamentalist women and attending indoctrination meetings at the mosques. These reveal disturbing aspects of Islamisation in Kyrgyzstan and many of the modern issues that concern the disaffected religious youth of today. More generally, her observations illuminate different lives and cultures in Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan, in particular the position of women and gender relations. A scintillating story of love, adventure and cultural discoveries set in the heart of Central Asia. This is a unique book covering a range of subjects, including the often-neglected historical connection between Iranian civilisation and Central Asia. - Nick Rowan, editor-in-chief, Open Central Asia magazine A beautifully crafted and compelling read, the story is multi-layered and peppered with fascinating insights into the traditions, legends and history of this hidden part of the world. - Laura Hamilton, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow