Qishloq Ovozi (Archive)

It appears there is a new contender in Central Asia seeking to establish the region’s first dynasty in more than 100 years.

The idea has not enjoyed much success in recent decades but that hasn’t stopped practically all the leaders from attempting the feat anyway.

The latest leader who seems to be jockeying for a dynasty is Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov. The former dentist, virtually unknown to the Turkmen people prior to being named leader after the death of his predecessor in late 2006, has come a long way since his timid early days as Turkmenistan’s president.

Now Berdymukhammedov is throwing his grandson under the spotlight.

First, a bit of background. April 26 was the Day of the Horse in Turkmenistan.

Before the Russians conquered the area some 130 years ago, the Turkmen of the southeastern Caspian region were desert nomads, often plunderers, whose great advantage on their home territory was their horsemanship. They were master riders and the horse native to area -- the Akhal Teke -- is legendary, so much so that Chinese history records the efforts of Chinese emperors to secure some of these horses more than 2,000 years ago. Turkmen today still have great respect for horses; it’s part of their culture.

President Berdymukhammedov is an avid equestrian. Even being thrown from his horse in public a few years back has not caused his passion to wane.

However, at this year’s celebrations it was not the president, but rather his grandson Kerimguly, who was the center of attention. State television aired footage of Kerimguly riding around the Ashgabat horse-track.

(WATCH: Kerimguly riding a horse)

“I am a sixth-grade student of school #43 in Ashgabat,” he told reporters. “I’m 12 years old,” he continued. “We [Kerimguly and the president] go together to see horses, that’s where my grandfather taught me to race horses.”

And of course, Kerimguly won the race shown on state television and has been shown with his grandfather at other public events recently.

(WATCH: Presidential grandson plays piano)

It could be just a cute story of a grandfather and his grandson, but this is Turkmenistan and things like this happen for a reason. RFE/RL’s Turkmen Service, known locally as Azatlyk, was told by sources inside Turkmenistan that before classes started in Ashgabat schools on April 27, all the students were called to an assembly. Teachers reportedly retold the story of Kerimguly’s great victory at the horse race and praised the grandson’s mastery on horseback.

Students were reportedly told to learn from Kerimguly and look upon him as a role model.

A similar process in under way in Tajikistan where President Emomali Rahmon’s 28-year-old son Rustam Emomali has been working his way up the government ladder. Since late 2013 Rustam Emomali has been deputy head and head of Tajikistan's Customs Service, and since March this year he is the director of the state agency for financial control and combating corruption.

The leaders in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, both of whom have daughters, seem to have at least pondered a leadership role for their eldest children. But in both cases their eldest daughters’ personal lives have caused scandals and prevented them from rising to the top spot.

But the best example of the perils of trying to set up a dynasty in Central Asia comes from Kyrgyzstan. Former President Askar Akaev seemed reluctant to leave office at the beginning of 2005. Two of his children -- Bermet and Aidar -- ran in the 2005 parliamentary elections, which got off to a bad start when one of the candidates from Bermet's voting district was disqualified on dubious grounds.

That candidate was Roza Otunbaeva who would later become Kyrgyzstan’s president. In 2005, having already served as the country’s foreign minister and after working for the United Nations, she was running for a seat in parliament.

Bermet and Aidar won seats but their father was chased from office during widespread unrest caused by the clearly unfair conduct of the elections. None of them have lived in Kyrgyzstan for a decade now.

Akaev’s successor Kurmanbek Bakiev started concentrating more power into his hands and in late 2009 appointed his then 32-year-old son Maksim to be director of the newly created agency for development, investment, and innovation, an organization that was effectively in charge of the country’s finances. Maksim also appeared to be destined for higher posts in the Kyrgyz government but foolishly decided to misuse and embezzle funds from a Russian loan.

The Kremlin unleashed its media on the Bakievs, a precursor of what would happen in Ukraine in 2014, and the Bakiev family was forced to flee the country amid growing popular unrest in April 2010. They also never returned.

Kyrgyzstan and Turkmenistan are at opposite ends of the Central Asian political spectrum. Turkmenistan has been compared to North Korea, so it's possible a dynasty would have its best chance to take root. But it has been a long time since emirs and khans held power in Central Asia and the era of family rule might have gone with them.

-- Bruce Pannier. RFE/RL’s Turkmen Service Director Muhammad Tahir contributed to this report.

Once again Qishloq Ovozi is graced by the work of Matt Kupfer.

Here, Kupfer looks at the strong reaction of people in Kazakhstan, and further afield, to the brutal beating of a young man in the Kazakh capital:

April 26 was Election Day in Kazakhstan, but another event has electrified the Kazakh public and potentially overshadowed the predictable presidential race: the brutal, near-fatal assault on a young man in Astana.

The story began on April 24, when Astana resident Nurlan Zhumagulov published a post on Facebook requesting urgent help from the public to bring a criminal to justice.

Three days earlier, he wrote, his son Alibi had been invited to a friendly meeting with well-known Astana restaurateur and businessman Kairat Zhamaliev. However, upon arriving at Zhamaliev's apartment, Alibi Zhumagulov discovered that the businessman's intentions were far from friendly. Zhamaliev purportedly demanded that Zhumagulov break off relations with his girlfriend, who had previously dated Zhamaliev. When he declined, the father wrote, Zhamaliev and two of his associates proceeded to subject Zhumagulov to a vicious, drawn-out beating.

The three men reportedly pummeled and strangled Zhumagulov, cut off his ear with a broken bottle, tore his cheek, and jumped on his head, leaving him with a traumatic brain injury. Zhamaliev also reportedly threatened to kill Zhumagulov's father and younger sister and, using a mobile phone, forced Zhumagulov to confess on camera to a series of murders he didn't commit in order to blackmail his family.

Finally, after four hours of torturing Zhumagulov, the three men allegedly deposited him semi-conscious in the street and took his car. Alibi Zhumagulov survived and was eventually brought to the hospital, but that was hardly the end of the story.

After his family pressed charges against Zhamaliev, police placed the businessman under three-day arrest on April 24. But, according to Nurlan Zhumagulov, the police investigators admitted that they were under pressure to release Zhamaliev on bail after three days, even though Alibi Zhumagulov's possessions and blood had reportedly been found in the businessman's apartment. Nurlan Zhumagulov also said he received a phone call from a high-placed government official asking to meet to discuss the situation, but he declined.

"I ask all people who are not apathetic, everyone who has children they love, please spread my message, do not let this monster freely parade around our city!" the elder Zhumagulov wrote, concluding his Facebook post. "While he is at liberty, no one can sleep peacefully."

Alibi Zhumagulov's brutal assault could easily have become just another crime committed in the Kazakh capital -- shocking to those who know about it, but not particularly noteworthy to most people. But Nurlan Zhumagulov's post and disturbing images of his son's disfigured face have galvanized the Kazakhstanis around the world. It is difficult to gauge public response to the Facebook post, as the elder Zhumagulov has now deactivated his profile. However, according to Google's cache of the page, Nurlan Zhumagulov's message was shared over 6,900 times within 10 hours of being published. It also received nearly 1,450 likes and countless comments.

Most, importantly, it appears to have achieved its desired result: the Kazakhstani public has proven to be anything but apathetic to Alibi Zhumagulov's plight, and the authorities are responding.

On Twitter and Instagram, Kazakhstanis used the hashtag #ЖивиАлиби (#LiveAlibi) to express their sympathy and support for Zhumagulov, share images of his brutalized face and what appears to be the blackmail video allegedly recorded by Zhamaliev, and call for justice. Someone even set up a special Instagram account to share images and news related to Zhumagulov's beating. Celebrities in Kazakhstan and even Russia have also joined in expressing support for Zhumagulov, and the famous Russian TV presenter Lera Kudryavtseva stated in social media that she had passed Zhumagulov's story on to Andrei Malakhov, host of the iconic Russian primetime talk show Pust Govoryat (Let Them Speak).

Kazakhstanis have also called on their countrymen to boycott restaurants and businesses belonging to Kairat Zhamaliev, and one of Zhamaliev's business partners reportedly has broken off cooperation with the businessman and his enterprises.

Most significantly, an Astana court extended Zhamaliev's arrest for two months and the criminal case has been placed under the control of Kazakhstan's general procurator and minister of internal affairs. One of alleged accomplices to Zhumagulov's beating has also been arrested, and police are currently searching for a second.

The public response to Alibi Zhumagulov's vicious beating highlights the increasing importance of social media as a force for public good in Central Asia. Countries like Kazakhstan suffer from endemic corruption and authoritarian leadership. Money and connections often prove much stronger than the rule of law. Yet the leaders of these countries are also dependent on public support, as evidenced by President Nursultan Nazarbaev's decision to hold early elections this month, rather than in 2016. By joining together in support of Alibi Zhumagulov, the Kazakhstani public has guaranteed him at greater degree of justice than he would have otherwise have received.

Yet, this public drive for justice also represents a potential threat to Kazakhstan. When justice is dependant on public support, it is far from impartial. Kazakhstan's Internet users have posted a photo depicting Zhamaliev in prison stripes and chains and have labeled Ainur Isina, the woman who was reportedly the motivation for the attack on Zhumagulov, a "whore" and expressed a desire for her to die. When Isina later revealed in an interview that she has a son with Zhamaliev, claimed to be his wife, and advanced a difficult-to-believe alternate narrative that presented Zhumagulov as safely visiting and leaving Zhamaliev's residence with two police officers, the news provoked significant discussion online. The increasing complexity of the case and the rising public anger against Zhamaliev and Isina reveal the danger of leaving justice up to public passions. No one has yet gone to court for Zhumagulov's beating, but the public has already determined who is guilty. While the evidence against Zhamaliev seems quite strong, this is still bad news for impartial justice.

The extraordinary public resonance #ЖивиАлиби is a victory for the Zhumagulov family, but the corruption and failure of the judicial system that it highlights is undoubtedly a loss for all of Kazakhstan.

-- Matthew Kupfer is a writer focusing on Central Asia, Russia, Ukraine, and the former Soviet Union. His work has been published in EurasiaNet.org, the Moscow Times, Eurasia Outlook, and Registan.net. Previously a Junior Fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, he is currently pursuing an M.A. in Russia, East Europe, and Central Asia regional studies at Harvard University. The views expressed in this blog are his own. You can follow Matthew on Twitter (@Matthew_Kupfer)