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Majlis Podcast: Untangling Why Thousands Of Central Asians Joined Islamic State


Thousands of Central Asians are believed to have traveled to Iraq and Syria to fight alongside extremist groups, such as Islamic State. (illustrative photo)
Thousands of Central Asians are believed to have traveled to Iraq and Syria to fight alongside extremist groups, such as Islamic State. (illustrative photo)

RFE/RL has just released a 10-part documentary film called Not In Our Name, which looks at some of the people from Central Asia who went to Syria and Iraq to join extremist groups there.

The series investigates where in Central Asia these people came from and delves into the reasons why they left home and eventually ended up in a conflict far away.

Not In Our Name: The Trailer
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RFE/RL's media-relations manager, Muhammad Tahir, moderated a discussion on Not In Our Name and some of the revelations that the series brought to light.

Joining the talk were two of the people involved in the project: Asel Muzakulova, who was a deputy editor and producer of the part of the series filmed in Kyrgyzstan; and Serik Beisembayev from Kazakhstan who is a sociologist and was also a project moderator.

As usual, I had some things to say as well.

Majlis Podcast: Untangling Why Thousands Of Central Asians Joined Islamic State
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Listen to the podcast above or subscribe to the Majlis on iTunes.

About This Blog

Qishloq Ovozi is a blog by RFE/RL Central Asia specialist Bruce Pannier that aims to look at the events that are shaping Central Asia and its respective countries, connect the dots to shed light on why those processes are occurring, and identify the agents of change.​

The name means "Village Voice" in Uzbek. But don't be fooled, Qishloq Ovozi is about all of Central Asia.

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