In this week’s very packed episode of the CAPS Unlock podcast we cover a busy news week across two countries, and speak with a researcher whose work offers a fascinating lens on how Central Asian states construct national identity through their museums.
We begin with Kazakhstan, where citizens went to the polls to approve a new constitution, the country’s third since independence. With official figures showing turnout of around 73 percent and 87 percent support for the new document, we walk through the key changes: the merger of Kazakhstan’s two chambers of parliament into a single body called the Kurultai, the creation of a new vice-presidential role, and the establishment of a new advisory institution called the People’s Council. We also reflect on what the process itself revealed; the speed at which the new document was adopted, questions around independent observation, and the broader project of national myth-making that a new constitutional holiday on March 15 represents.
Then we turn to Kyrgyzstan, where what initially looked like a clean break between President Sadyr Japarov and his longtime ally and former security chief Kamchybek Tashiyev is becoming considerably more complicated. The state tax service has published an investigation on YouTube alleging that a network of companies connected to Tashiyev’s relatives systematically siphoned profits from the state oil company Kyrgyzneftegaz over five years, with losses estimated at over $45 million. Meanwhile, Tashiyev’s brother, Shairbek, has resigned from parliament (at least seven MPs linked to Tashiyev’s orbit have resigned their seats in recent weeks). We discuss what this escalation means for Kyrgyzstan’s political landscape and what it may portend for the future.
Finally, in our interview segment, we speak with Katarzyna Jarosz, a researcher and author of Museums in Central Asia and the Construction of National Narratives (Palgrave Macmillan, 2025). Katarzyna takes us through what museums in Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan and Tajikistan reveal about how these states understand, and curate, their own pasts, and offers practical tips for visitors on how to read a Central Asian museum.
Links:
Katarzyna Jarosz, Museums in Central Asia and the Construction of National Narratives (Palgrave Macmillan, 2025) — https://www.springerprofessional.de/en/museums-in-central-asia-and-the-construction-of-national-narrati/51409240
The State Tax Service of Kyrgyzstan YouTube investigation into Kyrgyzneftegaz -
