GELDY IS FREE!!! 

(image by Dan65 from Flickr!)

October 7, 2007 - Breaking News:
Geldy has been released and is with his family this morning!!
I will put up details when I get them!



Amrita (Akhal-Teke.cc) has passed along the information that Geldy was freed this morning! What welcome news. Amrita has been helping out with donations to the family, perhaps one more big one to help them get reestablished would be great.

Sara also wrote on the Yahoo Akhal-Teke groups list:

Geldy was released today and is back home with his family.
He has been in touch with Klimuk and reestablished ties. He intends to continue his work for the Akhal-Teke.
His health is adequate at the moment, and hopefully some good food and being with his family will improve it even more.
I am sure he would like to hear from his friends!!!!

I can't wait to hear the story and what Geldy's plans are going to be now!

Websites to check for updates include:
                www.geldy.co.uk
                Akhal-Teke.cc
                Stavropol-Teke.com
                Shael-Teke.com

And I still have the Breyer Akhal-Teke horse model that went to auction twice and both times people donated the money and didn't take the horse. So I will sell it once again and donate the money to Geldy again! E-mail me if you are interested.

Changes in Turkmenistan from Turkmenistan.ru:
                Turkmen president pardons 9 thousand people
                Turkmenistan changes heads of interior and national security ministries
                Turkmenistan holds human rights seminar under the aegis of UN
                NEW STEP IN HUMANISING THE TURKMEN SOCIETY

Amrita's updates 

August 7, 2007

Today a comission from KNB came to the stable. They said that are looking for the crime in our action of moving. they said that they want to count horses and also that they will confiscate horses and put Julia into a prison. They cairman of kolhoz(I do not know how to say it in English) where we took the new building is scared! The %u041ANB said that they want to know how we took that new place.

We are in shock! Please do something! Please let everyone know about this!

love Diana,

Julia is Geldy's wife, and Diana is her sister.
For those of you not familiar with "broken English", the caretaker where they are moving too is scared to have them as renters since they are "wanted". He may not want them as renters anymore!

If anyone has an idea on how to help these people please let me know!

July 2007

They are having trouble moving the horses, and building the new facility.

They have taken out a loan for the building, and need to pay back.

June 2007:

Dear all, We have an emergency situation. The stables have been destroyed, and they need to move the horses. They found a new place, but it was a pig farm, and so they have to make changes. They need money to transport the horses and make the changes. If you can send anything, that would be great.

Update on Geldy by Gill Suttle 

Posted on the Yahoo Akhal-Teke forum

The good news is that Geldy is definitely alive; the bad, only just.

Yulia has been able to see him. He is back in Chardzhou Prison, LBK-12. He is a walking skeleton, and they estimate his weight to be 40 - 50 Kg (88 - 110 lbs). He has been living on one bowl of tea and a kind of wheat with stones in it. "It is so bad that I cannot tell you."

At least we know that he is still alive, and that the message to send food and clothing wasn't just another ploy to shut the family up, as when the KNB told them last month that he had died.

*Please* keep up the pressure on anyone who might be able to help: Foreign Office, MP, MEP, etc. In the end is was governments, not NGOs, that managed to halt the demolition of the stables.

Diana ends by saying that only the support from his family and friends, the knowledge that we are all working to get him out of there, has enabled him to keep on living.

Kyzyl Akhal-Tekes

Saparmurat Niyazov 

Please support Geldy Kyarizov 

from www.geldy.co.uk

Five years ago, Geldy Kyarizov was at the height of his career. In the year of his fiftieth birthday, the Turkmen Horse Minister saw his home-bred stallion Yanar Dag, gifted to President Niazov of Turkmenistan along with five of his other horses, become the country's national symbol. Better, he had secured Turkmen Government funding for the project he had long been working on: the establishment of a large equestrian complex in the capital Ashgabat, complete with veterinary laboratory able to perform the DNA testing necessary to set up a new stud book for the Akhal-Teke, the golden horse of Central Asia.

Today, his dreams are in ruins. Following an internal dispute over the control of the millions of dollars earmarked for the new centre, he lies in prison, sentenced to six years on minor charges. He has had two heart attacks and a stroke. Six of his horses - confiscated by the state - have died of starvation and thirst.

International efforts, with the support of his family, have been mounted in order to secure his release but to date they have yet to achieve their aim, despite the president declaring amnesties for prisoners every year, and Geldy being eligible for parole since November 2004.

Please read this webpage!

Turkmenistan, a beautiful country & amazing history 

Please support Geldy Kyarizov, former Horse Minister of Turkmenistan 

www.geldy.co.uk

...
Geldy's family now live in poverty and fear, constantly harassed by personal threats. His horses are back on the family farm, but for how long? The family are to be evicted from their land and, as if to hound them out before the legal process was completed, their water supply was disconnected; to keep the horses alive, it has to be brought in by truck. The family appealed against eviction but were denied.

...

While Geldy and his family continue to face a life of fear and uncertainty, lack of money threatens their wellbeing and that of their horses, and sale of the horses is forbidden by the State. We have launched a fund to support them (more details at this website).

Meanwhile, the new equestrian complex has been opened. Geldy's dream, and his tremendous effort of work, have been realised without him, while others claim the credit.

Please read this webpage!

Ashgabat, Turkmenistan 

Human Rights among the Stalinist Relics of Turkmenistan: the Case of Geldy Kyarizov 

by Sandra de Blois, of Canada

...
Kyarizov's family members have been harassed and threatened on a regular basis. They were told they should worry for their lives and the safety of their children. Kyarizov's wife and two sisters-in-law have been unable to find work because of the repression against them. Kyarizov's herd of eighty extremely valuable Akhal Teke horses, some of the very best in the world, has been reduced to starvation. Many have already died. Recently, a new prison director was assigned at LBK-12. On September 23rd, Kyarizov's wife went to deliver food and medicine to her husband. The new prison director sexually harassed her and made it clear that she would neither see her husband nor be able to give him food and medicine unless she sleeps with him. Since then, her internet connection has been cut off.

Despite the tremendous hardship of the last three years, Kyarizov's wife and family have remained hopeful and extremely resourceful. They were determined not to let Geldy Kyarizov's precious horses die of starvation. They turned to the international Akhal Teke community for help. Within a short time, breeders and owners from around the world got organized and sent moneys to support the horses. Yulia and her family have been receiving money monthly which they use to buy hay. The horses went from being on the brink of starvation to being in good flesh by Turkmenistan standards. Yulia, Diana and their sister Yelena care for the horses daily and keep the premises clean and sanitary. This is by no means a small task for three women only.
...

Please read this webpage!

TURKMENISTAN - ATA WATAN 

About Geldy by: Alexander Klimuk, Zootechnician and stud manager of Stavropol Stud Farm. 

Translated from Russian by: Maria Marquise

Geldy Kyarizov, one of the most gifted Akhal-Teke horsebreeders of our times was born on 18 January 1951. From an early age, he used to spend all his free time at the hippodrome, as did many other young boys in Ashkhabad, absorbing the age-old traditions of the most ancient horsebreed in the world.

...

Geldy Kyarizov never focused narrowly on his own interests as a breeder. On the contrary, he gave extensive help to many Akhal-Teke stud farms and breeders. With his help Stavropol and Lugovskoi studs were able to use the dark-chestnut stallion Galkan (1985, Gerden-Alkeik), collective farm Dagestanskii used Polot (Sovkhoz- Sakharnaia), Lugovskoi stud, with Kyarizov's help, used Galmaz, Kerzi and Saklanma.

In 1998 Kyarizov became the General Director of the Turkmen state equestrian organisation "Turkmen Atlary". In his new job Kyarizov did everything to improve the situation within Turkmen horsebreeding, and to raise the profile of his country in the equestrian circles worldwide. As a result of Kyarizov's nomination, the president of Turkmenistan S.A. Niyazov who was elected the President of MAAK.

Geldy Kyarizov is indisputably one of the most respected and knowledgeable authorities on purebred Akhal-Teke in the world.

Read the entire article on Stavropol Stud's website

Turkmenbashi 

Latest Updates on Geldy and his family's situation 

from www.geldy.co.uk

...the Turkmen Helsinki Foundation, a Human Rights group, has received an eye-witness account of the massacre of 23 prisoners at Ovadan Depe Prison, which is the most likely location for Geldy if he is still alive. (See article http://www.turkishweekly.net/news.php?id=42170 ) This is so far unsubstantiated; Amnesty International are investigating.

...the government have begun to demolish Mr. Kyarizov's stud farm, and yesterday were pulling off the roof literally from around the horses. This was threatened last year, but the family secured written confirmation that they would not be evicted until they had been found alternative accommodation. Now this has been overruled by the KNB (former KGB).

Read more at Action for Geldy's Release,

Ashgabat, Turkmenistan 

Turkmenistan: Medical concern: Geldy Kyarizov 

February 1, 2007: Update on Geldy's situation!

Geldy Kyarizov is believed to be in extremely poor health and in urgent need of
medical treatment. He has been in prison for over five years, following a trial
that was not in line with international fair trial standards.

Geldy Kyarizov, former director of the Government Association Turkmenatlary
(Turkmen Horses) and an internationally renowned breeder of Akhalteke horses,
has been detained since 30 January 2002. He has suffered two heart attacks and
a stroke in detention and suffered from pneumonia. He has been denied
appropriate medical treatment for these conditions, which left him weak and
debilitated.

On 29 January 2007, Geldy Kyarizov's wife Yulia Serebryannik visited him in
Turkmenabad prison in the eastern Lebap region. After the visit, she told a
relative, "He is a skeleton with skin. His weight now [is] 45-50 kilograms. You
will never recognize him. He is like a walking dead body." Geldy Kyarizov is
reportedly severely malnourished and weak. .

Geldy Kyarizov's wife, a doctor, had previously brought him medication in
detention. However, his whereabouts were unknown between September 2006 and
January 2007, and his health has suffered as he has not received this
medication from the authorities. Geldy Kyarizov may be in grave danger if he
does not receive adequate treatment immediately.

....

Read the entire article!

...

Read more at Amnesty internationals document library.

Turkmenistan Oath 

Turkmenistan: Legendary Horses Look To Make Comeback 

By Julie A. Corwin, Radio Free Europe

ASHINGTON, 22 September 2006 (RFE/RL) -- Some experts will tell you the Ahal-Teke is the oldest horse breed in the world.

These tall, elegant animals reportedly caught the attention of early explorers -- like Marco Polo and Alexander the Great -- for their ability to cover long distances in the desert with little water.

Nearly a century and a half after their slaughter at Russian hands -- and following more than half a century of the erratic consequences of Soviet policies -- the future of the vaunted Ahal-Tekes looks like it could be decided not in its ancestral home in Turkmenistan, but in Russia.

...

"We have today three big names in Ahal-Teke breeding -- [in Stavropol] Aleksandr Klimuk; and we have an upcoming big breeder in the Moscow area, a Daghestani man called Leonid Babaev," she said. "In Turkmenistan, there was the former [head of the state association of horse farms, Turkmenatlar], Geldy Kyarizov, who breeds magnificent Ahal-Teke horses. And he is not breeding horses today due to 'problems.'"

Kyarizov was head of the Turkmenatlar horse farms in 2002 when he was arrested by the Turkmen secret police and sentenced to six years in jail for negligence and abuse of authority. Amnesty International notes that there are allegations that the charges against him were fabricated, and that the true reason for targeting him was that he fell out of favor with President Niyazov.

Water for the farm where about 90 of Kyarizov's horses are living was disconnected this July. The farm is the birthplace of Yanardag (Volcano), one of Kyarizov's champion Ahal-Teke stallions whose profile graces the national emblem of Turkmenistan.

Read the entire article!

Saparmurat Niyazov 

Leader's death leaves uncertain future 

By Natalia Antelava, BBC World News

Turkmenbashi, the self proclaimed leader of all Turkmens, was a dictator like no other.

The eccentricity of his rule, the golden statues he had built to himself and bizarre decrees he used to issue, have always succeeded at taking the world's attention away from the grim reality of Saparmurat Niyazov's Turkmenistan.

Now, with the main hero gone, reality is all there is left, and it does not seem as if anyone had been prepared to deal with it.

...

Mr Niyazov tolerated no dissent, allowed no freedom of thought and created one of the most elaborate personality cults the world has ever seen.

He had an absolute control not only over the country's massive gas deposits, but, he claimed, over the hearts and minds of people too.

The weirdness of his regime seemed to have no limit, logic is what it often seemed to lack.

He had built an ice palace in the middle of the desert, banned beards and ballet, shut down all rural hospitals and renamed months of the year after his family members. His book Rukhnama became the base of the country's education system.

But his real legacy maybe that of extreme poverty, and crumbling healthcare and education systems.

With his portraits on every corner, and no political institutions in place Turkmenbashi was all that held Turkmenistan together.

Read the entire article!

Made in Turkmenistan 

Turkoman Rugs on eBay 

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Netflix Movies 

001- An Inconvenient Truth

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Turkish Weekly Opinion 

Journal of Turkish Weekly (JTW) is an International Strategic Research Organization(http://www.isro.org.uk) publication.

Central Asia's Gas Giant: Turkmenistan
by Aynur Onur

14 January 2007

This commentary is from USAK's Energy Review Newsletter

Having an important geopolitical situation and rich natural resources, Turkmenistan is a country with a population of about 5,042,920 (June 2006 estimated) in a territory of 488,100km² and a gross national income per capita of about $1,700 in 2005, according to the estimates of international financial organizations.

Turkmenistan is one of the world's leading natural-gas producers, rank among the top ten with proven reserves of natural gas in the world and first among the Central Asian republics, yet faces challenges in transporting natural gas to world markets.

............

OSCE Must Seize Chance to Press Turkmenistan on Human Rights and Democracy

Friday , 12 January 2007

The OSCE must seize the opportunity to press Turkmenistan about its grave shortcomings as a democratic and law-governed state, as the country enters a new phase following President Niazov´s death, according to human rights organizations meeting in Vienna on 11 of January. A presidential election is to take place one month from today.

Visiting Turkmenistan 

Books about Turkmenistan 

Turkmenistan (Cultures of the World)

by: Marylee Knowlton

Amazon Price: $42.79 (as of 01/09/2009)

Unknown Sands

by: John Kropf

Amazon Price: (as of 01/09/2009)

The New Central Asia: The Creation of Nations

by: Olivier Roy

Amazon Price: (as of 01/09/2009)

Turkmenistan: The Bradt Travel Guide

by: Paul Brummell

Amazon Price: $19.46 (as of 01/09/2009)

Tradition and Society in Turkmenistan: Gender, Oral Culture and Song

by: Dr Ca Blackwell

Amazon Price: $149.99 (as of 01/09/2009)

Art in Turkmenistan 

City of Love

Amazon Price: (as of 01/09/2009)

Instrumental Music of Turkmenistan

Amazon Price: (as of 01/09/2009)

Studies in Persian Art and Architecture

by: Bernard O'Kane

Amazon Price: (as of 01/09/2009)

Arts and Crafts of Turkestan (Arts & Crafts)

by: Johannes Kalter

Amazon Price: (as of 01/09/2009)

Turkmenistan Nylon flag 6' x 10'

Amazon Price: $149.53 (as of 01/09/2009)

Turkoman Stuff on eBay 

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Turkomen stuff on eBay 

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Geldy on Del.icio.us! 

turkmenistan.ru 

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