And this week’s prize for healthy democratic debate goes to… Kazakhstan!
A Kazakh weekly newspaper is facing calls for its closure over a crossword clue critics say was insulting to the Kazakh nation, RFE/RL’s Kazakh Service reports.
The row is over a crossword in the May 26 issue of the Russian-language “Stepnoi Mayak” (Steppe Lighthouse) newspaper in the northern city of Kokshetau.
The offending clue asked, “Name the house of a Kazakh street bum.” The answer was given as “yurt,” the traditional home of the nomadic peoples of Eurasia, including Kazakhs.
The crossword sparked a series of protests in Kokshetau and other Kazakh cities.
The chairman of the Bolashaq (Future) movement, Dauren Babamurat, told RFE/RL that the newspaper should be closed as it compared Kazakhs with street bums. Babamurat added that such a harsh punishment would be a lesson for other newspapers in Russian in Kazakhstan.
