Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Central Asia/Archive 2

message: Hey all --- I'm working on expanding Sarikoli language. One thing I'm doing is copying parts of a table comparing vocabulary from five Iranian languages out of a Chinese book I'm using as a reference. Unfortunately, the whole original table is written only in IPA, so I'm adding the indigeneous orthographies as well; however, I don't really know Tajik, so what I've written there are just wild guesses. Can someone check back every so often and correct my spelling for me as I update the table (or recommend a good online dictionary)?
Also, a technical question: I guess this table will also be useful at Shughni language and Wakhi language as well --- what's the best way to put the table at one location so that it can be easily included into other articles as desired? Thanks! cab 07:16, 6 October 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  Tajik spellcheck request 

message: I think this WikiProject should also add Azerbaijan to the list, first of because Azerbaijani people are considered to be Turkic people thus there are countless of cultural and historical facts that include Azerbaijan partly as Central Asia. Sometimes Azerbaijan is included in Asia (CIA for example) other times in Europe, I think its both. Azerbaijan so far has a featured article, that might help. Please consider this suggestion. Baku87 21:08, 9 October 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: I don't think so.  Azerbaijan is usually considered to be part of Western Asia, not Central Asia. Just because it is a Turkic state does not automatically make it part of Central Asia. -- Clevelander 21:41, 9 October 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: Additionally, Azerbaijan has its own (very well organized) wikiproject at WikiProject Azerbaijan. Aelfthrytha 15:36, 12 October 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  Azerbaijan 

message: For many of the cities of Uzbekistan, the Uzbeki spelling is used, instead of the spelling which is common in english texts. For example, Buxoro Province is chosen as the main title while Bukhara is the common spelling in English texts . The same is true for Toshkent Province (Tashkent Province), Xorazm Province (Kharazm or Khwarazm), Surxondaryo Province (Surkhandarya Province). These pages should move to the titles which are commonly used in English texts.  Jahangard 00:30, 10 October 2006 (UTC)
thread_title: Names of cities and provinces of Uzbekistan

message: Look - we got a mention on Registan.net's Central Asia blog. Hoping to see some new contributors around here soon! Aelfthrytha 02:53, 12 October 2006 (UTC)
thread_title: Publicity

message: Hello. The WikiProject Council has recently updated the Wikipedia:WikiProject Council/Directory.  This new directory includes a variety of categories and subcategories which will, with luck, potentially draw new members to the projects who are interested in those specific subjects. Please review the directory and make any changes to the entries for your project that you see fit. There is also a directory of portals, at User:B2T2/Portal, listing all the existing portals. Feel free to add any of them to the portals or comments section of your entries in the directory. The three columns regarding assessment, peer review, and collaboration are included in the directory for both the use of the projects themselves and for that of others. Having such departments will allow a project to more quickly and easily identify its most important articles and its articles in greatest need of improvement. If you have not already done so, please consider whether your project would benefit from having departments which deal in these matters. It is my hope that all the changes to the directory can be finished by the first of next month. Please feel free to make any changes you see fit to the entries for your project before then. If you should have any questions regarding this matter, please do not hesitate to contact me. Thank you.  B2T2 15:07, 25 October 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  Project directory 

message: I'm in the process of creating categories for images pertaining to each Central Asian country. They will be added to the relevant country category and to :Category:Images by country. Hopefully this will prove a useful tool for article building and uploading images. Aelfthrytha 16:36, 31 October 2006 (UTC)
thread_title: Photographs

message: This article Tajikistan National Museum is...well, I don't know what it is but it's definitely not English. Can someone check it out? Aelfthrytha 17:33, 31 October 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: My Russian isn't fabulous but from the way I'm reading it it looks like something that's been cut & pasted from something official, which might create copyright issues. Either way it shouldn't be on the English wiki so I'm removing it. If someone with better Russian than me would like to translate/rewrite the text feel free to grab it from the article history. -- Hux 14:43, 1 November 2006 (UTC)
thread_title: HELP!

message: Template:Provinces and regions of Tajikistan is a little messed up - I don't know how to fix templates. Could someone post a link here on how to re-tool them, or go check into it? Aelfthrytha 09:10, 4 November 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  Fixing a Template 

message: Can anyone direct me towards a website where I can download installable Tajik fonts for Internet Explorer? Thanks.––David Straub 13:23, 4 November 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: You can download it from here. However, in Internet Explorer, the six special Tajiki Characters (ӯ ӣ ҷ ҳ қ ғ) may not be seen properly. It's better to use Firefox. Jahangard 18:48, 4 November 2006 (UTC)
replies: text:  Thanks a lot --David Straub 02:15, 5 November 2006 (UTC)
thread_title: Tajik Fonts

message: Hi all.
I'm currently trying to improve the biographies of Kyrgyz politicians. I'm pretty new to this, so please let me know if I'm breaking any of the guidelines. And add any more information you have on these people, of course! Danohuiginn 14:04, 10 November 2006 (UTC)
thread_title: Kyrgyz Politicians

message: I was wondering if there are enough interested users to start one of these two projects. Jahangard 19:31, 10 November 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: There really is no point in starting a new Wikiproject on Tajikistan. There simply is not enough users to justify creating a separate one. KazakhPol 01:39, 12 November 2006 (UTC)

text: I wish there were enough people, but I had a lot of trouble finding users interested in or knowledgeable about Tajikistan. I'm interested in working on it, but through this project. Aelfthrytha 03:37, 12 November 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: Perhaps a workgroup within this Project, like they have for WPMILHIST. Chris 18:52, 22 December 2006 (UTC)

text: I came here because I was looking for a wikiproject on Afghanistan.  If there were one, I would join it. MLA 11:22, 29 January 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Both ideas need to be posted at Wikipedia:WikiProject Council/Proposals. Chris 22:09, 29 January 2007 (UTC)

text: Not if one editor decides to jump start it and make it happen anyway.  I've not joined the project that has been set up. MLA 17:13, 13 February 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: [[Wikipedia:WikiProject Afghanistan]] and [[Wikipedia:WikiProject Tajikistan]]

message: If anyone comes across any links or events connected to Terrorism in Central Asia please take the liberty of editing my userpage and adding them to the (already somewhat lengthy) list of links to review. I am planning on starting pages on "Terrorism in X country" for all of the Central Asian countries. KazakhPol 04:21, 15 November 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: How about changing "Terrorism" to "Political violence" ? Terrorism is a word to avoid where possible. - Francis Tyers · 08:52, 15 November 2006 (UTC)
thread_title: Terrorism

message: Will be happy to help anyone interested in documents stored in the Kazakhstan Academy of Science Library. I don't know if I will be permitted to the depository of ancient documents, but we can see. I have extensive training in Kazakh history; wanted to become a historian, so if you have some specific history question, I might be able to answer or locate a source & provide a citation.
Firefox24 22:28, 14 December 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: Do you have any more specific areas you would be interesting in assisting with to help us narrow it down? Aelfthrytha 16:19, 22 December 2006 (UTC)
thread_title: Kazakhstan Academy of Sciences Library

message: Could people keep an eye out for the edits of ? This user's recent unsourced edits have removed content from articles relating to the Mongol invasion of Europea and downplayed Mongol successes and tactics. These edits are contrary to the scholarship that I am aware of. Olessi 16:39, 24 December 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  220.101.124.134 

message: Sorry if I did not discuss that change earlier, but I thought it was a small change and it made perfect sense to me. My reasoning is that the picture of the men riding on donkey is of hardly no significance to Central Asian culture or people. The picture of the Buzkashi game however is of great importance to Central Asian culture and so to me it as an obvious change, and so the 'men riding donkeys' picture should be replaced with this one. Parsiwan 05:11, 25 December 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: Thanks for posting - I suspected this was your reasoning and I was ready to agree with you, but earlier changes like this were all discussed here - see the archives. Aelfthrytha 16:41, 25 December 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  The "men riding on donkeys" picture should be replaced with this one: 

message: History of Central Asia has been nominated for a featured article review. Articles are typically reviewed for two weeks. Please leave your comments and help us to return the article to featured quality. If concerns are not addressed during the review period, articles are moved onto the Featured Article Removal Candidates list for a further period, where editors may declare "Keep" or "Remove" the article from featured status. The instructions for the review process are here. Reviewers' concerns are here.
Sandy (Talk) 23:34, 27 December 2006 (UTC)
thread_title: History of Central Asia FAR

message: Hello, all. It was initially my hope to try to have this done as part of Esperanza's proposal for an appreciation week to end on Wikipedia Day, January 15. However, several people have once again proposed the entirety of Esperanza for deletion, so that might not work. It was the intention of the Appreciation Week proposal to set aside a given time when the various individuals who have made significant, valuable contributions to the encyclopedia would be recognized and honored. I believe that, with some effort, this could still be done. My proposal is to, with luck, try to organize the various WikiProjects and other entities of wikipedia to take part in a larger celebrartion of its contributors to take place in January, probably beginning January 15, 2007. I have created yet another new subpage for myself (a weakness of mine, I'm afraid) at User talk:Badbilltucker/Appreciation Week where I would greatly appreciate any indications from the members of this project as to whether and how they might be willing and/or able to assist in recognizing the contributions of our editors. Thank you for your attention. Badbilltucker 20:31, 29 December 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  Wikipedia Day Awards 

message: Hello my name is Fatih Mehmet Kaya and I'm from Turkey. I know nine Turkic languages. How can I do for you? Central Asia is important.--F.Mehmet 11:44, 20 January 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  new participant 

message: Hello fellas. Where I can announce new articles related to Central Asia? Thanks. - Darwinek 15:08, 22 January 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Right here would be fine by me! Aelfthrytha 04:30, 25 January 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: OK then. :) I have recently created Kara Darya and Lake Kamyslybas. - Darwinek 10:38, 25 January 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: I have moved it to the front page, common for most WikiProjects. Chris 22:26, 25 January 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  New articles 

message: hi guys, i'm currently working on the Asian Games pages and i noticed that one of the templates used in the asian games-related topic does not have any Central Asian Games articles, so included it in the template and i created these stubs: Central Asian Games and 1995 Central Asian Games. please help improve these articles by expanding it. and also if anyone would like to adopt central asian sports-related articles would be very much appreaciated. thanks and more power. --RebSkii 17:43, 22 January 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Central Asian Games 

message: It's up for featured article and the voting has been sparse. Thanks and be brutally honest. Tombseye 04:35, 1 February 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: Hey can people vote on the [[Pashtuns]]?

message: Kindly contribute to this article when you get time, and request others too.
Thanks
Atulsnischal 13:28, 13 February 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: [[Wildlife of Afghanistan]]

message: I'm looking for expert input on this proposal. Any takers? It's a rather exotic language, but there's a lot of historic (and other) material based on it. --Latebird 12:36, 17 February 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Proposal: [[Wikipedia:Romanization_of_Mongolian]] 

message: There is a growing need to work on a standard of transliteration. Everyone seems to be following a different pattern. We need to convene a Kurultai, (Kurultay, Kengesh, Majlis) of aksakals and establish a standard before things get out of hand.cs 21:33, 7 March 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: It would be useful if you provided examples of the problem and explain which language is having transliteration problems.  AFAIK Wikipedia already has some clear transliteration standards for various languages. --Stacey Doljack Borsody 22:01, 7 March 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Kazakh, to give an example, Kunayev, Konayev, Kunaev, just to name one. Uzbek pages have similar problems. We can copy and paste Library of Congress Russian transliteration table here as a start and talk about what conventions to follow when a Kazakh or Uzbek name need transliteration.  cs 22:31, 7 March 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Category:Kazakh_poets is a classic example.--Erkin2008 22:39, 7 March 2007 (UTC)

text: Have you checked out Wikipedia:Naming_conventions_(Cyrillic) yet?  Usually there are international standards of transliteration that can be referenced.  --Stacey Doljack Borsody 05:01, 8 March 2007 (UTC)

text: FYI: Wikipedia:Romanization of Mongolian has been worked on for a while now and will be promoted to official policy very soon (I already posted a request for participation further above). --Latebird 09:31, 8 March 2007 (UTC)

text: I would say the most straightforward option, where official Wikipedia policy does not already exist, would be to follow the relevant BGN/PCGN system (e.g. Kyrgyz BGN/PCGN transliteration), since it tends to be the easiest to render on Roman keyboards, as well as being pretty intuitive for English speakers. -- Hux 16:57, 8 March 2007 (UTC)

text: For Kyrgyz, as sometimes is done with Kazakh are we going to transcribe the Russian names? Or should we transcribe straight from Kyrgyz?--Erkin2008 20:24, 8 March 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Do you mean like on the page for Toktogul Satylganov, where it has his name in both Kyrgyz and Russian? If so then I'd say yes, since both are official languages in Kyrgyzstan. -- Hux 13:10, 13 March 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Urgent Issue 

message: I'm a new Wikipedia member but I know a fair bit about Central Asia, I am a grad student at Berkeley and would like to help out.  How do I join this (or any) Wikiproject?  Thank you in advance.  Xaphoo 03:08, 14 March 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: It is easy.  Just add yourself to the Participants list and start editing.  --Stacey Doljack Borsody 03:44, 14 March 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: How do I join?

message: It looks like Wikipedia:WikiProject Tibet got created, actually expanded from T-Buddhism. But it reads like somehow it is a subproject of WP China, and not well defined. Please check it out. Chris 08:38, 15 March 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: WP Tibet

message: I have now created a template at  to ask for Tibetan script to be added to articles. Chris 02:38, 16 March 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: script tagging

message: I was wondering if you guys could give some insight to this newly formed wikiproject. -- Cat chi? 10:25, 26 March 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  [[Wikipedia:WikiProject Kurdistan]] 

message: I made some new deletion sortings for this wikiproject:
*:Wikipedia:WikiProject Deletion sorting/Central Asia
*:Wikipedia:WikiProject Deletion sorting/Kyrgyzstan
*:Wikipedia:WikiProject Deletion sorting/Mongolia
*:Wikipedia:WikiProject Deletion sorting/Turkmenistan
*:Wikipedia:WikiProject Deletion sorting/Uzbekistan
--Sa.vakilian(t-c) 07:26, 30 March 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: Deletion sorting

message: Could someone provide a rationale as to why Tibet is included in Central Asia project?cs 09:57, 30 March 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Yes, check the archive, very first topic. Chris 14:18, 30 March 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Yes, there is an archived discussion, I've not seen. The boundaries of Central Asia has always been contested and will remain so. But still, I fail to see when Tibet was a part of those discussions? I understand debates range around "East Turkestan," "Northern Afghanistan," "Mongolia" and even some regions of Russia, but why Tibet? Is there something I am missing completely? cs 15:47, 30 March 2007 (UTC)

text: It is highly dependent upon your own definition.  See :Image:Central_Asia_borders.png.  Although from the archived discussion no one came to a consensus. --Stacey Doljack Borsody 15:52, 30 March 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Those who drew that UNESCO map should be Chingiz Khan's grandchildren. :)cs 16:22, 30 March 2007 (UTC)

text: Hehe.  Well I wonder if the person who drew that map got it wrong.  UNESCO's website  only shows Central Asia as the same as what is shown as "modern definition" on the map. --Stacey Doljack Borsody 16:25, 30 March 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: Tibet

message: Hi all
I have unilaterally created (more correctly ripped and localized from Wikiproject Turkey]] a new layout which has an easier navigation system. Your feedback is appreciated. It is not complete yet. The old page is just a revert away. Best regards. cs 11:55, 1 April 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: *Note: I moved all of the old content into new pages.cs 22:22, 1 April 2007 (UTC)

text: Fantastic. --Sa.vakilian(t-c) 18:42, 1 April 2007 (UTC)

text: Yep, it looks good --Otebig 23:13, 1 April 2007 (UTC)

text: The new layout looks great! Makes me want to become more active in the project which is the point! Tombseye 23:51, 1 April 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: If a particular layout is keeping you from being active in the project... Chris 00:18, 2 April 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: I'm kidding and was being ironical. Besides, note that I did do work on Pashtuns so I'd say that qualifies as being active in the project. Tombseye 03:01, 2 April 2007 (UTC)

text: Thanks much needed.cs 09:09, 2 April 2007 (UTC)

text: The new layout is great! Excellent job, cs. -- Hux 13:56, 4 April 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  new layout 

message: I would like to invite you all to participate in a discussion at this thread regarding bilateral relations between two countries. All articles related to foreign relations between countries are now under the scope of WikiProject Foreign relations, a newly created project. We hope that the discussion will result in a more clean and organized way of explaining such relationships. Thank you. Ed ¿Cómo estás? 18:07, 8 April 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: Bilateral relations discussion

message: It appears that there are two categories for the assessment project - Category:Unassessed Central Asia-related articles and Category:Unassessed Central Asia articles - one of them should probably be redirected to the other, as having two is obviously unnecessary. Also relevant - on the project's own page for assessment, it links to the first category, which contains 0 articles. Aelfthrytha 02:15, 13 April 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Article Assessment 

message: Should the section entitled "Clan theory" be after the "Press section" or "Trial of businessmen"? I would argue it should be higher up because chronologically the events described happened before May 13. I would also argue that it is not a separate theory, but that it is the majority view. The following sources take the Andijan massacre as a clan dispute:  (read the conclusion), , , , , . This soure discussed the possibility of Almatov doing a coup. Other users have argued that it either a separate theory or a minority interpretation of events. KazakhPol 20:56, 14 April 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: My problem with the clan theory is that it takes away from the central focus of the article: what happened in Andijan?  Not a single Western source acknowledges it as a possibility, and the Uzbek government doesn't claim that that's what happened, either.  It's a third theory held by a handful of Central Asian scholars, and they don't do a particularly convincing job of communicating it.  NPOV requires that it be in the article, so I'm not arguing that it get cut out.  But what should be first is the central issue, the events of May 13, and all three theories acknowledge the 23 businessmen were a part of that.  I'm happy to get outside opinions, though. -- THF 20:50, 14 April 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: The EurasiaNet and RFE source from above are both Western based. Truthout may be Western based. The Central-Asia Institute, I believe, is Western based. KazakhPol 21:04, 14 April 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: This is an old discussion revived again. I dont understand why four editos' opinions are discarded anyway? Four editors on the talk page of the article noted that it is silly and should be placed at the very bottom. The section title is stupid to begin with. Those who are using it are think thank folks (so called politologs of post soviet central asia) with no anthropological training to have a fair idea of what clan is and how it is missued in central asia. cs 16:03, 15 April 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: That's an interesting theory about their training. I would like to see some diffs to back that up, especially since the EurasiaNet article is written by their entire staff. If the three editors in question had not all popped up at the article all at once I would be more inclined to factor in their opinions. Curious how you came to that page only after I mentioned it on Terrorism in Uzbekistan and "TheColdTruth," whose sole contributions have been personally attacking me and adding NPOV templates to pages I edit, and Djma12 stopped editing as of April 1. I think I would like an outside opinion. KazakhPol 17:02, 15 April 2007 (UTC)

text: And you thought you can seize the moment...If your references wont go beyond Eurasia net or RFE perhaps you should not be editing Central Asia... Anyways, I believe by the time I return, you would be long gone for good. cs 18:35, 15 April 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: This last comment smacks of WP:ATTACK. This project is no one's personal domain, and such comments have no place here. Restrain what is said to content, do not attack the editor. We all have a place here, all have something to contribute, and in such a contested area as the Ferghana Valley, there is never a single right answer. Chris 00:33, 16 April 2007 (UTC)

text: Having been in close contact with non-profit work in Central Asia for getting on for a decade now, I'm inclined to trust the work of groups like Eurasianet and RFE/RL. These are not, in my experience, groups out to push an agenda at the expense of the truth. I would support incorporating the "clan theory" information in the main sections of the article, rather than in what is essentially the extended footnote it currently occupies, provided it is clearly indicated that it does not currently constitute mainstream opinion. I also echo Chris in urging everyone here to keep cool heads. -- Hux 15:54, 16 April 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: Andijan massacre poll

message: Did anyone else follow Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/List of Angola-related topics? It's a summary deletion request for many such lists. One suggestion made there was to projectify them. In the case of List of Mongolia-related topics, this project would probably be the best place to do so. Although not listed in that discussion, there are probably others where this would apply as well. Since those lists are primarily maintenance tools, project space seems appropriate to host them. Any opinions and other candidates? --Latebird 17:11, 26 April 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Projectify lists of country related topics? 

message: I have placed merge-tagging because it is an important topic, and if it is an inactive Project, it should and could at least be an active workgroup of this Project. Chris 01:44, 26 May 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Since that project is inactive, I don't think anyone would mind if you move it. Why don't you go ahead and merge those two projects together.--Jerry 18:11, 3 June 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: I have now made this Wikipedia:WikiProject Central Asia/Uyghurs of Western China task force. Chris 21:24, 11 August 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: [[Wikipedia:WikiProject Uyghurs of Western China]]