nobody's business but the turks

i'm fascinated by the pan-turkism i've witnessed in my time here in kazakhstan. turkish influence a lot stronger than i expected, and it seems stronger than i remember from my time in uzbekistan in 2003. as i've mentioned before, turkish cafes dominate the local market here and turkish made clothes is a code-word for better quality. there are also turkish secondary schools and univerities, kazakhs study the turkish language, turkish companies are active throughout kazakhstan, the normal stigma against kazakhs marrying members of other ethnic groups doesn't seem to apply to kazakhs marrying turks, kazakhs can visit most turkic countries visa-free, i have met a handful of turks who live here in taraz and turkish money funds a lot of the local building projects.

the only country that holds a stronger cultural sway over kazakhstan than turkey is russia. but turkey is the clear second. this place is the point of intersection between the russian and turkish cultural sphere. i wonder if it's the same in the other turkic-speaking former soviet republics.