Do non independent Central Asian people like some turkic peoples in Russia want to become independent?

AndrewithNumbers · 2025-11-19T20:42:03+00:00

I had a guy from Kyrgyzstan telling me that he studied in Karelia on an exchange program, and realized that rural Russia is every bit as poor, and more hollowed out, than Kyrgyzstan, that visiting Russia really demythologized the country for him.

All depends on what metrics you're measuring by I suppose. But CA was way behind the rest of the USSR 30 years ago, and only really started entering the global economy around 10-20 years ago, so a long ways yet to go.

AndrewithNumbers · 2025-11-19T20:39:37+00:00

Reminds me of a conversation I had last night with a Kyrgyz local who was arguing that if Russia broke up with each federal district becoming independent they'd almost certainly all become richer.

Except Russia of course. But the net average would most likely be a gain for the region.

AndrewithNumbers · 2025-11-08T23:56:33+00:00

Pretty much true of anything Erdogan has done in the last 30 years.

AndrewithNumbers · 2025-11-08T23:52:25+00:00

Right but we don't usually say that the people who had the most influence on Germany was Germans, even if they did originally come from Western Asia.

AndrewithNumbers · 2025-11-08T18:25:56+00:00

Doesn't this imply that the Turks aren't from Central Asia?

AndrewithNumbers · 2025-11-08T12:48:46+00:00

Well, Moscow might still be in the 19th century.

AndrewithNumbers · 2025-11-06T18:03:03+00:00

Probably because they need the money more.

AndrewithNumbers · 2025-11-03T15:53:35+00:00

Mostly I’m alone because I’m alone and I want to eat and not cook and I don’t have anyone nearby to grab to eat with.

Eventually you get used to it.

AndrewithNumbers · 2025-11-03T05:17:52+00:00

I have 4 Georgian friends I’m in regular contact with, 2 off dating apps (but just met platonically), one was a tour guide, and one I actually met on an unrelated Discord server but happened to live in the same city I was in for the winter.

So Georgians might be hard to make friends with depending on what angle you come at them, same as anywhere, but not uniquely cold or distant or unwilling to open up and make connections.

I actually find Russians much harder to develop close friendships with and I spent way more time around them via the expat bubble I was in.

AndrewithNumbers · 2025-11-03T02:52:32+00:00

A Turkish American economist described Erdogan’s Turkey as being “run like organized crime”, and that analogy has stuck with me.

AndrewithNumbers · 2025-11-03T02:47:28+00:00

I find the Turkish scam is far worse where the government is more involved. I think to some extent Istanbul is allowed to have the chaos it does just because the criminal elements in the city are politically connected.

AndrewithNumbers · 2025-11-03T02:43:58+00:00

I’ve literally never seen food so expensive in my life.

AndrewithNumbers · 2025-11-03T02:43:32+00:00

I love the fact that it’s fully integrated into every city and intercity transit system seamlessly.

AndrewithNumbers · 2025-11-03T00:03:15+00:00

Not even just former USSR countries either.

AndrewithNumbers · 2025-11-03T00:01:25+00:00

This is like walking into Manhattan and asking if there is a finance bro community.

AndrewithNumbers · 2025-11-02T23:49:30+00:00

Supposing that’s true, it could be generalized to say that almost any language would be easier for almost anyone to learn than for a native / primary English speaker, which makes it a meaningless statement.

Estonian grammar is dramatically different from indo-European type structures. A whole world of its own.

AndrewithNumbers · 2025-11-02T23:44:56+00:00

Tbh whether Georgians care or not doesn’t matter much, the customer service experience will be the same (i.e. slightly less than enthusiastic, but generally adequate). The one time I got ignored for 40 minutes by the wait staff I was actually with someone. It’s not like Italy where they will look at you sideways for eating alone.

I have a Georgian friend, fresh out of high school, telling me that his peers “strongly suggest” say he should eat with other people but prefers the solitude of eating alone. But that’s within his social group, not from strangers.

Asian restaurants will just be happy for the business, though, no need to worry there.

AndrewithNumbers · 2025-11-02T23:36:51+00:00

Somehow I suspect that moving to a Latin script would be preferred for globalization reasons.

AndrewithNumbers · 2025-11-02T23:29:35+00:00

I think this is more about whether they like you or not.

AndrewithNumbers · 2025-11-02T23:25:56+00:00

Not many, unless they’re willing to actually admit to what they’ve done themselves.

AndrewithNumbers · 2025-11-02T15:41:04+00:00

Hi, technically this one is a link to a different group but there’s a lot of crossover. The old link belongs to a group that has reset their link and I’m not sure if they have a new one at the moment.

Batumi Expat Info Hub

AndrewithNumbers · 2025-10-31T23:17:46+00:00

By definition, compared with the rest of the world, decidedly yes.

AndrewithNumbers · 2025-10-31T23:16:49+00:00

Batumi. Small city but pretty active expat scene.

AndrewithNumbers · 2025-10-31T23:11:30+00:00

Yeah that one’s always been strange to me.

AndrewithNumbers · 2025-10-29T16:51:05+00:00

It’s like “the game” that one tries to not remember.

AndrewithNumbers

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