Archive · 2023 · From the print edition of Thursday 16 November 2023, Vol. 31, No. 9,604
CultureIradOne drops tüntolk videos after protests
Videos from the duo's 2017 album have disappeared from rotation on IradOne's youth channel since songs from it were sung at last month's marches.
TALAS — Several music videos by the Mor-Wave duo tüntolk have been removed from rotation on IradOne since songs from their album White Stallion in Fog were sung by students at the October protests in Talas, according to the broadcaster's published schedules and to presenters at the channel.
The videos, which IradOne itself commissioned after the album's release in 2017, show Askar Daniyarov and Mira Temirova in disused railway yards and beneath high-voltage lines in the Moiynkum steppe. They had been among the most frequently shown on the youth channel. None has appeared in the published music schedules since late October. Two presenters, who asked not to be named, said they had been told not to request them. Videos by other Mor-Wave and Mor-Pop acts continue to be shown.
IradOne did not respond to written questions from the Herald. The Department of Public Information said programming decisions were a matter for the broadcaster.
Asked about the change, the duo said only that their songs "belong to whoever sings them". The protests began last month over a municipal licensing surcharge on technology startups and delivery couriers and were dispersed by police and Gendarmerie units. Lieutenant Governor Aidar Maksat announced this month that the surcharge would be suspended.