Dr Güljanat Kurmangaliyeva Ercilasun is Associate Professor of History at the Department of Modern Turkic Studies, Gazi University, Ankara, Turkey. Her research focuses on the political and socio-cultural history of the Kazakhs and Kyrgyzs in the 19th-20th centuries; philology, intelligentsia, religion, and family institutions, as well as oral history. Dr Konuralp Ercilasun is Professor of History at Gazi University, Ankara, Turkey. He works on the history of Kashgar, as well as various topics such as Xiongnu, Bishkek, the Silk Road and issues pertaining to the modern history of Central Asia.