Difference between revisions of "Samozakhvat (Kyrgyzstan)"

|''Samozakhvat'', literally ‘self-seizure’ (''sam'' – self and ''zakhvat'' – seizure), is a Russian term, designating the practice of unauthorized land grabbing in Kyrgyzstan. Although ''samozakhvat'' can also refer to the seizure of buildings (often government administrative buildings – see also [[squatting]] and [[Schwarzwohnen]]), in Kyrgyzstan it is predominantly linked to land (''zemlia'') and land squatting (''zakhvat zemel’''). People who practice ''samozakhvat'' are known as ''zakhvatchiki'' (literally ‘grabbers’) and their settlements are referred to as ''zhany konush'' in Kyrgyz, or ''novostroika'' (‘new-build’) in Russian. Three waves of squatting can be distinguished.