Aksakal
Aqsaqal or aksakal (literally meaning "white beard" in Turkic languages) metaphorically refers to the male elders, the old and wise of the community in parts of Central Asia, the Caucasus and Bashkortostan. Traditionally, an aqsaqal was the leader of a village or aul until the Soviet times. Acting as advisors or judges, these elders have or had a role in politics and the justice system in countries and tribes. For instance, there are ''aksakals'' courts in Kyrgyzstan. In Uzbekistan, which has traditionally been a more urban society (the Uzbeks being ''sarts'' or town-dwellers, as opposed to nomadic Turks), cities are divided up into ''mahallas''. Each ''mahalla'' has an ''aqsaqal'' who acts as the district leader. Redevelopment of the ''aqsaqal'' courts in Kyrgyzstan In 1995, then-President of Kyrgyzstan Askar Akayev Askar Akayevich Akayev ( ky, Аскар Акаевич (Акай уулу) Акаев, translit=Askar Akayevich (Akay Uulu) Akayev ; ; born 10 November 1944) ...
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