Kyrgyzstan Letter:In Ala-Too Square, in Kyrgyzstan's capital, Bishkek, a blanket of snow covers the ground and enterprising photographers stand around in sub-zero temperatures offering to take photos of passersby with DedMoroz ("Grandad Frost"), resplendent in his blue robe and white beard, and his granddaughter, the snow princess Snegurochka, traditional figures associated with the Russian Orthodox Christmas season.
These perennial children's favourites are no less familiar to the country's majority Muslim Kyrgyz population than to its ethnic Russian citizens. However, this year, for the first time, the photographers have started to invoke another character in an attempt to drum up custom, for as any foreign visitors pass by a new cry resounds: "Welcome to Santa-Clausistan!"
Kyrgyzstan, a small central Asian state lodged snugly amidst dense mountain ranges between Kazakhstan, China, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, has made the news in recent years for little else besides political instability. However, in recent weeks the unlikely figure of Santa Claus has put this former Soviet country in the (albeit festive) headlines.
The latest round of political intrigue that accompanied parliamentary elections held on December 16th has produced by now all too familiar scenes of accusations and recriminations, followed by demonstrations and arrests, between opposition figures and members of the pro-president Ak Jol party. The latter won a landslide victory in contentious elections which the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) has called "a missed opportunity".
Meanwhile, Santa's appearance in the local media has added a bizarre dimension to an otherwise tense situation.
It all started earlier this month when Swedish engineering consultancy firm Sweco, in a PR stunt of its own, announced on its website that, following a careful analysis of geographical and demographic factors, as well as the earth's rotation, the most logical point of departure for Santa's Christmas Eve global gift delivery blitz is located in Kyrgyzstan.
While the announcement caused some consternation in Finland, which views its own Korvatunturi as Santa's true home, Kyrgyzstan's state tourism agency grasped a rare opportunity for self promotion.
Although the country can boast truly spectacular scenery - beautiful mountains, verdant valleys and high-altitude lakes - few tourists visit impoverished Kyrgyzstan due to its remote location, undeveloped infrastructure and, well, political instability.
In a region where authoritarianism rules to greater and lesser degrees, Kyrgyzstan broke the political mould by being the first of the former Soviet central Asian states to witness a popular revolution in March 2005, which toppled the previous president, Askar Akaev.
Since then, president Kurmanbek Bakiev, who had been one of the revolution's leaders, has taken advantage of parliamentary infighting, along with judicial and political intrigue, to consolidate power to a point many of his opponents feel tarnishes him with the same brush as the previous incumbent.
Many Kyrgyz, along with ethnic Russians and Uzbeks who also constitute a significant percentage of the population, while fed up with recurrent problems of corruption, poverty and a lack of political plurality, are also tired of the long period of political and social unrest which has followed the revolution. Deadlocked parliaments, frequent elections and constitutional referendums, growing criminality and the assassination of politicians have become impediments to achieving the social and economic changes promised by the leading actors who spearheaded that movement.
Some are jokingly hoping Santa Claus can spread some goodwill and generosity among rival politicians during these troubled times.
But what can Santa really do for Kyrgyzstan? As far as the state tourism agency is concerned, a great deal. Embracing the idea of Santa-Clausistan, it has announced that an annual Santa Day will be held in Kyrgyzstan which will unite all variants of the world's most famous winter gift giver. A local weekly newspaper, Argumenty I Fakty v Kyrgyzstane, has already proffered a preliminary list of invitees. As well as the Russian Grandad Frost, a Kyrgyz equivalent, Ayaz-Ata ("Father Freeze"), is set to attend, along with his American, Chinese and Korean brothers-in-gifting.
The acting head of the state tourism agency, Turusbek Mamashov, sees the Santa Claus connection as "a way of attracting greater numbers of tourists to our fairytale land of wealth and beauty".
And that's not all: a nationwide search was announced to find out where exactly Santa Claus is, making mountain villages and city streets temporarily unsafe for the well-fed, bearded members of the population, who now have to dodge over-eager children wishing to get a quick word in before the sleigh finally takes off from Santa-Clausistan on Christmas Eve.
Rudolph will most definitely not be a reindeer, but a wild Marco Polo sheep indigenous to the region.
While news of Santa's location was sending minor shock waves around the world, the state tourism agency, in collaboration with the federation of extreme tourism and mountaineering, announced that it was sending an expedition off to scale a hereto unnamed 4,680m (15,354ft) peak in southern Kyrgyzstan. On Christmas Eve, the peak will be officially named Peak Santa Claus.