Aytysh

Aytys in Kazakh (айтыс) or Aytysh in Kyrgyz (айтыш) is a song competition held between two Aqyns. Each usually strums a national instrument (dombra in the case of the Kazakhs, qomuz in the case of the Kyrgyz), and they respond to each other in spontaneous rhyming verse on a range of topics. They may make backhanded political statements and criticise each other, but it is all done with good intentions (aqyns often state that one must have good intentions to be a good aqyn).

There are known cases of aqyns being imprisoned in Kazakhstan for making political statements against the president. Fact|date=May 2008