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EURASIA INSIGHT

KARIMOV STAKES OUT FIRM BOUNDARIES FOR US-UZBEK COOPERATION

Josh Machleder 10/10/01

Uzbek President Islam Karimov is striving to keep a tight rein on events that threaten to stampede out of control. After years of repressing freedom of expression, Karimov is now taking tentative steps to open up Uzbekistan’s tightly controlled media. But gaining popular trust is proving a difficult challenge for the government.

In the days following the September 11 terrorist attacks in the United States, the Uzbek remained largely silent about events and their implications. In recent days, however, Karimov has gone out of his way to appear more open in discussing Uzbekistan’s budding strategic alliance with the United States. In discussing US-Uzbek military cooperation, Karimov has been outspoken in his insistence that Uzbek bases will not be used to launch US attacks against Afghanistan. "There are no secret deals here," he announced.

To reassure the public, Karimov indicated that he would release documentation to support his assertion that Uzbek bases will be used solely to support US humanitarian and search-and-rescue missions. He also acknowledged that the national media "are failing to bring the necessary information to our people in a timely way and are giving no explanation."

The Uzbek government has faced severe international criticism in recent years for its crackdown on free speech and freedom of religious expression. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive]. The major motivation for Karimov’s growing candor appear to be the government’s desire to counter what it perceives as distorted Russian media reports, as well as to bolster its popular support. Officials have added an additional news show to the programming schedule. In addition, government officials have become more accessible to the media.

Though apparently determined to provide more information via the local press, the Uzbek leadership seems intent on controlling how developments are framed. Authorities are quick to repeat the official Uzbek position that "not a single US aircraft which has taken part in bombing strikes against the territory of neighboring Afghanistan will be given permission to land in Uzbekistan," as Karimov said.

Meanwhile, on October 8, Uzbek Foreign Minister Abdulaziz Kamilov and secretary of the Uzbek National Security Council Marakbar Rahomonqulov gave a press conference ostensibly to rebut foreign media coverage of Uzbekistan.

Uzbek officials are especially concerned about how Russian media outlets are portraying events. One Russian news agency item alleged 8,000 Taliban fighters had been deployed to the Afghanistan-Uzbekistan border. Meanwhile, another Russian report quoted an anonymous Uzbek official as saying the Uzbek armed forces had been placed on red alert status on October 7.

Such reports were denied by Rahomonqulov, who said that he wanted to draw the public’s attention to the "various irresponsible inaccuracies," made primarily by "Russian media agencies."

"The impression is being formed that some sort of military actions are just about to start. This can be described as nothing but a provocation...an attempt to confuse people and cause uneasiness and alarm among them," Rahomonqulov said.

The official information campaign has only underscored the challenge facing the government. Some Uzbeks suggest the government’s recent statements have fueled mistrust among the population.

In the view of many citizens, state-run media lacks credibility. One student in Tashkent who said he tends to believe the governments news reports said, "it’s hard to make sense of the mass media here � it seems like there’s really no reason for the Uzbek Government to lie in these circumstances. � But in this situation really no one knows. We know that in the past they have lied to us, so how can we know that they’re telling the truth to us when we know that sometimes they lie?"

One local media analyst told Eurasianet that Uzbeks are more likely to believe the information appearing in Russian sources, or on CNN or BBC, because their news is timely. "The [Uzbek] news comes out slowly because local journalists must get a series of approvals from the higher-ups," a local journalist from a Tashkent-based independent radio station told Eurasianet. "In this case, we are told not to put out any reports that might alarm the public."

It appears that if the Uzbek government is going to achieve its aim of gaining credibility, if will have to grant greater freedom to local media. Many Uzbeks believe Russian news to be more reliable than local media outlets. "Russian TV has its own point of view � it doesn’t wait for the Kremlin or wait for the reaction from the president to report what it’s going to say" says one student in Tashkent. "They have correspondents on site and they show up-to-the-minute breaking news. It’s harder to challenge that."

Uzbek citizens, accustomed to the restricted flow of information, remain confused and curious by government coverage of developments. "I could see all those US military airplanes flying above me, and I know that there were people out there who counted 11 or 12 of them," said Gayrat, the owner of an outdoor cafe. "I wonder what was inside them all."

Editor�s Note: Josh Machleder is the country director for Internews in Uzbekistan.

The Central Eurasia Project aims, through its website, meetings, papers, and grants, to foster a more informed debate about the social, political and economic developments of the Caucasus and Central Asia. It is a program of the Open Society Institute-New York. The Open Society Institute-New York is a private operating and grantmaking foundation that promotes the development of open societies around the world by supporting educational, social, and legal reform, and by encouraging alternative approaches to complex and controversial issues.

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