FRUSTRATION BUILDS AMONG UZBEKS IN SOUTHERN KYRGYZSTAN
Alisher Khamidov: 3/26/01

Brewing tension in Kyrgyz-Uzbek relations is having an adverse impact on ethnic Uzbeks living in southern Kyrgyzstan. Increasingly, the Uzbek community in and around Osh, the southern Kyrgyz capital, is being excluded from the region’s political institutions largely because they are perceived by authorities in Bishkek to pose a possible separatist threat. Some local experts say that separatist sentiment is non-existent at the moment, but they add that if the Kyrgyz government continues to pursue discriminatory policies, Uzbek discontent could grow to potentially dangerous levels.

Uzbekistan’s efforts to compel Kyrgyz compliance with territorial demands, including the imposition of a gas embargo during the winter, [for more information see the Eurasia Insight archive] have heightened concern in Bishkek about inter-ethnic issues. Uzbekistan in recent bilateral talks has sought land corridors from Kyrgyzstan that would give Tashkent direct links to Uzbek enclaves that are now surrounded by Kyrgyz territory. Kyrgyzstan has steadfastly rejected the demands and has resisted persistent Uzbek pressure. [For additional information see Eurasia Insight archive]. However, some Kyrgyz government officials are worried that Tashkent may try to manipulate the Uzbek minority in Osh in the future as part of an attempt to coerce Bishkek. Concerns are compounded by the armed activity of insurgents belonging to the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) [For additional information see the Eurasia Insight archive].

As a result, an already difficult situation has become worse for ethnic Uzbeks in Kyrgyzstan. Discontent could transform into disorder unless the Kyrgyz government reevaluates its policies in southern Kyrgyzstan, said Akhmadjan Saipjanov, a local political analyst.
"If the government doesn’t stop regarding them [Uzbeks] as potential separatists, and take immediate measures to involve this group in different decision-making levels and processes, the increasing perceived and real discrimination among them may translate into the rise of a separatist mood, and affiliation with unsanctioned religious activities," Saipjanov said.

Virtually from the time of Kyrgyzstan’s independence in 1991, government officials have viewed the country’s Uzbek population with suspicion. To a certain extent, attitudes continue to be shaped by the legacy of the 1990 Uzbek-Kyrgyz rioting in the Osh region. Officials in Bishkek remain wary of any manifestation of separatist sentiment in the region.

During the past decade, Kyrgyz leaders have sought to limit Uzbek participation in governmental structures, and downplay the role of Uzbeks in local society, according to Uzbek activists. For example, according to official 1999 census figures, ethnic Uzbeks comprise about 40 percent of the population in Osh. However, some demography experts in Osh believe that these figures undercount Uzbeks.

The representation of ethnic Uzbeks in the regional and local administration has sharply decreased since 1990. According to sources in the city administration, which has roughly 50 employees, there are only seven Uzbeks working as junior clerks in various departments. In regional administration, three out of 70 employees are ethnic Uzbeks. Kyrgyz also dominate surrounding district administrations. In addition, there are no Uzbek judges or prosecutors on the city, district or the regional level. This lack of representation in law enforcement bodies has long been a source of discontent among Uzbeks. Meanwhile, Osh city administration officials maintain that a large number of ethnic Uzbeks participate in local government via community committees, known as makhallas.

In the economic sphere, Uzbeks are prominent in commerce and in media, but they are facing government pressure in these two spheres. Historically, Uzbek merchants have dominated the bazaars of south Kyrgyzstan. Yet, as economic conditions continue to languish, Uzbek traders have become the targets of resentment among the local Kyrgyz population. In the media sphere, more than 70 percent of journalists in the Osh region are ethnic Uzbek. However, recently Kyrgyz authorities have targeted the main Uzbek independent television channel, OshTV, forcing it to switch from a VHF to a UHF channel.

The station’s director Khaliljan Khudaiberdiev complains that the government’s decision is discriminatory, and the changes would force the station to spend $42,000 (an enormous sum by Kyrgyz standards) on new equipment, while drastically reducing its potential viewing audience.

"Osh TV is a very important private TV-station for many in Osh, especially for Uzbeks. Given that the National TV Corporation and State owned channels do not have any programming in the Uzbek language … the role of OshTV is even more important," said Muhamadjan Obidov, a senior local journalist, at a meeting to protest the government-mandated changes. "If OshTV is closed, the Uzbek audiences will switch to Uzbekistan state channels, which are filled with Uzbek national ideology broadcasts."

Feeling excluded from political participation, as well as pressured in the economic sphere, some Uzbeks are finding an outlet in other areas, such as radical Islam. Ethnic Uzbeks predominate in the various unsanctioned religious groups that are active in Kyrgyzstan, including the Hizb-ut-Tahrir. Interior Ministry statistics show that about 80 people were detained last year for the illegal distribution of religious propaganda, with 39 of those detained receiving jail sentences for violating article 299 of the criminal code, which prohibits the incitement of religious hatred. All of those punished were ethnic Uzbeks.

Drug abuse is also emerging as a problem within the Uzbek community. In many Uzbek makhallas, or communities, the number of young drug users has skyrocketed, despite the intervention of parents and aksakals, or local elders. According to official reports, deteriorating living conditions, combined with the lack of job prospects, are leaving young people vulnerable to drug addiction.

Editor’s Note: Alisher Khamidov is the director of the Osh Media Resource Center in Osh, Kyrgyzstan.

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Posted March 26, 2001 © Eurasianet
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