Uzbek President, As Expected, to Miss OSCE Summit

It’s confirmed: Uzbek President Islam Karimov will not attend the much trumpeted OSCE summit in the Kazakh capital on December 1 - 2. Instead, Karimov will send his foreign minister, Vladimir Norov.

Observers link Karimov’s absence in Astana to rifts with his Central Asian neighbors. Instead of engaging to solve cross border problems – such as mounting disputes over water resources – the Uzbek leader is offering his archrivals from Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan an opportunity to put forward their views and win the international community’s sympathy, Uzbekistan-watchers say. 

Ignoring the international meeting in Kazakhstan and missing a chance to catch up with world leaders is strange behavior, they say, especially when even the president of “neutral” Turkmenistan, Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov – no dependable Karimov ally – has decided to make the Astana pilgrimage.

But as consolation, Karimov will still meet US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in Tashkent as she transits to Bahrain on a post-summit stopover.