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CIA Fact sheet: http://www.odci.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/uz.html
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Travel Docs: http://www.traveldocs.com/uz/index.htm
Uzbekistan
covers
172,178
square miles and is slightly larger than California.
(AP, 5/15/05)
The capital is Tashkent. Uzbeks made up 80% of the population. 88%
of
the population was Muslim, mostly Sunni.
(SFC, 10/12/01, p.A16)(WSJ, 5/4/05, p.A17)
Sogdiana was a province of ancient Persia between the Oxus and
Jaxartes
Rivers, later known as Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. The extinct
Iranian
language of Sogdiana was spoken. Their alphabet was the source of
the
later Uighur and Mongolian alphabets.
(WUD, 1994, p.1264,1353)(AM, 9/01, p.50) 2300BC A
civilization later called the Bactria Margiana Archeology Complex
existed about this time in what later became Turkmenistan and
Uzbekistan. Evidence of writing was found at the Annau ruins in
2000.
(SSFC, 5/13/01, p.A12)
355BC Alexander the Great
(d.323BC) was born about this time. Alexander III later married a
barbarian princess, Roxana, the daughter of the Bactrian chief
Oxyartes. Alexander also married the daughter of Darius, whom he
defeated in 333, and a Sogdian princess while staying firmly
attached to his comrade, Hephaistion.
(V.D.-H.K.p.68)(Hem., 2/97, p.116)(WSJ, 5/15/98,
p.W11)
329BC Alexander the Great took
Samarkand. Its ancient name was Marakanda.
(WUD, 1994, p.1264)
36 Chinese troops defeated the
Hun ruler Zhizhi in what later became Uzbekistan. Among the captives
were 145 Romans.
(Econ, 12/18/04, p.59)
999 Turkish dynasties became
the rulers of Transoxania, and area that covered much of what later
became Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Tajikistan.
(Econ, 7/26/03, p.46-4)
c1000 Turkic-speaking people
wrote in Runic, the official script.
(WSJ, 10/24/00, p.A12)
1258 Feb 10, Huegu (Hulega
Khan), a Mongol leader and grandson of Genghis Khan, seized Baghdad
following a 4-day assault. Mongol invaders from Central Asia took
over Baghdad and ended the Abbasid-Seljuk Empire. They included
Uzbeks, Kazaks, Georgians and other groups. Some 200 to 800 thousand
people were killed and looting lasted 17 days.
(ATC, p.91)(AP, 2/10/99)(SFC, 4/12/03, p.A1)
1336-1405 Timur (aka Timur Lang or Timur Lenk or
Tamerlane because of a lame leg) was a Tartar conqueror of a vast
empire from southern Russia to Mongolia and southward to India,
Persia, and Mesopotamia. After his death the empire fell apart.
Prince Timur is a national hero of Uzbekistan.
(V.D.-H.K.p.169)(WUD, 1994, p.1451)(WSJ, 7/3/97,
p.A4)
1369-1405 Timur ruled from Samarkand.
(WUD, 1994, p.1451)
1380 Sep 8, Prince Dmitrii of
Moscow defeated the Mongols at Kulikovo Field. This marked the
beginning of the decline of Mongol control over Russian lands.
(DVD, Criterion,
1998)(http://fanaticus.org/dba/battles/Kulikovo/index.html)
1825 Feb 25, William Moorcroft,
East India Co. head of 5,000 acre horse farm at Pusa, India, arrived
at Bokhara, Uzbekistan, to trade for horses. He met with Khan
Haydar, Emir of Bokhara.
(ON, 1/02, p.5)
1840 May 14, English Lt.
Richmond Shakespear left Herat (later Afghanistan) on a 700-mile
mission to Khiva (later Uzbekistan) to persuade the ruling Khan to
free all his Russian slaves. The Khan continued to hold a large
number of Persian slaves.
(ON, 4/00, p.7)
1840 Aug 3, English Lt.
Richmond Shakespear was given all the Russian prisoners of the Khan
in Khiva (later Uzbekistan).
(ON, 4/00, p.8)
1840 Aug 15, English Lt.
Richmond Shakespear began a 500-mile trek with 416 freed Russian
slaves from Khiva (later Uzbekistan) to the Russian Fort
Alexandrovsk on the Caspian Sea.
(ON, 4/00, p.8)
1924 Stalin divided remnants of
Turkestan into the current Central Asian republics.
(SFC, 1/2/97, p.A10)
1937 Stalin ordered a major
overhaul of Uzbek leadership and heads began to roll. The artist
Alexander Rodchenko, who had designed the album “Ten Years of
Uzbekistan,” blotted out the photos of purged Uzbek leaders in his
personal copy. It provided grist for the 1997 book by David King
“The Commissar Vanishes,” that describes how Stalin manipulated
images for his benefit.
(WSJ, 10/29/97, p.A20)
1938 Jan 30, Islom
Abduganievich Karimov was born in Samarkand, Uzbekistan. He became
president of Uzbek SSR in 1990.
(http://tinyurl.com/7l6sz)
1940 Moscow imposed the
Cyrillic alphabet over the Roman alphabet.
(SFC, 1/2/97, p.A10)
1947 Z.V. Togan (1890-1970)
published “The Origins of the Kazaks and ôzbeks.
(http://vlib.iue.it/carrie/texts/carrie_books/paksoy-5/)
1950 Between Uzbekistan and
Kazakstan the surface area of the Aral Sea was 67,000 sq. km. and
shrinking.
(WSJ, 2/5/98, p.A18)
1954 In Uzbekistan the Soviet
Union established a biological weapons test site on Vozrozhdeniye
Island in the Aral Sea.
(SFC, 6/2/99, p.A11)
1966 Jan 10, The Tashkent
Agreement, was signed in the Soviet city of Tashkent, and officially
ended a 17-day war between Pakistan and India. It required that both
sides withdraw by February 26, 1966, to positions held prior to
August 5, 1965, and observe the cease-fire line agreed to on June
30, 1965. The agreement was brokered by Soviet premier Aleksey
Kosygin and signed by Indian Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri and
Pakistan President Ayub Khan. The Indian prime minister died the day
after signing the agreement.
(HNQ,
4/26/99)(http://www.onwar.com/aced/chrono/c1900s/yr65/fkashmir1965)
1966 A major earthquake hit
Tashkent, capital of Uzbekistan in the USSR.
(WSJ, 6/21/96, p.A1)
c1968 The Aral Sea between
Kazakstan and Uzbekistan began shrinking after Soviet engineers
diverted water from its 2 feeder streams, the Amu Darya and the Syr
Darya. The water was diverted to a massive dam and irrigation system
for cotton production.
(SFC, 11/30/98, p.A11)(SFEC, 1/31/99, p.A20)
1982 The Friendship Bridge over
the Amu Darya River, connecting Afghanistan and Uzbekistan, was
built by the Soviets during the Soviet occupation of that country.
The bridge was closed in May 1997 when the Taliban forces took
control of the city of Mazari Sharif, forcing Uzbek rebels to
retreat back to Uzbekistan. It reopened on December 9, 2001.
(http://tinyurl.com/2qbrbd)(WSJ, 11/21/01, p.A11)
1985 Jul 10, A Soviet Tu-154
crashed in Uzbekistan and all 200 people aboard were killed.
(SFC, 7/4/01,
p.A10)(http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19850710-0)
1988 Mar-1988 Jun, In the
Spring Soviet germ scientists transferred hundreds of tons of
anthrax bacteria into canisters with bleach and sent them for
storage to Vorrozhdeniye Island (Renaissance Island) in the Aral
Sea, shared by Kazakstan and Uzbekistan.
(SFC, 6/2/99,
p.A10,11)(www.phaster.com/unpretentious/uzbekistan_anthrax.html)
1988-1989 Islam Karimov rose to the top spot of
the Uzbek Communist Party.
(WSJ, 9/8/98, p.A23)(SFC, 4/6/02, p.A8)
1990 Mar 24, Islom
Abduganievich Karimov (b.1938) became president of Uzbek SSR.
(http://tinyurl.com/7l6sz)
1990 Jun, In Kyrgyzstan about
300 people were killed in a violent land dispute between Kyrgyz and
Uzbeks in Osh, and only the quick deployment of Soviet troops
quelled the fighting.
(SFC, 10/21/99, p.AA5)(AP, 6/13/10)(Econ,
6/19/10, p.27)
1990 The shrinking Aral Sea
between Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan split in two with a patch of
desert in between.
(SFC, 11/30/98, p.A11)
1991 Aug 31, Uzbekistan and
Kirghizia declared their independence, raising to 10 the number of
republics seeking to secede from the Soviet Union.
(AP, 8/31/01)
1991 Sep, A group of young,
radical Muslims seizes a government building in the Fergana Valley
town of Namangan in eastern Uzbekistan, demanding establishment of
an Islamic state. The group's leaders, Juma Namangani and Tahir
Yuldash, later set up an Islamic party Adolat, or Justice, and then
the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, which grows into a terrorist
group with links to al-Qaida.
(AP, 3/30/04)
1991 Dec 13, Five Central Asian
republics of the Soviet Union (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan,
Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan) agreed to join the new Commonwealth of
Independent States (CIS) being organized by Russian President Boris
Yeltsin.
(AP,
12/13/01)(www.therussiasite.org/legal/laws/CISagreement.html)
1991 Dec, Demonstrators in
Uzbekistan, calling for an Islamic state, seized the Communist
headquarters in Namangan. Islam Karimov flew in and took control
from Tahir Yuldash.
(WSJ, 5/3/01, p.A8)
1991 Dec, Islam Karimov, a
former Uzbekistan Communist Party boss, was elected president.
(SFC, 11/3/00, p.D2)(AP, 3/30/04)
1991 Vozrozhdeniye Island
(Renaissance Island) in the Aral Sea became the property of
Kazakstan and Uzbekistan.
(SFC, 3/24/03, p.A5)
1991 In Uzbekistan Birlik
(Unity) political party was set up. It was outlawed several years
later along with other opposition groups, which forced its leaders
into exile. The party's several attempts to reregister in later
years have failed.
(AP, 3/15/07)
1991 In Uzbekistan Mansur
Maqsudi married Gulnora Karimova, the daughter of the president.
(WSJ, 8/21/01, p.A1)
1991 Mansur Maqsudi and his
brother Fareed approached Coca Cola with an offer to bottle Coca
Cola products in Uzbekistan.
(WSJ, 8/21/01, p.A6)
1992 Mar, Uzbek Pres. Karimov
banned Adolat. Authorities arrested hundreds and closed down mosques
and religious schools. Namangani and Yuldash fled to Tajikistan;
both later ended up in Afghanistan. Jumaboi Khojiyev, former Soviet
soldier, fled the country. Tahir Yuldash fled the country as Uzbek
authorities sought to arrest him. In 1996 they founded the Islamic
Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) operating out of Afghanistan.
(SFC, 11/3/00, p.D2)(AP, 3/30/04)(WSJ, 5/3/01,
p.A8)(WSJ, 9/24/01, p.A19)
1992 Dec 2, Uzbekistan adopted
its first constitution as an independent state.
(AP, 3/30/04)
1992 Uzbek Pres. Karimov banned
two secular opposition parties, Erk and Birlik, forcing their
leaders into exile.
(AP, 3/30/04)
1992-1999 The borders of Uzbekistan were opened to
Western companies.
(WSJ, 6/21/96, p.A1)
1993 Uzbekistan adopted a
34-character Latin alphabet based on Turkey’s script to replace the
Russian style Cyrillic.
(WSJ, 10/24/00, p.A12)
1993 Pres. Karimov laid out his
plans for revamping Uzbekistan’s economy in a book.
(WSJ, 5/4/05, p.A17)
1993 Muhammad Salih, leader of
Uzbekistan’s opposition Erk (Freedom) movement, fled to Turkey.
(Econ, 6/3/06, p.48)
1994 The Uzbek government ended
a multi-year relationship with Pepsi and gave Coca Cola access to a
large bottling plant in Tashkent.
(WSJ, 8/21/01, p.A6)
1995 Mar 26, Uzbek Pres.
Karimov's period in office is extended by three years, to 2000, in a
referendum.
(AP, 3/30/04)
1996 Jun 28, A Texaco Inc.
subsidiary formed a joint venture with the state oil company to
market lubricants throughout Central Asia.
(WSJ, 6/28/96, p.B5)
1996 Dec, Pres. Islam Karimov
ran a brutal police state, but began easing his grip as
self-sufficiency was established. His rule was extended by
referendum to the year 2000.
(SFC, 1/2/97, p.A10)(WSJ, 7/3/97, p.A4)
1996-1997 The Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU)
was formed in Namangan by Jumaboi Khojiyev and Tahir Yuldash.
(WSJ, 9/24/01, p.A19)
1997 Mar 27, Ella Maillart
(b.1903), Swiss sportswoman and travel writer, died. She chronicled
the savage collectivisation of Karakalpak agriculture in Uzbekistan,
Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan in the 1930s.
(Econ, 5/16/09,
p.91)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ella_Maillart)
1997 Nov 13, Hillary Clinton
visited in Bukhara, Uzbekistan.
(SFC,11/14/97, p.D2)
1997 Former Soviet republics
(Georgia, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan and Moldova) formed GUUAM
to seek cooperation outside Russian influence.
(WSJ, 3/4/05, p.A13)
1997 Uzbekistan closed the
Friendship Bridge and sealed its border with Afghanistan when Gen.
Abdul Rashid Dostum fled in as the Taliban swept into
Mazar-e-Sharif.
(SFC, 11/15/01, p.A7)(SFC, 12/10/01, p.A12)
1997 Uzbekistan attracted only
$60 million in foreign investment due to strict economic controls.
(WSJ, 9/8/98, p.A23)
1997 Uzbekistan's Fergana
Valley was hit by a series of slayings of senior police officials.
Authorities blamed the IMU and launched a crackdown on religious
extremism.
(AP, 3/30/04)
1997 A large incidence of
tuberculosis was found in the environmentally degraded area of the
Aral Sea.
(SFEC, 1/31/99, p.A20)
1997 Between Uzbekistan and
Kazakstan the surface area of the Aral Sea was 30,000 sq. km. and
shrinking.
(WSJ, 2/5/98, p.A18)
1997 The Central Asia Regional
Economic Cooperation (CAREC) Program was initiated. The 8-member
group included Azerbaijan, Afghanistan, China, Kazakhstan,
Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
(www.adb.org/CAREC/default.asp)
1998 Jul 2, The state genetics’
institute at Tashkent, Uzbekistan, was reported to be working on a
fungus to kill opium poppies. Pleospora papaveracea was a nuisance
fungus that had been under development by Soviets in the 1980s.
(SFC, 7/3/98, p.A14)
1998 Oct 29, Five nations
endorsed the oil pipeline from the Caspian to the Mediterranean Sea.
Turkey, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakstan and Uzbekistan committed to
the 1,080 mile conduit with a push from the US.
(SFC, 10/30/98, p.A14)
1998 Uzbek Pres. Karimov vowed
to crack down on the IMU. Namangani and Yuldash were sentenced to
death in absentia.
(AP, 3/30/04)
1999 Feb 16, Six car bombs
exploded in Tashkent in an assault aimed at Pres. Islam Karimov.
13-16 people were killed and at least 120 injured. Tahir Yuldash
(IMU co-leader) was sentenced to death in absentia. A crackdown
followed with nearly 8,000 people imprisoned.
(SFC, 2/17/99, p.A8)(SFC, 11/3/00, p.D2)(WSJ,
5/3/01, p.A8)(SFC, 12/7/01, p.F1)
1999 Aug 18, In Uzbekistan 6
members of a banned opposition group, Erk (Freedom), were convicted
for involvement in several bombings and sentenced to 8-15 years in
prison.
(SFC, 8/19/99, p.D10)
1999 Aug 23, Militants (IMU)
from Tajikistan crossed into Kyrgyzstan taking hostages and claiming
control of several villages. Some 1,000 religious fighters took a
swath of land and 13 hostages that included a Kyrgyz general and 4
Japanese geologists.
(SFC, 8/24/99, p.A11)(SFC, 10/21/99, p.AA5)
1999 Oct 25, In Kyrgyzstan 4
Japanese geologists were freed after 2 months of captivity by the
IMU. A $2-5 million ransom was suspected.
(SFC, 10/27/99, p.A13)(WSJ, 9/24/01, p.A19)
2000 Jan 8, Uzbek Pres. Karimov
was re-elected to a five-year term with more than 90 percent of the
vote.
(AP, 3/30/04)
2000 Apr 16, The winners of the
Goldman Environmental Prize included: Oral Ataniyazova (43), for
founding a clinic and fighting pesticide contamination in
Karakalpakstan, an autonomous region of Uzbekistan.
(SFC, 4/17/00, p.A2)
2000 Aug, The IMU attempted
fresh incursions into Uzbekistan from Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan.
(AP, 3/30/04)
2000 Nov 3, It was reported
that a 4,000 to 5,000 Muslim men had been imprisoned over the past 3
years with evidence of systemic torture and some prisoner deaths.
(SFC, 11/3/00, p.D2)
2000 Sep, In Uzbekistan Numan
Saidamirov, a Hizb-ut Tahrir leader, was arrested. His body was
returned on October 8th to relatives after 2 weeks covered with
bruises and with signs of sodomy. Hizb-ut Tahrir, “Party of
Liberation,” was banned and operated in the Fergana Valley but does
not openly advocate violence.
(SFC, 10/15/01,
p.A4)(www.uzland.info/2000/december/12_21.htm)
2001 Apr, The IMF planned to
shut its Uzbekistan office following years of attempts to reform the
corrupt economy and disagreements with Pres. Islam Karimov.
(WSJ, 3/27/00, p.A18)
2001 Jun 14, A forum in China
inducted Uzbekistan as the 6th member of a regional group (the
Shanghai Five) that included China, Russia, Kazakstan, Kyrgyzstan
and Tajikistan. The 5-year-old group hoped to counterbalance US
influence and fight Islamic separatism.
(SFC, 6/15/01, p.D6)(WSJ, 6/14/01, p.C11)
2001 Jun 15, The Shanghai Five
member nations (China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Russia),
having admitted Uzbekistan, signed the Declaration of Shanghai
Cooperation Organization.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shanghai_Cooperation_Organisation)
2001 Jul, Gulnora
Karimova-Maqsudi (29), daughter of Pres. Karimov, separated from her
husband, Mansur Maqsudi (34), president of the local Coca Cola
bottling company. Government inspectors soon descended on his main
bottling plant in Tashkent.
(WSJ, 8/21/01, p.A1)
2001 Jul, The IMU attacked
government troops in southern Uzbekistan and a TV transmitter in
southern Kyrgyzstan.
(AP, 3/30/04)
2001 Sep 24, Kazakstan offered
air and military bases to the US for attacks on Afghanistan.
Tajikistan and Uzbekistan were said to be negotiating use of their
territory by the US.
(SFC, 9/25/01, p.A6)
2001 Oct 12, The US indicated
it would aid Uzbekistan if it were attacked. Uzbekistan was the
first among Central Asian nations to allow the US to use its
airspace and deploy troops on its territory for the anti-terrorism
war in Afghanistan after the Sept. 11 attacks. The United States set
up a military base in southern Uzbekistan, deploying hundreds of
troops there.
(WSJ, 10/15/01, p.A16)(AP, 3/30/04)
2001 Nov 20, Pres. Islam
Karimov continued to deny aid convoys access to the Friendship
Bridge over the Amu Darya River to Afghanistan and forced transfer
to barges.
(WSJ, 11/21/01, p.A11)
2001 Nov, Juma Namangani,
al-Qaeda member and co-founder of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan
(IMU), died following critical injuries from US bombing in Kunduz,
Afghanistan.
(SFC, 12/7/01, p.F1)
2001 Dec 9, The Friendship
Bridge linking Afghanistan and Uzbekistan was opened for aid
transport.
(SFC, 12/10/01, p.A12)
2002 Jan 27, In Uzbekistan a
referendum, largely regarded as rigged, extended Pres. Islam
Karimov’s term to 7 years from 5.
(WSJ, 5/13/02, p.A13)(AP, 3/30/04)
2002 Mar, Uzbekistan and the
United States signed a strategic partnership agreement that boosted
U.S. aid to the country.
(AP, 3/30/04)
2002 Apr 5, The Uzbek
parliament voted to hold presidential elections in Dec 2007, adding
2 years to the term of Pres. Islam Karimov (64).
(SFC, 4/6/02, p.A8)
2002 Jun 9, U.S. military
officials reported that traces of nerve agents and mustard gas were
found in three locations at a U.S. base in Uzbekistan. Later tests
reported no contamination.
(AP, 6/9/02)(SFC, 6/10/02, p.A12)(SFC, 6/24/02,
p.A12)
2002 Aug 8, The bodies of two
Uzbek prisoners, Muzafar Avazov and Khusnuddin Olimov, who died in
custody while jailed for alleged religious extremism were returned
to their families for burial. Both men were jailed for membership in
the banned Islamic group Hizb-ut-Tahrir.
(AP, 8/8/02)
2002 Aug 29, Uzbek Pres.
Karimov urged democratic changes.
(SFC, 8/30/02, p.A18)
2002 Dec 6, A U.N. envoy
wrapped up an inspection of Uzbekistan's prisons by saying he found
signs of systematic torture despite being denied full access to two
of the most notorious jails.
(AP, 12/6/02)
2002 Uzbekistan lifted official
censorship.
(Econ, 3/27/04, p.44)
2003 Jan 21, In Uzbekistan a
series of stories, posted on the Internet in early January before
access was cut off, have alleged high-level corruption and the
president's imminent resignation, stirring rare public debate.
(AP, 1/21/03)
2003 Feb 17, Uzbek
journalist Ergash Bobozhonov (61), who wrote articles published
abroad criticizing corruption among officials, was arrested and
faced charges including libel.
(AP, 2/22/03)
2003 Sep 23, China signed
agreements with Russia and four Central Asian neighbors (Uzbekistan,
Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Kazakhstan) in an effort to strengthen a
7-year-old security alliance and encourage economic links across a
largely undeveloped region.
(AP, 9/23/03)
2003 Oct, Uzbekistan made its
currency, the som, convertible, but foreign exchange was still made
difficult by the banks.
(Econ, 3/27/04, p.44)
2003 Dec 11, Uzbekistan said it
will let the US station troops to help fight terrorism, but would
not permit permanent deployment.
(WSJ, 12/12/03, p.A1)
2003 Dec 29, Paul Goldman, a
native of Uzbekistan, stabbed and killed Faina Zonis in the
Philadelphia suburb of Bensalem. Goldman soon fled the country.
Police found his parents dead by suicide on Jan 13.
(SFC, 1/17/04, p.A4)
2003 The European Bank for
Reconstruction and Development held its annual meeting in Tashkent,
Uzbekistan.
(Econ, 5/21/05, p.14)
2004 Jan 13, In Tashkent,
Uzbekistan, a domestic airliner crashed on approach to the airport.
All 37 people, including the top U.N. official for Uzbekistan, were
killed.
(AP, 1/13/04)
2004 Feb 24, An Uzbek court
ordered the release of Fatima Mukadirova (62), a woman convicted of
anti-constitutional activity after publicizing her son's death in
prison from torture.
(AP, 2/24/04)
2004 Mar 28-2004 Mar 29, In
Uzbekistan 2 suicide bombings, attacks on police and an explosion at
an terrorist bomb-making factory in Kakhramon killed 19 people and
injured 26. The explosion led to 4 days of violence that left at
least 47 people dead in including 33 militants.
(AP, 3/29/04)(SSFC, 4/4/04, p.A22)
2004 Mar 30, In Uzbekistan
gunfire and explosions resounded in Tashkent as government forces
battled for hours with suspected Islamic militants after two more
suicide attacks. Officials claimed 20 terrorists and three police
died in the fighting.
(AP, 3/30/04)
2004 Apr 1, In Uzbekistan a
woman blew herself up in the central Bukhara region, killing a man
and critically injuring herself.
(AP, 4/1/04)
2004 Apr 19, The Uzbek
government labeled the activities of George Soros' foundation
"undesirable" after the billionaire philanthropist said its office
was being forced to close and blasted human rights abuses in this
Central Asian nation.
(AP, 4/19/04)
2004 May 18, In Uzbekistan
Andrei Shelkavenko (36) died in police custody from apparent
torture. Human Rights Watch said this was the fifth death from
torture in Uzbek police custody since May 2003. Shelkavenko had been
arrested 3 weeks earlier on suspicion of murder.
(AP, 5/21/04)
2004 Jun 16, President Vladimir
Putin signed a strategic partnership deal with Uzbekistan, seeking
to restore Russian influence.
(AP, 6/16/04)
2004 Jun, The first Confucius
Institute, designed to promote the study of Chinese abroad, was
established in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. The 75th was established in
Cracow, Poland, in 2006.
(Econ, 7/8/06, p.38)
2004 Jul 13, The US State Dept.
announced that Uzbekistan had not passed the test for assistance
this year.
(Econ, 7/17/04, p.43)
2004 Jul 30, In Uzbekistan
suicide bombers hit the U.S. and Israeli embassies, killing at least
two Uzbeks.
(AP, 7/30/04)
2004 Aug 28, The foreign
ministers of Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan
approved Russian membership to their economic block at talks in
Astana, the Kazakh capital.
(AP, 8/28/04)
2004 Oct 15, Craig Murray,
Britain's former ambassador to Uzbekistan, said he is a "victim of
conscience" for having dared to speak out against human rights
outrages. Murray had highlighted the allegedly systematic use of
torture, including the alleged boiling to death of two prisoners, by
Uzbek authorities.
(AP, 10/15/04)
2004 Nov 6, Atonazar Arifov,
head of the Uzbek unregistered opposition Erk party, announced that
Erk would boycott next month's parliamentary vote, saying the
government has failed to embrace democracy and calling on the
international community to ignore the election.
(AP, 11/6/04)
2004 Dec 26, Uzbekistan held
elections and all opposition groups were barred from running for
office. Europe's top election watchdog criticized the parliamentary
vote.
(AP, 12/26/04)
2005 Mar 6, Pakistani President
Pervez Musharraf, ending years of chilly relations with Uzbekistan,
promised to catch and extradite any Uzbek-born terrorist hiding in
his country.
(AP, 3/6/05)
2005 May 12, In Andijan,
Uzbekistan, supporters of 23 jailed local businessmen stormed the
jail where they were held freeing them and other prisoners. The
businessmen had been jailed as alleged Islamic extremists.
(Econ, 10/1/05, p.39)
2005 May 13, In Andijan,
Uzbekistan, soldiers opened fire on thousands of protesters after
demonstrators stormed a jail to free 23 local businessmen accused of
Islamic extremism. The next day Pres. Karimov said 10 soldiers were
killed in the clash. An estimated 700-1000 demonstrators were
killed. The Uzbek government put the death toll at 187.
(AP, 5/13/05)(SSFC, 5/15/05, p.A10)(Econ,
10/1/05, p.39)
2005 May 14, Thousands of
terrified Uzbeks waiting to flee across the border into Kyrgyzstan
stormed government buildings, torched police cars and attacked
border guards in a 2nd day of violence spawned by an uprising
against the iron-fisted rule of US-allied Pres. Islam Karimov.
(AP, 5/14/05)
2005 May 15, In eastern
Uzbekistan groups of attackers killed several soldiers before
fleeing across the border into Kyrgyzstan. About 500 bodies were
laid out in nearby Tefektosh, where troops fired on a crowd of
protesters.
(AP, 5/15/05)
2005 May 16, Gunfire persisted
in the eastern city of Andijan where Uzbek security forces fired on
protesters last week, a clash that reportedly left several hundred
dead. New accounts emerged that violence in nearby towns killed
hundreds more.
(AP, 5/16/05)
2005 May 17, Uzbekistan's top
prosecutor said that 169 people were killed in last week's violence
in the eastern town of Andijan. opposition activists maintained more
than 700 died, most of them civilians.
(AP, 5/17/05)(AP, 5/18/05)
2005 May 18, A Muslim rebel
group claimed it had seized control of Korasuv, a small Uzbek town
on the border of Kyrgyzstan, and vowed to build an Islamic state.
(AP, 5/18/05)
2005 May 19, Uzbekistan troops
retook an eastern Uzbek town from rebels who said they would build
an Islamic state, arresting the group's leaders. Uzbekistan said it
opposes an int’l. investigation into Andijan.
(AP, 5/19/05)(WSJ, 9/2/05, p.A13)
2005 May 20, The EU and NATO
called for an int’l. investigation into the May 13 suppression of
protestors at Andijan, Uzbekistan.
(WSJ, 9/2/05, p.A13)
2005 May 22, A top Kyrgyz
official said Uzbeks who fled into neighboring Kyrgyzstan to escape
violence in their Central Asian country are not refugees and must
return home.
(AP, 5/22/05)
2005 May 25, China rolled out
the red carpet for Uzbekistan's Pres. Karimov, underscoring the
importance it places on curbing the rise of Islamic militancy as it
welcomed the authoritarian leader criticized in the West for a
bloody crackdown on protesters. China signed a $600 million joint
oil venture with Uzbekistan.
(AP, 5/25/05)(WSJ, 5/26/05, p.A1)
2005 Jun 9, Russia said it will
not back an int’l. investigation into the May 13 suppression of
protestors at Andijan, Uzbekistan.
(WSJ, 9/2/05, p.A13)
2005 Jun 27, The UN said it
wanted to move hundreds of Uzbek refugees to third countries from
camps in Kyrgyzstan because there were fears Uzbekistan might try to
snatch them and take them home by force.
(AP, 6/27/05)
2005 Jul 5, An alliance of
Russia, China and central Asian nations called for the US and
coalition members in Afghanistan to set a date for withdrawing from
member states, reflecting growing unease over America's regional
military presence. The Shanghai Cooperation Organization includes
China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
(AP, 7/5/05)
2005 Jul 27, The UN started
evacuating more than 400 refugees from a camp in Kyrgyzstan and will
fly them to a third country to keep them from being sent home to
Uzbekistan where they fear prosecution. Uzbekistan has been
pressuring Kyrgyzstan to hand over the refugees, and Kyrgyz
officials relented in recent weeks, sending at least 87 of them
back.
(AP, 7/27/05)
2005 Jul 29, A plane with 440
Uzbek refugees left Kyrgyzstan for Romania.
(AP, 7/29/05)
2005 Jul 29, Uzbekistan
notified the State Department that US military aircraft and
personnel must leave Karshi-Khanabad air base, commonly referred to
as K2, that has been an important hub for American military
operations in Afghanistan.
(AP, 7/30/05)
2005 Aug 1, A prosecutor said
that Kyrgyzstan will send 15 Uzbeks asylum seekers back to their
home country, despite pleas from the United Nations and rights
groups that it violates international treaties on refugees.
(AP, 8/1/05)
2005 Sep 12, Uzbekistan,
increasingly hostile toward foreign non-governmental organizations
it accuses of fomenting revolution in the ex-Soviet state, shut a
second US charity in four days.
(AP, 9/13/05)
2005 Sep 20, In Tashkent 15 men
pleaded guilty to participating in an uprising in eastern Uzbekistan
in May that led to what human rights groups say was a government
crackdown that left more than 700 dead.
(AP, 9/20/05)
2005 Sep 26, In Tashkent 3
defendants accused of launching a revolt to bring Islamic rule to
Uzbekistan told a court they trained at military camps in
neighboring Kyrgyzstan, backing the government's claim of a
conspiracy that included foreign fighters and funding.
(AP, 9/26/05)
2005 Sep 27, A senior US State
Department official said the president of Uzbekistan made it clear
that American forces must leave their air base in the Central Asian
country, and the U.S. intends to do so "without further discussion."
(AP, 9/27/05)
2005 Oct 3, The EU imposed an
arms embargo on Uzbekistan, cut aid, and suspended a cooperation
accord to punish the increasingly isolated country for refusing to
investigate the violent suppression of an uprising in May.
(AP, 10/3/05)
2005 Oct 3, The UN ambassadors
of Britain, France and the US sent a letter emphasizing their
continued opposition to a proposal to create a nuclear-weapons free
zone in Central Asia. The letter, sent to the UN ambassadors of the
five Central Asian nations, says that a draft treaty to create the
zone still does not address their biggest concerns and that further
discussions are needed. It calls for consultations "very soon." The
five nations agreed to the draft text for a Central Asian
nuclear-free zone in February. Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan,
Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan had originally put forward a proposal
for a nuclear-weapon free zone in 1997, but divisions both internal
and external over the text have stalled progress. Moscow claims that
a 1992 treaty that Russia signed with Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and
Tajikistan could allow missiles to be deployed in the region.
(AP, 10/4/05)
2005 Oct 5, In a move meant to
send a message to Uzbekistan, the US Senate voted to block the
payment of $23 million for past use of an air base that the Uzbek
government recently said will no longer host U.S. aircraft and
troops.
(AP, 10/5/05)
2005 Oct 24, Sanjar Umarov, an
Uzbek opposition leader, was arrested on embezzlement charges.
Umarov, chairman of the Sunshine Coalition, pushed for an easing of
the country's autocratic rule.
(AP, 10/24/05)
2005 Nov 14, Uzbekistan's
highest court convicted 15 men of organizing a May uprising that
ended when troops fired into the crowd, killing more than 180
people. They were sentenced to prison terms of up to 20 years.
(AP, 11/14/05)
2005 Nov 14, Russia and
Uzbekistan signed a far-reaching treaty opening the way for a
Russian military deployment in the Central Asian nation that evicted
U.S. forces and bristled at Western criticism of the brutal
suppression of a May uprising.
(AP, 11/15/05)
2005 Nov 23, A NATO official
said Uzbekistan has told NATO allies they can no longer use its
territory or airspace to support peacekeeping missions in
neighboring Afghanistan.
(AP, 11/23/05)
2005 Nov 24, Uzbek authorities
arrested Rukhitdin Fahrutdinov (38), an alleged Islamic radical and
their most wanted fugitive, who had been hiding out in neighboring
Kazakhstan. Human Rights Watch said Fahrutdinov was detained in
Shymkent with at least 8 other Uzbek suspects and that all were
extradited secretly and forcibly.
(AP, 12/24/05)
2005 Dec 5, Officials said
courts in Uzbekistan have convicted another 58 alleged participants
of the May uprising in Andijan and sentenced them to up to 20 years
in prison.
(AP, 12/05/05)
2005 Dec 21, Uzbekistan courts
sentenced 42 people to between 12 and 20 years in prison in
connection with the May uprising in the eastern city of Andijan,
which was brutally suppressed by government troops.
(AP, 12/21/05)(SFC, 12/22/05, p.A3)
2005 Dec 28, Uzbekistan's
highest court sentenced 11 policemen, soldiers and prison doctors to
up to 11 years in prison in connection with the May uprising in the
eastern city of Andijan.
(AP, 12/29/05)
2005 The population of
Uzbekistan was about 26 million.
(SFC, 10/12/01, p.A16)(WSJ, 5/4/05, p.A17)
2006 Mar 6, Sandjar Umarov,
chairman of the opposition Sunshine Uzbekistan group, was sentenced
to more than 10 years in prison on charges of organizing a criminal
group, tax evasion and money laundering. Umarov pleaded innocent to
all charges.
(AP, 3/6/06)
2006 Jun 15, The Shanghai
Cooperation Organization, a Russian and Chinese-led bloc of Asian
states, said it plans to set up an expert group to boost computer
security and help guard against threats to their regimes from the
Internet. SCO members (China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan,
Tajikistan and Uzbekistan) are mostly authoritarian states that
maintain tight controls on communications technology, including the
Internet.
(AP, 6/15/06)
2006 Jun 23, The leaders of
EurAsEC countries convened in Minsk, Belarus, for the 16th session
of the Interstate Council of Eurasian Economic Community. The Summit
was attended by the President of Uzbekistan Islam Karimov, Belarus
President Alexander Lukashenko, President of Kazakhstan Nursultan
Nazarbayev, President of Russia Vladimir Putin, President of
Kyrgyzstan Kurmanbek Bakiyeva and the President of Tajikistan
Emomali Rakhmonov.
(www.press-service.uz/en/content.scm?contentId=22610)
2006 Jul 18, Kyrgyz police in
Osh arrested six men suspected of taking part in an uprising in
neighboring Uzbekistan last year and seized 14 ounces of TNT from
them.
(AP, 7/19/06)
2006 Sep 9, Five central Asian
countries (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan,
Uzbekistan) signed a nuclear-free zone treaty, but it did not cancel
out a 1992 agreement to allow Russia to transport and deploy nuclear
weapons there under certain circumstances.
(SSFC, 9/10/06, p.A18)
2006 Oct 5, In Uzbekistan a
court sentenced Ulugbek Khaidarov, an independent rights activist
and journalist, to six years in jail for extortion amid a sweeping
government crackdown on dissidents in the tightly controlled
ex-Soviet state.
(AP, 10/6/06)
2006 Nov 20, Uzbekistan blocked
a UN resolution backed by the US and Western nations criticizing its
human rights violations, including the harassment, beatings and
arrests of journalists and civil activists.
(AP, 11/20/06)
2007 Jan 4, In Uzbekistan Elena
Urlayeva, a prominent human rights advocate, was attacked and beaten
by a group of women she said were sent by police. Urlayeva has
accused the tightly controlled ex-Soviet state of abuse and torture.
(AP, 1/5/07)
2007 Jan 14, Gulbakhor
Turayeva, an Uzbek doctor and rights advocate, was arrested for
allegedly possessing banned literature. She claimed to have seen
hundreds of bodies in the bloody crackdown of the 2005 Andijan
uprising.
(AP, 1/17/07)
2007 Mar 15, A rights group
said Mukhammadali Karabayev, an Uzbek opposition activist, has been
sentenced to six years in prison on extortion and fraud charges amid
a sweeping crackdown on dissent in the tightly controlled ex-Soviet
republic.
(AP, 3/15/07)
2007 Mar 19, In northwestern
Pakistan pro-government tribesman and Uzbek militants clashed,
leaving about 30 dead in fighting that began after an Arab was found
shot to death in the area.
(AP, 3/20/07)
2007 Mar 23, In Pakistan Ali
Mohammed Jan Aurakzai, the North West Frontier Province governor,
said clashes between Pakistani tribesmen and foreign militants near
the Afghan border this week have left up to 160 people dead,
including about 130 Uzbek and Chechen fighters. Officials said
warring tribesmen and foreign Al-Qaeda militants have agreed to a
ceasefire after four days of bloodshed in the border region.
(AP, 3/23/07)
2007 Apr 4, Heavy fighting
between Pakistani tribesmen and foreign militants allegedly linked
to al-Qaida killed 60 people near the Afghan border. About 50 of
those killed in the past 24 hours in the South Waziristan region
were Uzbeks. The main commander of the tribal militia battling the
foreign militants is Maulvi Nazir, a known Taliban sympathizer who
the government says has come over to its side.
(AP, 4/4/07)
2007 May 14, EU foreign
ministers decided to drop a visa ban against four Uzbek officials,
while extending other sanctions against the Central Asian nation
imposed after a crackdown on an uprising in 2005.
(AP, 5/14/07)
2007 May 23, Yuri Chernogayev,
an Uzbek reporter for German broadcaster, said he faces up to 10
years in prison after being accused of defaming President Islam
Karimov.
(AP, 5/23/07)
2007 Aug 17, The six members of
the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) held their first joint
maneuvers on Russian land in a demonstration of their growing
military ties and a shared desire to counter US global clout. The
presidents of Russia, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and
Uzbekistan attended the unprecedented joint military exercises in
Chelyabinsk near the Kazakh border.
(AFP, 8/17/07)
2007 Sep 6, Mark Weil (55), an
Uzbek theater director whose productions caused controversy in the
tightly controlled former Soviet republic, was stabbed to death
outside his home in Tashkent. The llkhom Theater of Tashkent, which
Weil founded in 1(SFC, 5/16/08, p.)976, was the first independent
theater in the Soviet Union.
(AP, 9/8/07)(SFC, 5/17/08, p.E10)
2007 Oct 23,
In Uzbekistan Karim Bozorboyev, leader of the Esguliq rights
group in the central city of Syrdarya, was arrested and charged with
fraud. Bozorboyev joined the group in 2004, after he left
Fidokorlar, a government-affiliated political party, saying he was
disgusted by the amount of corruption among Uzbek officials.
(AP, 10/24/07)
2007 Oct 24,
In southern Kyrgyzstan Alisher Saipov (26), a prominent
independent ethnic-Uzbek journalist, was shot to death. He had close
ties to the opposition to the authoritarian regime in neighboring
Uzbekistan.
(AP, 10/24/07)(Econ, 6/19/10, p.28)
2007 Nov 13, In Uzbekistan the
body of Fitrat Salakhiddinov (40), a prisoner convicted of Islamic
extremism, was delivered to his family with signs of torture.
(AP, 11/22/07)
2007 Nov 15, In Uzbekistan the
body of Takhir Nurmukhammedov (42) was delivered to his family and
it was clear he had been brutally tortured. Nurmukhammedov was
arrested in April 2002 and convicted of membership in Hizb-ut
Tahrir, a banned Islamic sect, and of plotting to overthrow the
government. He was sentenced to eight years in prison.
(AP, 11/22/07)
2007 Nov 19, Uzbekistan's
electoral commission said Pres. Karimov (69) has registered as a
candidate in next month's election, even though the constitution
bars him from seeking a third consecutive term.
(AP, 11/19/07)
2007 Dec 3, A colleague said
Karim Bozorboyev, a prominent Uzbek human rights activist, has been
sentenced to six years and three months in jail as part of a
crackdown on dissidents and government critics.
(AP, 12/3/07)
2007 Dec 23, Uzbeks cast
ballots in a tightly controlled presidential vote. Authoritarian
President Islam Karimov won a new term in office with 88.1 percent
of the votes in an election dismissed by critics as a sham.
(AP, 12/24/07)
2008 Jan 1, In Uzbekistan as of
this day execution by firing squad will no longer be legal, and the
maximum sentence will be life or long-term imprisonment. The reforms
have been incorporated into new criminal code and were sanctioned by
a presidential decree signed by Islam Karimov.
(http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=40819)
2008 Jan 16, Uzbekistan's
President Islam Karimov was sworn in for a third presidential term,
despite a constitutional two-term limit. Freedom House, a US-based
democracy watchdog, said in its annual report that Uzbekistan
remains among the world's most repressive societies.
(AP, 1/16/08)
2008 Jan 25, The commander of
US forces in Central Asia met with Uzbek President Islam Karimov,
the first visit by a high-level US military officer since the
authoritarian leader evicted American troops amid Western criticism
of a bloody government crackdown.
(AP, 1/25/08)
2008 Mar 5, A NATO official
said that Uzbekistan has allowed some members of the alliance,
including the US, to use an air base on its territory in a signal of
thawing relations with the West.
(AP, 3/5/08)
2008 Jul 10, In Uzbekistan a
fire at a Soviet-era military base spread to an ammunition depot,
igniting a series of powerful explosions that killed three people
and injured 21 others.
(AP, 7/10/08)
2009 Jan 20, The head of US
Central Command said the US has struck deals with Russia and
neighboring countries allowing it to transport supplies to American
troops in Afghanistan through their territory. US officials have
said that one likely route is overland from Russia through
Kazakhstan and on through Uzbekistan using trucks and trains.
Another possible route is via Azerbaijan across the Caspian Sea to
the Kazakh port of Aktau and then through Uzbekistan.
(AP, 1/20/09)
2009 Feb 4, Russia sought to
bolster its security alliance with six other ex-Soviet nations
(Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and
Uzbekistan) by forming a joint rapid reaction force in a continuing
effort to curb US influence in energy-rich Central Asia.
(AP, 2/4/09)
2009 Feb 20, Kyrgyzstan ordered
US forces to depart within six months from an air base key to
military operations in Afghanistan, complicating plans to send more
troops to battle rising Taliban and al-Qaida violence. A US military
official said Uzbekistan will allow non-lethal US military cargo
heading to Afghanistan to transit through the country.
(AP, 2/20/09)
2009 Feb 25, Uzbek President
Islam Karimov said he would allow the US to transport non-military
supplies through his country as part of a new supply route to
Afghanistan.
(AP, 2/25/09)
2009 Jun 16, China’s Pres. Hu
Jintao announced a $10 billion loan to the Shanghai Cooperation
Organization, founded in 2001. The SCO grouped China, Russia,
Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.
(Econ, 1/30/10,
p.51)(http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-06/16/content_11552439.htm)
2009 Jun 21, Ukrainian border
guards seized 250 turtles being smuggled into the country on a train
from Uzbekistan, where they had been hidden and strapped down with
tape to prevent them from moving.
(AFP, 6/22/09)
2009 Sep 27, Two Uzbeks,
including Oybek Jabbarov (31), freed from the Guantanamo Bay prison
arrived in Ireland. Amnesty International appealed to other EU
nations to deliver on pledges to give new homes to US terror
detainees.
(AP, 9/27/09)
2009 Nov 30, Tajikistan
unveiled a Chinese-built 500-kilowatt transmission line that will
link the northern and central parts of the country. This would add
to the poor nation's debt to China but reduce reliance on
Uzbekistan, which planned to withdraw on Dec 1 from the Soviet-era
power grid that unites four Central Asian countries. This prompted
fears of electricity shortages that could make for a winter of
hardship in impoverished Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. Tajikistan, said
the move will cut it off from gas-rich Turkmenistan.
(AP, 11/30/09)
2009 Dec 14, China’s Pres. Hu
Jintao and the leaders of Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan
gathered at the Saman-Depe gas field in Turkmenistan and inaugurated
a 1,139-mile gas pipeline running through Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan
to China’s Xinjiang province.
(Econ, 1/30/10,
p.51)(www.wsws.org/articles/2009/dec2009/pipe-d21.shtml)
2009 Dilip Hiro authored
“Inside Central Asia: A Political and Cultural History of
Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkey
and Iran.”
(Econ, 9/26/09, p.98)
2009 Daniel Metcalfe authored
“Out of Steppe: The Lost Peoples of Central Asia.” He describes such
people as the Karakalpak in Uzbekistan, the Yaghnobi in people of
Tajikistan, the Jews of Bukhara and the Germans of Kazakhstan.
(Econ, 5/16/09, p.91)
2010 Jan 27, NATO's top officer
said that Russia had agreed to boost cooperation with the alliance
in Afghanistan, including opening more transit routes for supplies
to international troops and helping service Soviet-built helicopters
used by the security forces. NATO said it had finalized an agreement
with Kazakhstan to open the last leg on an overland route to
Afghanistan from Europe via Russia, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan,
offering an alternative to the one through Pakistan.
(AP, 1/27/10)(AP, 1/28/10)
2010 Feb, In Uzbekistan the
health ministry ordered all medical facilities to “strengthen
control over the medical examination of women of childbearing age.”
Rights groups later alleged that hundreds of Uzbek women have been
surgically sterilized without their knowledge or consent
(SSFC, 7/18/10, p.A6)
2010 Mar 1, A Russian human
rights group said the government of Uzbekistan has falsely accused
about 200 people of killing officials and plotting a coup in the
authoritarian Central Asian nation.
(AP, 3/1/10)
2010 Mar 2, In Uzbekistan an
independent think-tank and a rights group claimed that authorities
have instructed health workers to surgically sterilize women as part
of a government campaign to reduce the birth rate.
(AP, 3/2/10)
2010 Apr 4, In Uzbekistan UN
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called the drying up of the Aral Sea
one of the planet's most shocking disasters and urged Central Asian
leaders to step up efforts to solve the problem.
(AP, 4/4/10)
2010 Apr 5, UN
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged Uzbekistan to fulfill its
international human rights commitments and take further steps toward
improving the repressive political climate in the Central Asian
nation.
(AP, 4/5/10)
2010 Apr 6, UN
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon criticized as "unacceptable"
Uzbekistan's placing of land mines along parts of its border with
Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan that have not been delineated.
(AP, 4/6/10)
2010 May 28, US Gen. Stanley
McChrystal, and other dignitaries officially launched the
construction of a rail link between northern Afghanistan and
neighboring Uzbekistan.
(AP, 5/28/10)
2010 Jun 10, In Kyrgyzstan five
simultaneous attacks by masked men carrying guns took place in Osh.
The perpetrators were said to be Bakiyev-financed criminal gangs and
ethnic Uzbek groups financed by someone else.
(Econ, 6/19/10, p.27)
2010 Jun 13, Kyrgyz mobs burned
Uzbek villages and slaughtered their residents in the worst ethnic
rioting this Central Asian nation has seen in 20 years. Officials
said more than 75,000 Uzbek refugees have fled the rising ethnic
violence, amid reports of Kyrgyz mobs torching Uzbek villages and
slaughtering their residents. At least 371 people were killed in the
rioting that began on June 10.
(AP, 6/13/10)(Econ, 10/2/10, p.44)
2010 Jun 14, Some 100,000
minority Uzbeks fleeing a purge by mobs of Kyrgyz massed at the
border, as the deadliest ethnic violence to hit this Central Asian
nation in decades as fires raged in the southern city of Osh for a
fourth day.
(AP, 6/14/10)
2010 Jun 15, The Int’l. Red
Cross said several hundred people have been killed in Kyrgyzstan
since rioting began on June 10. The interim government blamed the
inner circle of former Pres. Bakiyev for inciting the rioting.
Uzbekistan closed its borders saying it could take no more refugees.
(AP, 6/15/10)(SFC, 6/16/10, p.A5)(Econ, 6/19/10,
p.26)
2010 Jun 17, The United Nations
said some 400,000 people have been displaced by ethnic violence in
southern Kyrgyzstan, dramatically increasing the official estimate
of a crisis that has left throngs of desperate, fearful refugees
without enough food and water in grim camps along the Uzbek border.
(AP, 6/17/10)
2010 Jun 19, A top US envoy
called for an independent investigation into the violence that has
devastated southern Kyrgyzstan, as amateur video emerged of unarmed
Uzbeks gathering to defend their town during the attacks.
(AP, 6/19/10)
2010 Jun 21, Kyrgyz government
forces swept into an ethnic Uzbek village, beating men and women
with rifle butts in an assault that left at least two dead and more
than 20 wounded.
(AP, 6/21/10)
2010 Jul 21, Kyrgyzstan police
detained Akhmat Bakiyev, a brother of deposed President Kurmanbek
Bakiyev, in the latest effort to solidify control over the country's
tense south and dismantle the former leader's entourage.
International health and rights groups said that minority ethnic
Uzbeks in southern Kyrgyzstan are being deprived of medical
treatment and opportunities to seek refuge in neighboring
Uzbekistan.
(AP, 7/21/10)(AP, 7/22/10)
2010 Nov 24, A court in
southern Kyrgyzstan sentenced 17 people to life in jail for violence
that wracked the region in June. Judge Damirbek Nazarov ruled the
men killed 16 people on the highway linking the south with the
capital, Bishkek. All defendants in the trial that ended the
previous day were ethnic Uzbeks. International rights activists
largely agree the Uzbek minority sustained the bulk of the violence
that left 370 people dead.
(AP, 11/24/10)
2010 Dec 30, The Independent
Human Rights Defenders Group said at least 39 people have died of
torture in prisons of authoritarian Uzbekistan this year amid a
spiraling crackdown on religious groups and government critics.
(AP, 12/30/10)
2010 The population of
Uzbekistan was about 27 million.
(SSFC, 7/18/10, p.A6)
2011 Jan 20, The Islamic
Movement of Uzbekistan said in an online post that Bekkay Harrach,
known by the pseudonym Abu Talha al-Almani, "Abu Talha the German,"
was killed leading an attack on the Bagram Air Field in Afghanistan.
It didn't specify when.
(AP, 1/20/11)
2011 Feb 22, German authorities
arrested two Germans suspected of involvement with the Islamic
Movement of Uzbekistan, a terrorist group suspected of links to
al-Qaida.
(AP, 2/23/11)
2011 Mar 15, Human Rights Watch
said that it has been forced to close its office in Uzbekistan after
facing years of harassment by the Central Asian nation's
authorities.
(AP, 3/15/11)
2011 Jun, UN Statistics
Division said 70 territories would be holding censuses in 2011. Only
Iraq, Lebanon, Myanmar, Somalia, Uzbekistan and Western Sahara would
fail to hold a count in this ten-year round.
(Econ, 6/4/11, p.71)
2011 Jul 20, A magnitude-6.1
temblor centered in Kyrgyzstan hit shortly after midnight in a
mountainous area some 20 miles (35 km) away from the eastern Uzbek
city of Ferghana, which has a population of more than 200,000. The
earthquake killed at least 14 people, including 13 in Uzbekistan and
one in Tajikistan.
(AP, 7/20/11)
2011 Aug 11, Online media said
authorities in Uzbekistan have blocked dozens of Internet sites in
an apparent attempt to further stem the flow of information into the
authoritarian Central Asian nation.
(AP, 8/11/11)
2011 Aug 24, South Korean
President Lee Myung-bak wrapped up a two-day state visit to
Uzbekistan that was crowned by an agreement to develop a major gas
field and build a chemicals plant in the country, energy deals worth
a total of around $4.1 billion.
(AP, 8/24/11)
2011 Sep 3, In Tajikistan
leaders from eight former Soviet states (Armenia, Azerbaijan,
Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, Ukraine and Uzbekistan)
gathered to celebrate enduring cooperation over the two decades
since their nations collectively gained independence, but mutual
acrimony and recriminations cast a shadow over the event.
(AP, 9/3/11)
2011 Dec 21, Operators ran the
first train down Afghanistan's first major railroad, clearing the
way for a long-awaited service from the northern border that should
speed up the US military's crucial supply flow and become a hub for
future trade. Uzbekistan's state-owned SE Sogdiana Trans will run
the commercial train service.
(AP, 12/21/11)
2012 Feb 10, In Alabama
Uzbekistan-born Ulugbek Kodirov (22) pleaded guilty to plotting to
kill Pres. Obama with a rifle. He claimed to be acting on behalf of
a terror group in his home country.
(SFC, 2/11/12, p.A5)
2015 Between Uzbekistan and
Kazakstan the surface area of the Aral Sea was projected to be down
to13,000 sq. km.
(WSJ, 2/5/98, p.A18)