Population: 25.98 million
Ethnic Composition:
80% Uzbek, 5.5% Russian, 5% Tajik, 3% Kazakh, 2.5% Karakalpak, 1.5% Tatar, 2.5% other
Religion: 88% Sunni Muslim, 9% Eastern Orthodox Christian, 3% other
Jewish population: 25-35,000
2000 Aliyah
(emigration to Israel): 2,276
1999 Emigration
to United States: 660
Size: 447,400 sq km
Capital: Tashkent
Major cities: Tashkent, Samarkand, Bukhara
Freedom House Rating:
Not Free
Currency: 970.125 sum = $1 (October 3, 2003)
GDP: $9.7 billion (2002)
GDP per capita: $382 (2002)
GDP Growth: 4.2% (2002)
Head of State:
President Islam Karimov
Head of Government:
Prime Minister Shavkat Mirziyayev
Foreign Minister:
Sadik Safaev
Washington Diplomat Profile
Ambassador to United States: Abdulaziz Kamilov
U.S. Ambassador to Uzbekistan:
Jon R. Purnell
(confirmed December 9, 2003)
Chronology of all U.S. envoys to Uzbekistan
SUMMARY
Historically independent, the Uzbek region was conquered by Russia in the 19th century, re-conquered by the Red Army, and regained its independence in August 1991. Currently an authoritarian regime, the Uzbek government has battled domestic terrorist groups, whose activity has also been disrupted by the recent U.S.-led “war on terror.”
With Central Asia’s largest population, economy and military, Uzbekistan wields considerable political leverage over its neighbors, though Uzbek unilateralism has created tension with Tajikistan and other neighboring countries. Until recently, relations with Russia were cool, but the rise of regional terrorist activity has seen a partial rapprochement between the two nations. As a result of cooperation with the war in Afghanistan, Uzbekistan now benefits from substantial U.S. economic aid, though Uzbekistan’s record on human rights continues to be an obstacle to closer relations.
A large Jewish community – known as Bukharan Jews – has existed in Uzbekistan for nearly 2,000 years. A wide variety of local and international Jewish organizations operate freely, and relations with the government are good. Jewish emigration to Israel and the U.S., steady during the 1980s and 1990s, has subsided somewhat in recent years and occurrences of anti-Semitism are uncommon. Uzbek-Israeli relations are good.
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REPUBLIC OF UZBEKISTAN
INTRODUCTION
POLITICAL SITUATION
Foreign Policy
ECONOMIC SITUATION
JEWISH COMMUNAL LIFE & ANTI-SEMITISM
U.S. POLICY
Uzbekistan, slightly larger than California, lies at the center of Central Asia. Landlocked, it borders Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan. Uzbekistan has Central Asia’s largest population.
The Uzbeks are descended from Turkic tribes of the Golden Horde who began settling in that region during the 15th century, mixing with native peoples. By the late 16th century, Uzbek khans controlled much of what now constitutes Central Asia. Russia controlled the region by the late 19th century; after suppressing Uzbek resistance, the Red Army re-conquered the area during the Russian civil war (1918-24). By 1936, Soviet officials had redrawn Central Asia’s borders, establishing Uzbekistan and the other republics as they are known today. Uzbekistan declared its independence from the Soviet Union on August 31, 1991.
Sergei Mikhailovich Prokudin-
Gorskii / Library of Congress
The Emir of Bukhara, 1911
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POLITICAL SITUATION
Uzbekistan has a parliamentary system of government with an executive, legislative and judicial branch. The President, the most powerful government official, is now elected every seven years by popular vote (next election: January 2007), and the unicameral parliament (Oliy Majlis) holds elections for its 250 seats every five years. The next election will be held in December 2004 when, as a result of a January 2002 referendum, Parliament will become bicameral. The President appoints the Prime Minister, the cabinet and Supreme Court justices, who are then approved by the Parliament. The judiciary is not considered independent.
Leader of Uzbekistan since 1990, President Islam Karimov extended his rule for five more years in the January 2000 presidential election, and by another two years in a January 2002 referendum. The U.S. State Department described the voting as “neither free nor fair.” Most parties were excluded from the 1999 parliamentary elections.
The government denies in practice many freedoms that are constitutionally protected. Independent non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and human rights groups are denied registration and the press is largely self-censored as a result of government repression. Law enforcement and the security services operate without constraints and human rights abuses are common.
Though religious freedom is officially guaranteed by the state, a 1998 law severely restricts the freedoms of “unofficial” religious organizations, especially Islamic groups perceived as radical. Most other religious communities have received government approval and are free to practice. Freedoms such as property rights, emigration and internal migration are otherwise generally respected.
Increased military operations in Central Asia in the wake of the September 11, 2001, attacks, and Uzbekistan’s repression of suspected Islamic extremists, has diminished the strength of radical Islamic groups that had posed a significant threat to the region’s stability; tfhe human rights community has criticized the government for detaining many suspects without cause. Karimov now faces a reduced threat to his power from the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU), which seeks to overthrow the government and install an Islamic regime. The U.S. Government in September 2002 re-designated the IMU as a Foreign Terrorist Organization linked to the Taliban and Osama bin Laden.
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Foreign Policy
As the power of the Commonwealth of Independent States waned in the late-1990s, Uzbekistan has sought regional leadership in Central Asia by stressing bilateral ties and agreements with its neighbors. In April 2000, Uzbekistan signed a ten-year cooperative defense and security agreement with the other Central Asian states.
Relations between all the nations of Central Asia were aggravated by a severe drought from 1998 throughout 2001, raising the specter of conflict over water rights.
Uzbek relations with Israel have been warm since their establishment in 1992, and the nations have reciprocal embassies. Several cooperation agreements have been signed on investment, science, culture, education, and trade, which is limited but growing: About 30 Uzbek-Israeli joint ventures do business in Uzbekistan, and in early 2000 the Uzbek state gas company signed a $160 million contract with an Israeli firm. President Karimov visited Israel in 1998 and, in September 2000, appealed to Israel for aid in combating the rise of Islamic violence in the region.
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ECONOMIC SITUATION
Uzbekistan was among the poorest of the Soviet republics, but following independence did not experience as drastic an economic downturn as most of the other successor states, due to its postponement of macroeconomic and structural reforms. Uzbekistan is the world’s second-largest cotton exporter as well as a major exporter of gold and natural gas, but plummeting world cotton and gold prices have had a sizeable impact on the Uzbek economy, which sank into recession in 1999.
Privatization has been mainly limited to small enterprises, and large firms and agriculture remain dominated by the state. Heavy regulation discourages foreign investment, and inflation was over 30 percent in 2002. Unemployment remains high.
Uzbekistan’s main trading partner is Russia, followed by South Korea and various European Union (EU) states.
In view of its high debt and poverty rates, Uzbekistan joined a CIS-7 initiative created in 2001 by international lending organizations to reform the financial structure of new loans. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) suspended aid to Uzbekistan in 1996, citing insufficient economic reform, but suggested it will resume financial assistance in 2003 if adequate reforms are enacted. The European Bank for Reconstruction & Development (EBRD) warned in March 2003 that Uzbekistan’s human rights record and rampant corruption could put funding in jeopardy, and in March 2004 suspended "business as usual" with the Uzbek government. The Asian Development Bank anticipates assistance of approximately $150 million annually from 2003-2005, but has also expressed concern at the Uzbek government’s ability to achieve needed reforms.
In March 2002, the U.S. Export-Import bank signed a $50 million credit guarantee to support US exports and the Uzbekistan National Bank for Foreign Economic Activity goods as well as mitigate US exporter risk.
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JEWISH COMMUNAL LIFE & ANTI-SEMITISM
A large Bukharan Jewish community has existed in Uzbekistan for centuries. The arrival of Jewish caravan merchants from Persia moving along the Silk Road possibly dates from before 100 C.E., and Bukhara was the region’s primary Jewish community during antiquity. The community remained largely intact through World War II, when many Ashkenazi Jews arrived to escape the German advance, and there are also several thousand Mountain, Georgian and other Jews.
Sergei Mikhailovich Prokudin-Gorskii / Library of CongressJewish children with teacher in Samarkand, 1911
In the late 1980s, there were approximately 120,000 Jews in Uzbekistan. Following the breakup of the Soviet Union, mass emigration – mostly to Israel but also to the United States and Germany – depleted Uzbekistan’s Jewish population by the thousands. Today, most Jews live in Tashkent, with smaller communities in Samarkand, Bukhara and Ferghana. Much smaller communities are scattered throughout rural areas. The Jewish community in Tashkent reports normal relations with the Uzbek government. Relations with other groups are generally good, and Jewish musicians are prominent on the Uzbek folk music scene.
The Federation of Jewish Communities (FJC) of Uzbekistan was founded in April 2000 as an umbrella group for the separate organizations maintained by the Ashkenazi and Bukharan communities. There are five synagogues in Tashkent and two each in Samarkand and Bukhara. Businessman Lev Leviev, president of the parent organization, the FJC of the CIS, also serves as president of the international Bukharan Jewish Congress.
The Tashkent Jewish Cultural Community Center (TJCCC) offers Hebrew, Yiddish and English language classes, youth clubs, summer camps and current affairs lectures. The TJCCC’s Children and Youth Orchestra, created in 2000, became a 2001 laureate of the International Jewish Arts Festival in Moscow. As of May 2002, the Chief Rabbi of the Central Asia continues to sponsor the Center’s activities while the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC/ “Joint”) distributes aid to the Jewish community through Hesed. The Tashkent Bukharan Cultural Center, established in 1992, operates a museum of Jewish life.
An Israeli Center in Tashkent administers a Hebrew-language ulpan, youth clubs, social and cultural programs, an orchestra, and other activities. Jewish schools are located throughout Uzbekistan including a yeshiva and a Jewish girls’ college. There are day schools in Tashkent, Samarkand, and Bukhara. Two Jewish heritage centers operate in Samarkand and Bukhara. The JDC is active in supporting community events and services. The Jewish Agency for Israel (JAFI/ “Sochnut”) office in Tashkent serves the entire Central Asia region, and runs a variety of programs in Uzbekistan as well.
In recent years, an increasing number of Jews have left Uzbekistan in the face of both rising nationalism and economic hardship. The Uzbek government does not hinder such emigration, but a byproduct of the ongoing aliyah has been the burglary of homes and workplaces of Jews who are known to be emigrating soon. Anti-Semitic incidents are uncommon, although Hizb ut-Tahrir, a fundamentalist Islamic political organization, continues to circulate strongly anti-Semitic leaflets.
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U.S. POLICY
NATO photo(l.-r.) U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell conferring with Uzbek Foreign Minister Abdulaziz Kamilov (now Ambassador to the United States) at Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Reykjavik, Iceland, May 2002
As the most prominent nation in Central Asia in economic size, population and military strength, Uzbekistan is of significant strategic interest to the United States. A member of NATO’s Partnership for Peace, Uzbekistan has a good record of cooperation with Western states on security issues and less success on issues of human rights.
Uzbekistan provides support for the U.S.-led efforts in Afghanistan. The United States established a major operations base at the Karshi-Khanabad (K-2) airbase outside Tashkent in 2001, from which it ran the air war in northern Afghanistan and coordinated Special Forces operations throughout Afghanistan. As of yet, the U.S. has not formally committed to a continuing military presence in Uzbekistan. Since September 11, 2001, the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman, Secretaries of State and Defense and over 70 members of Congress have paid visits to Tashkent.
The United States and Uzbekistan maintain a joint commission to discuss bilateral issues. In January 2000, the two countries signed an agreement on cooperation in the area of emergency management.
Trade between the two nations is limited, due in large part to official and unofficial Uzbek barriers to business activity. A U.S.-Uzbek “memorandum of understanding” on trade, signed in December 2001, has brought U.S. Trade Development Agency grants totaling $6 million to Uzbekistan in 2002. NGOs and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) provide humanitarian assistance in a variety of areas. By the end of 2002 the United States had provided roughly $160 million in aid. After evacuating nearly 100 Peace Corps volunteers in the wake of September 11, the number of volunteers is expected to rise to pre-September 11 levels in 2003.
In March 2003, President Karimov expressed full support for the U.S. position on Iraq, explaining that the use of force would certainly be justified and would not require a new UN resolution. While Uzbekistan plans to participate in the postwar reconstruction of Iraq, but not in military efforts, the country agreed to host American troops at an Uzbek air base.
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