Turkey and CARs;

Early 1990s were a very opportune moment for fast industrializing Turkey under free market regime, whose trained managers and experts because of ethnic, linguistic and religious affinities quickly became advisers and even ministers in the new CARs governments. Turkey provided loans amounting to US$750 millions. Turkish private sector investment runs into billions of dollars. Turks have established many industries and other businesses and run many hotels.

Turkey also arranged to train 10,000 students and teachers from the region. Turkish, spoken in Turkey, although purified of many Arabic and Persian words is quite similar to the Azeri and Turcoman language, but the languages spoken by Uzbeks, Kyrgyz and in Kazakhstan is somewhat different. Many Turks opened schools in Central Asia, too. Turkey also started beaming Avrasia TV programs to Central Asia, but with uneven results.

However, Turkish efforts to create an area of influence in Central Asia were thwarted by the newly independent leadership who were cautious and wanted good relations with all. Turkey also did not have the wherewithal to do it. A loose organization of Turkic states exists without having achieved much. USA had encouraged Turkey afraid that Russia would try to come back, which it did.

Nevertheless, fears that Iran would spread its version of fanatic Islam and support anti-US regimes proved farfetched. After an exhausting war with Iraq in the 1980s, in which Iran lost a million young people, there was little energy or money left to spread the Shi'a revolution. Except for the Azeris and some pockets, most people in Central Asia are Sunni Muslims, closer to the mystic Sufi way of life. Under USSR, they achieved a high level of education and a lifestyle of drinking and carefree living. It were the ill conceived US, Saudi and Pakistani policies that brought Wahhabi Islam to Central Asia.

Except For US, energy corporate interests in the Caspian basin the American leadership soon forgot the region. Yes, the US courted President Askar Akaev, promoting him as a model democrat and helped Kyrgyzstan enter the World Trade Organization in 1998. It was to have a friendly regime with freedom to base US personnel and sensing equipment to monitor China, next door.

Uzbekistan and election of Karimov- brief history;

The Soviet Republic of Uzbekistan was created from Soviet Turkistan under the influence of Jadids of Bukhara Khanate, to which were added the traditional Tajik cities of Bukhara and Samarkand, Khiva and Kokand Khantes with Tajikistan as its autonomous republic. In 1925, Mikhail Kalinin at the first Congress of the Republic’s Communist Party in Bukhara said that Uzbekistan would play a central, even hegemonistic role in Central Asia, but as an agent of the Soviet Union.

However, by 1929 with Stalin in charge, the situation had changed and Uzbekistan was cut to size with the creation of Tajikistan republic. The capital was shifted from Samarkand to Tashkent to realign its leadership. Throughout there has been competition between the elites from Samarkand and Bukhara region, Tashkent region and the Ferghana region based in Andijan. Ferghana is densely populated region and in some ways more religious in outlook.

How ever, even after 1929 Uzbekistan still remained and remains the most powerful Republic in the region. Its population is now 26 million compared to 4/5 millions each in neighboring Republics, except Kazakhstan, with its 16 millions with vast energy resources and even vaster area. Thus, there was a struggle with Tashkent wanting an independent role and dominating its neighbors while Moscow has tried to influence it even after independence.

The selection of Islam Karimov, born near Samarkand in 1938, to the post of the first secretary still remains a mystery.  He was an economic technocrat and not a real party nomenklatura. He was brought back from a punishment posting in Karshi to a central position in 1989, one reason being the massive purging of Uzbekistan’s party elite following enquiries into massive corruption under Sharaf Rachidov’s long rule from 1959 to 1983, coinciding with Brezhnev era, after Andropov took over.

Removal of Moscow ‘s man Rafiq Nishanov with help from Ferghana elite after riots in the valley in June 1989 and Karimov’s being catapulted as the President in March 1990 , in line with the new Moscow practice , still remains a mystery.  Shukuralla Mirsaidov, Ferghana valley’s leader lost out, when he supported the August 1991 coup against Gorbachev, when Karimov fortunately happened to be in India. Karimov became elected President in January 1992 and soon eased out Mirsaidov. Thus, Karimov reached the top with little experience of having built up party connections with the various clans and ethnicities and moving up the ladder.

Counter measures against US franchised revolutions;

Not that Karimov was not forewarned so he took measures to forestall creeping US financed and supported revolutions specially the "Rose Revolution" in Georgia the “Orange Revolution “in Ukraine. International media including the author have documented overt and covert role of the National Endowment for Democracy (NED); its affiliates the International Republican Institute (IRI), the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs (NDI), the Center for International Private Enterprise (CIPE), and the American Center for International Labor Solidarity (ACILS),the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Freedom House and George Soros' Open Society Institute and others in these US franchised revolutions by street action. Karimov did shut down many of the US financed NGOs.  However, the ‘Tulip revolution’ in neighboring Kyrgyzstan was scorching close .It had begun from Osh, 50 kms from Andijan.

Karimov had welcomed the US invasion of Afghanistan to remove the Taliban regime, which had sent trained Jihadis to Uzbekistan. Nevertheless, when the Anglo-Saxons built up the momentum for an unjustified invasion of Iraq towards the end of 2002, Karimov started shifting gears away from USA and the West. Unlike Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan, which dispatched token contingents to Iraq , he did not support the invasion .He moved closer to Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) and insisted that its anti-terrorist center be located in Tashkent. Karimov sent his Foreign Minister Sodik Safaev to China. Soon there was a visit by President Hu Jintao to Tashkent and the SCO summit meeting was held in Tashkent.

GUUAM becomes GUUM;

Prior to Ukraine’s ‘Orange Revolution’ in late 2004, few believed GUUAM (US sponsored organization of Georgia, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan and Moldova formed in 1997) would ever develop into anything viable. However, the US installed rulers in Georgia and Ukraine, expressed renewed interest in GUUAM, to promote integration with Western economic and political structures as a counter to Russia. Uzbekistan, which joined the group in 1999, was a nominal participant .While withdrawing from it on 5 May it asserted that the organization had "significantly changed [its] initially declared goals and tasks."  Russian political analysts welcomed the withdrawal as a "friendly gesture towards Moscow." Some observers expect Russia to respond and expand economic and political cooperation with Tashkent.

Andijan Uprising and its brutal suppression;

According to reports, 23 local businesspersons, members of Akramia, a small Islamic group that established a mutual self-help construction company for economic cooperation and not religious activities, were on trial since February on charges of "Islamic terrorism". In Islamic community especially among Sufi tariqas, such trade-based groups/guilds are quite common. Nevertheless, many such groups while helping the poor have also become powerful .like Hamas in Palestine and Islamic parties in Turkey like the ruling Justice and Development party.