Trouble in Kyrgyzstan 06/11/2010
Never a good omen
Update: Mobs of armed men torched Uzbek neighborhoods on Friday, leaving at least 49 people dead and 650 wounded. Thousands of ethnic Uzbeks have fled west towards the border. Riots are now taking place in Osh and the country's capital, Bishkek.
The interim government in Kyrgyzstan declared a state of emergency after twenty-three people were killed yesterday in riots in the city of Osh. Several sources have speculated that the violence in this volatile southern region may have involved clashes with ethnic Uzbeks. Even if there was not an ethnic overtone to the conflict, it is still an ominous sign for the stability of the fragile administration in Bishkek and the Central Asian region as a whole.
Much of the southern portion of Kyrgyzstan is divided between large Uzbek and Kyrgyz communities. Historically, these groups have battled each other over agriculturally viable land and political power. In June 1990, this turmoil sparked a riot in Osh in which over 300 people died and thousands were injured before the Red Army stepped into stop the bloodshed.
Since protestors deposed President Bakiyev in April, the central government’s control in the region has remained tenuous at best. The Uzbek community has so far refused to take sides in the dispute, but it fears that the growing authority vacuum could trigger violent antagonism. Unless the Otunbayeva administration can restore calm in this chaotic region, political unrest could become ethnically charged. It is up to the central government to decisively quell the violence before it takes on a life of its own. No one wants to see ethnic separatism tear the 'stans apart.
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