ETHNICITY AND POWER:RELATIONS BETWEEN THE CENTRAL ASIAN STATES

Abstract

In the former USSR, the peoples of various ethnic backgrounds were and still are divided into different administrative categories. After the Moscow coup in the end of 1991 the former union republics of the USSR became automatically independent. In other words, there was no serious struggle or wish for independence, and independence was given by Moscow to these republics, perhaps faster than they themselves would have sought it.1 As readers may recall, in the beginning the Bolsheviks kept the former tsarist structure in Central Asia. The steppe region became the Kirghiz or Kazakh Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic ASSR , and the Turkistan region became Turkistan ASSR. Both were subjects of Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic RSFSR . In 1924, the Turkistan ASSR was divided into Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan, and both given the status of union republic. Tadjikistan was created as an autonomous republic of Uzbekistan. Kirghizstan which belonged to the former Turkistan ASSR became an autonomous region and was incorporated into the RSFSR. After two years Tadjikistan became also an union republic and the Hojent region of Uzbekistan was transferred to Tadjikistan. The Kirghiz or more correctly the Kazakh ASSR had an autonomous status and belonged to the RSFSR until December 1936. Furthermore, the Kirghiz ASSR gained its union status in the same year. Karakalpakstan which belonged to Kazakhstan was transferred in 1936 to Uzbekistan with the status of ASSR.2 All these political decisions were taken by Moscow without any regard to the local people. In other words all these Central Asian republics are artificial creations. This can be easily recognised when travelling through these countries. Even the highways of these regions were not built according to the national borders. This shows that when Moscow created these new borders it didn't take any geographical, historical or demographic realities in consideration.

References

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