Language Research

Ethnic groups other than the Uzbeks, particularly Russians, frequently complain about the limited job opportunities for them. Senior positions in the government bureaucracy and business generally are reserved for ethnic Uzbeks, although there are numerous exceptions to this rule.

Since independence, a significant number of non-Uzbeks, including Russians, Jews and Ukrainians have emigrated. For example, from 1985 to 1992 approximately 800,000 people, mostly Russians, left Uzbekistan. In the capital of Tashkent, the Uzbek population rose from 40% in the late 1980s to 60% in 1992. Emigration continued growing, in that the number of emigrants to Russia had risen from 27,400 at the end of 1996 to 33,000 at the beginning of 1997. The language policy in the country has most likely contributed to the increase of emigration from Uzbekistan.

The new Law on Political Parties has hindered the political rights of national minorities. The law came into force on January 7, 1997, and prohibits parties formed on ethnic or religious lines. The Government prevents unregistered opposition parties and movements from operating freely or publishing their views. These means of public control effectively prevent ethnic minorities from publicly expressing and representing their interests.

Updated (July 2003)

ETHNIC MINORITIES IN BOTH TURKMENISTAN AND UZBEKISTAN CONTINUE TO SUFFER

In spite of the fact that several months ago the Uzbek ambassador in Ashgabat was implicated in an assassination attempt against the Turkmenistan President Niyazov,¹ the head of the state recently proclaimed that “his nation enjoys good relations with neighboring Uzbekistan.” However, notwithstanding this thaw on the official level, ethnic minorities in both countries continue to face difficulties, especially in the educational sphere.

For ethnic Turkmens in Uzbekistan, living conditions have continuously deteriorated when the “Uzbekization” of schools dramatically reduced their opportunities for higher education.

There are around 800,000 ethnic Turkmen living in Uzbekistan. Although in several villages they constitute the majority (the village of Chandir, in the Uzbek province of Qashkadarya), they have problems to obtain Turkmen-language instruction.

During the early years following the collapse of the Soviet Union, Turkmen-language schools in Uzbekistan experienced a shortage of supplies, especially textbooks, which were produced in Turkmenistan. The situation has worsened over time, as Turkmenistan stopped delivering educational materials since the late 1990s. Eventually, a governmental decree ordered to convert all Turkmen-language schools into schools with Uzbek-language instructions.

Currently Turkmen students study their language for an hour per week. At the same time, the low quality of lessons in many schools leaves them with only limited Uzbek-language abilities.

The supply shortages and government decisions have left Turkmen pupils with a poor command of their native language. “I can witness nowadays that our children are forgetting their language and customs,” said one distraught Turkmen parent.

The state Ukituvchi Publishing House, which specializes in the publication of schoolbooks, produced only 23 foreign-language books in 2002 (most of them were in Tajik and Kazakh). The publishing house was reluctant to issue more titles because of both the high production costs and the low rate of return.

To a certain extent, the Soviet collapse and a consequent economic chaos meant that an educational crisis was unavoidable. However, Turkmen-Uzbekistan tension has even exacerbated the problems. For example, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan have stopped recognizing each other's diplomas. This virtually eliminated the possibility of ethnic Turkmen in Uzbekistan to study at higher educational institutions in Turkmenistan, and vice versa. As a result, ethnic Turkmen stand a very little chance to receive higher education, because many lack a sufficient command of Uzbek and/or Russian to gain the admission to Uzbek universities. Those who were admitted say surmounting the language barrier was the most difficult aspect of the process.

A few activists are striving to protect the Turkmen language and culture. In Qashkadarya, there have been several attempts to establish a Turkmen cultural center for the province, but local authorities rebuffed each effort.

Source: Minelres Archive, May 21, 2003, by Kamol Kholmuradov, May 15, 2003, http://lists.delfi.lv/pipermail/minelres/2003-May/002735.html

¹ Turkmen-Uzbek ties, never especially cordial in the post-Soviet era, reached their tensest point in late 2002, in the aftermath of the failed plot to kill Niyazov. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive]. Niyazov later accused Uzbekistan's envoy in Ashgabat, Abdurashid Kadyrov, of assisting a leader of the alleged conspiracy, Boris Shikhmuradov. [For additional information see the Eurasia Insight archive]. In subsequent months, Turkmen authorities forcibly relocated ethnic Uzbeks living near the country's long border with Uzbekistan.

Uzbeks in Turkmenistan have been caught up in the general decline of the country's educational system. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive].

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