TAJIKISTAN: TOWN AND GOWN CLASH OR YOUTH FRUSTRATION WITH

UNCLAS DUSHANBE 002063

SIPDIS


STATE FOR EUR/CACEN, SA

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV TI
SUBJECT: TAJIKISTAN: TOWN AND GOWN CLASH OR YOUTH FRUSTRATION WITH
FUTURE PROSPECTS?



1. (U) Police arrested five people December 16 after two days
of physical clashes between urban and rural youth in the
northern city of Khujand. Local youth started a fight with
Khujand State University students from the rural Mastchoh
district in a public billiards hall on December 13. The
Mastchoh students attempted to retaliate by calling in
compatriots from the Mastchoh district. The two groups
scheduled a confrontation for the next day at a local market.
Police brought in additional militia to prevent a violent
outburst. Some 50 young people threw stones at the police cars
and quickly dispersed.


2. (U) Mastchoh, 55 kilometers north of Khujand, relies on
cotton as the primary income. Unemployment in Mastchoh is
higher than the national average and many men migrate to Russia
for work. Khujandis have traditionally been the region's
economic and political leaders and enjoy greater economic
prosperity than Mastchoh.


3. (U) COMMENT: Given the history of the region, Embassy
sources speculate young men are frustrated by increased
unemployment. Provocations from Khujandis may have fueled anger
based on regional prejudices and stereotypes. Although
authorities managed to avert a violent clash this time,
unemployment creates a growing atmosphere of frustration and
lack of hope in Tajikistan's future among the young. With 52
percent of all Tajiks under the age of 19, this is a sector of
the population that the government must attend to closely. END
COMMENT.
ARMBRUSTER


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