UZBEKISTAN VEHEMENTLY DENIES RUMORS OF SEPARATIST

C O N F I D E N T I A L TASHKENT 000459

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR SCA/CEN

E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/17/2018
TAGS: PGOV PBTS PREL SOCI UZ
SUBJECT: UZBEKISTAN VEHEMENTLY DENIES RUMORS OF SEPARATIST
SENTIMENT IN KARAKALPAKSTAN

REF: TASHKENT 363

Classified By: POLOFF Steven Prohaska for reasons 1.4 (b, d).


1. (C) Summary: Senior Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA)
officials directed MFA Americas Desk Chief Ismat Fayzullaev
to deliver a statement to POLOFF on April 16 refuting press
reporting on separatist sentiment in Uzbekistan's autonomous
Republic of Karakalpakstan, and warning that U.S. Embassy
inquiries about this subject do not help bilateral relations.
MFA asserted that Uzbekistan has no problems with ethnic
minorities, including Karakalpaks, and that certain
international NGOs are trying to destabilize the country.
Recently, Embassy contacts have indicated that some residents
of Karakalpakstan are being resettled to Angren due to
relatively worse socioeconomic and environmental conditions
in Karakalpakstan and that the March conference on the Aral
Sea in Tashkent was held to counter feelings of
dissatisfaction, and even separatism, in the autonomous
republic. While it is unclear how true such claims about
separatism are, the incident at MFA certainly shows that the
issue is extremely sensitive to the Government of Uzbekistan
and reflects the government's continuing perception that some
NGOs threaten domestic stability and security. The
relationship between Tashkent and Karakalpakstan, which has
Uzbekistan's lowest per capita income, remains an area to
monitor closely. End summary.

MFA Delivers Prepared Response to Inquiry
--------------


2. (C) POLOFF met with Ismat Fayzullaev, Ministry of Foreign
Affairs (MFA) Americas Desk Chief, at the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs on April 16 to discuss recent press reporting
concerning separatist sentiment in Uzbekistan's autonomous
Republic of Karakalpakstan. (Note: An April 5 Radio Free
Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) article had indicated that a
shadowy group called the "Free Karakalpakstan National
Revival Party" has accused Uzbekistan of genocide against the
Karakalpak ethnic group, and cited sources who advocate the
independence of the republic. End note.) Fayzullaev
informed POLOFF that his request had been reported to the
Foreign Minister and his deputies. Then, reading from a
prepared statement, Fayzullaev said that he had been
instructed to deliver the following reply. Allegations of
the existance of separatist sentiments in Uzbekistan are 100
percent false, he read. The Government of Uzbekistan is very
upset that the U.S. Embassy is focusing on this issue, and
such rumors, which are far from reality, do not help
bilateral relations. There is no difference between what is
going on here and what is going on between the United States
and the state of Texas, he continued. Historically,
Uzbekistan has had no problem with ethnic minorities,
including the Karakalpaks, he said. (Comment: While
interethnic relations in Uzbekistan have generally been good

since independence, the Ferghana Valley was rocked by
violence between Uzbeks and Meshketian Turks in 1989. End
comment.)

Concern that NGOs are Trying to Undermine the GOU
-------------- --------------


3. (C) Continuing to read from the statement, Fayzullaev said
the GOU is aware of the reason for such rumors: some
international NGOs are trying to destabilize Uzbekistan and
are blind to the positive developments in Uzbekistan.

Fayzullaev then gestured to an MFA intern sitting next to
him, stating that she is from Karakalpakstan. The fact that
she works at MFA shows that Uzbekistan has strong ties with
Karakalpakstan, he asserted. He said that there "is a lot of
trash" written about Central Asia, and "the RFE/RL article is
an example of this trash." (Note: POLOFF had originally read
the article on his home computer, and discovered several
hours after this meeting that the article had been blocked.
End note.) Fayzullaev said he hoped the U.S. would not take
such rumors seriously, and that such inquiries do not serve
our mutual interests. POLOFF replied that this was simply a
request for information on the GOU's reaction to such
reporting, and assured him that the U.S. is not supporting
separatism in Uzbekistan, as reflected in the open nature of
our query to MFA. Fayzullaev said that this is an extremely
sensitive issue for Uzbekistan. He later apologized to
Poloff and said that he was just following instructions in
delivering the response.

Other Recent Commentary on Karakalpakstan
--------------


4. (C) POLOFF had visited the Republic of Karakalpakstan in
November 2007, where Deputy Chairman of the Council of
Ministers Khaytmurat Abdurakhmanov assured him that there
were no problems with Karakalpakstan's relations with
Tashkent, economic conditions in the republic were good, and
prices in Karakalpakstan on selected items were in fact lower
than in Tashkent. Interestingly, during an April visit to
Angren near Uzbekistan's Ferghana Valley, residents told
Poloff that some residents of Karakalpakstan were being
resettled to Angren because socioeconomic and environmental
conditions were better in Angren. (Official unemployment in
Angren is 30 percent of the population, while unofficial
unemployment is 50 percent, according to an Angren resident
working for the NGO Armon.)


5. (C) An Embassy FSN also speculated on April 16 that the
press article is part of a Russian disinformation campaign to
counter Karimov's interest in balancing relations with the
West. The article could have been intended to reinforce
fears that the United States is supporting efforts to
undermine the GOU, thus driving a wedge between the U.S. and
Uzbekistan.


6. (C) In late March, Rapid Reaction human rights group
member and director of the Humanitarian Legal Center Shukhrat
Ganiev described the issue of separatism in Uzbekistan as "a
time bomb," noting that if the economic situation
deteriorates, separatism could flare up and yield serious
instability in regions where territory is divided between
"different groups and clans." Also in March, a source told
the Ambassador that the Tashkent conference on the Aral Sea
had been intended to counter growing feelings of
dissatisfaction, and even separatism, in Karakalpakstan by
showing that Tashkent cares about the social and
environmental problems there (reftel).

Comment:
--------------


7. (C) It is unclear how much stock we can put into the
veracity of claims of separatist feeling in Karakalpakstan,
but clearly, simply asking for the GOU's commentary on
reports of this has touched a nerve. The incident certainly
underscores ongoing GOU concerns about the potential "threat"

that NGOs pose to the security and stability of Karimov's
regime. Ironically, last fall the GOU had urged the U.S.
Embassy to come directly to the GOU for answers on questions
concerning conditions in Uzbekistan rather than speaking with
residents in the provinces, but when POLOFF raised this
question about Karakalpakstan with the MFA, the GOU's
response was unusually swift and negative. The relationship
between Tashkent and Karakalpakstan--particularly with
respect to possible perceptions of relative economic
disadvantage or political marginalization in the autonomous
region--remains an area to watch closely.
NORLAND