Documenting the Plight of Uzbeks in Kyrgyzstan: Related News Articles

This page contains a frequently-updated list of news articles about the situation of ethnic Uzbeks in Kyrgyzstan

19 October Global Post article called Kyrgyzstan: Dissecting the Rage in Osh
17 October Eurasianet article called: "Kyrgyzstan: Cowed Lawyers Abandon Uzbeks"
AlJazeeraEnglish article called "Soaring Food Prices Hit Kyrgyzstan"
Eurasianet article called "Farmers Suffering in Southern Kyrgyzstan"
Eurasianet article called "Osh: Will Back to School Bring On More Trouble?"
Eurasianet article called "OSCE Police Mission for Kyrgyzstan Stalls"
Russia Today video called "Right to Kill: Shocking story of carnage in Kyrgyzstan" -- LONG AND GRAPHIC IMAGES, VIEWER DISCRETION ADVISED
New Republic article called "Bishkek Blunder"
Radio Free Europe article called "Kyrgyz State Commission Challenges HRW Report"
Radio Free Europe article called "Kyrgyz Government Closes Uzbek Businessman's University"
Human Rights Watch article called "Kyrgyzstan: Probe Forces’ Role in June Violence"
Central Asia Online article called "Swiss diplomat to be at the head of OSCE police in Kyrgyzstan"
Central Asia Online article called "International donors try to save Kyrgyz economy"
Hürriyet Daily News article called "Kyrgyzstan economy devastated by year of unrest"
Relief Web article called "Analysis: How to spend a billion dollars in Kyrgyzstan?"
Telegraph article called "Kyrgyzstan president announces election date"
Radio Free Europe article called "'Kyrgyzstan On The Brink' -- Kirchick In 'The Weekly Standard'"
Radio Free Europe article called "Kyrgyz Activists Protest OSCE Police Deployment"
Radio Free Europe article called "In Kyrgyzstan, Uzbeks Criticize Osh Reconstruction Plan"
Al Jazeera article called "Blame and resentment in Kyrgyzstan"
Radio Free Europe article called "Kyrgyz Vendors Demand Osh Market Be Reopened"
Eurasianet article called "US Must Do More For Kyrgyzstan’s Displaced – Refugee Advocate"
Eurasianet article called "Uzbek Exodus Creating Bribery Bonanza"
Al Jazeera video report called "Kyrgyz police accused of brutality"
Guardian article called "Long-term prospects for Kyrgyzstan are worrying"
Time article called "Signs of Uzbek Persecution Rising in Kyrgyzstan"
Radio Free Europe article called "Is Kyrgyz Media Providing The Whole Picture?"
Radio Free Europe article called "Otunbaeva Visits Osh Amid Protests Against OSCE Police Deployment"
Fergana article called "Kyrgyzstan: The Osh mayor says he is nationalist and sets ultimatum before the President"
Reporters Without Borders article called "Local authorities take over Osh TV after national security raid and director’s dismissal"
Global Post article called "Uzbeks flee Kyrgyzstan for Russia"
Turkish Weekly article called "Kyrgyzstan violence was ploy to destabilise region"
Radio Free Europe article called "Showdown in Osh"
Associated Press article called "Ethnic Uzbeks deprived health treatment and refuge"
Associated Press article called "Donors to give Kyrgyzstan $1.1 billion in aid"
Radio Free Europe article called "Osh mayor says no international police force needed in Kyrgyzstan"
Eurasianet article called "Reconstruction Plan To 'Ethnically Cleanse' Osh, Uzbeks Fear"

Glossary

Choy – green tea, served in ‘tea bowls’ called piyola (see separate entry)

Fergana Valley – Osh, the city we are reporting from, is located at the end of this valley, a fertile region settled by Uzbeks centuries ago. Stalin divided the valley into three uneven areas, thus delegating some of the Uzbeks to Uzbekistan, some to Tajikistan and some to Kyrgyzstan. This blog concerns the Uzbeks living inside the Kyrgyz border.

Hovli - walled courtyard. Usually the various rooms of the house, along with outhouses, baths, and so forth, are wrapped around the inside walls. Generally, extended family live together; particularly parents, their sons, wives and children.

Kelin - daughter-in-law.

Kozon - huge cooking pot used in canning.

Mahalla – a locally-governed neighborhood region. Instead of asking, ‘What street do you live on,’ we might ask, ‘What mahalla do you live in?’

Mehmon – a guest. Uzbeks have a saying, ‘a guest is more honored than a father.’ (and fathers/elders are very honored!)

Mehmondo’stlik – hospitality. Daily, we are humbled by the generous hospitality of people who have lost everything.

Nan – round flats of bread, eaten at every meal, or every time people sit together.

Piyola – small handle-less tea cups.

Ramazan – Islamic month of fasting, this year starting around August 10th. During this month, the first meal of the day is partaken of before the first light of the sun (about 5 am) and the fast will be broken after the sun goes down, when ‘a white thread and a black thread can not be distinguished from one another,’ probably around 8:30 pm. During the course of the day no food, water, or cigarettes can be used. This will be a significant difficulty this year, for those who wait in burned-out hovlis, their trees burned, and with nothing to do but wait and wait for the hours to pass.

Sart - a derogatory term used for Uzbeks. During the four days of violence in June 2010, the walls of houses were labeled with ‘sart’ or ‘Kyrgyz.’ The ones labeled ‘Kyrgyz’ were spared.

Supa - a traditional raised platform on which people, sit, eat, and sleep

Tushak – cotton-filled rectangular mats, used for both sitting on and sleeping on.

Uzbek – an ethic group comprised of people mainly from Uzbekistan, but many are also found in surrounding regions, such as here in Osh, carved up by the Soviet knife of ‘divide and conquer’ to prevent regions from becoming too powerful during the Soviet era.

Pages

Related News Articles