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"sacred names" - for instance, the name of the Crimean khan, his dynasty, his residence, or his council.
Av"Strany Vostoka:sotsialno-politicheskiye,sotsialno-ekonomicheskiye i sotsiokulturniye problemy v kontekste globalizatsii," Moscow,2012, pp. 49-63.
M. Tashiyeva,
Political analyst, Russian Peoples' Friendship University ETHNOPOLITICAL CONFLICTS: THEIR FEATURES IN THE KYRGYZ REPUBLIC AND WAYS TO RESOLVE THEM
The modern epoch can rightly be called the epoch of conflicts. As is known, conflict is one of the types of social interaction of individuals, social communities and social institutions in which actions of one side coming across a counteraction of the other side obstructs the realization of its aims and interests. A new branch of social science has emerged - conflictology studying the problems of the origin, development, regulation and resolving of various conflict situations in society.
In the center of attention of this branch of science is the study of ethnic conflicts. Hardly a country could be mentioned that has not known interethnic contradictions and conflicts, whether direct or indirect. They are manifested on the territory of the former U.S.S.R., thus disproving the theoretical premise dominant at the time of the crisis-free development of Soviet society.
It is written in the textbook on political regionalization by Professor N. Medvedev that on the territory of the former Soviet Union there are more than one hundred potential seats of conflicts aimed at redivision of power in some newly-independent states, or a change of their national-state structure. In Kyrgyzstan alone, according to
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information from the Chairman of the State Committee on national security of the republic, there are 147 seats of interethnic strife, which can grow into an open conflict.
The formation of mononational states in the conditions of a change of political regimes, socio-economic systems and principles of governance inevitably gives rise to various conflicts, including ethnic ones. This has been the case of the former U.S.S.R. The Central Asian region is no exception. State construction in it was based on the ethnic principle, a policy was implemented aimed at the priority development of the titular nation and its greater share in the general structure of the population. The representatives of the non-indigenous nations regarded these changes as a threat to their ethnocultural security, which placed them in the situation of sharp ethnic deadaptation.
The ways and forms of resolving interethnic conflicts and relations in any state largely depend on the character of the political system existing there. In this respect the Central Asian republics of the former U.S.S.R. present a far from simple picture. They greatly differ from one another from the point of view of their political systems. They have mainly taken the path of "enlightened authoritarianism." True, as far as enlightenment is concerned, there is a slight imbalance or inconsistency, as for authoritarianism there is no problem at all, for there is more than enough of it.
Let us examine the political system established in Kyrgyzstan. What ways and forms of resolving interethnic conflicts does its political system prefer to use?
The formation of the statehood of the Kyrgyz Republic and its new political system has taken place through the revival of the semifeudal system of social relations. A Kyrgyz clan is a regional grouping, relying on which and acting in its interests, one or another politician takes part in political struggle and claims his share of power and the
distribution of resources. Certain analysts say that the revival of clan connections and nationalism has been prompted by the natural feelings of human revival, a desire to acquire social comfort in the conditions of a "wild market," destruction of traditional economic relations, and political and social instability in the post-Soviet area.
During the 2005 - 2012 period serious changes took place in the Kyrgyz Republic - the "tulip revolution on March 24, 2005, the political coup on April 7, 2010, a heavy interethnic conflict in the south of the republic in June 2010, and the elections of the President of the Kyrgyz Republic.
An analysis of the events leads on to the following conclusions concerning the reasons of the 2010 conflict:
Social tension in the region and insecurity of the country's citizens, absence of housing, unemployment, socio-economic lag of the south of Kyrgyzstan, and personnel leapfrog as a result of the coup on April 7, 2010;
Inactivity of the authorities in preventing separatist tendencies among Uzbeks, as well as protest meetings and pickets. The Mayor of the city of Osh M. Myrzakhmatov wrote that his letter containing a warning about the possibility of a revolt in the south of the republic was not answered by the head of the Provisional government Rosa Otunbayeva;
Actions of informal organizations headed by the Uzbek leaders K. Batyrov, I. Abdurasulov, and others, which fanned interethnic disturbances. It should be borne in mind that the main demand of these leaders was the creation of Uzbek autonomy;
Absence of official and objective information. Eyewitnesses assert that national TV channels broadcast football matches instead of truthful information about the situation in the south of the republic;
Belated and slow reaction of the official authorities to information coming to them from different sources. Representatives of the Provisional government arrived to the scene of events eight hours later after the conflict flared up;
The phenomenon of "mob psychology," and actions of instigators and various criminals. It is known that inscriptions "SOS" and "UZBEKZONE" in giant letters and in special paints appeared on walls of houses. It has been confirmed that the paints were imported from abroad;
Unpreparedness of the special services for emergency developments, inexperience of highly-placed officials in practically all government bodies, and the lack of information at the disposal of representatives of central power, and also uncoordinated actions of military commanders.
In the article "The Drama of Power in Bishkek" the political analyst E. Troitsky wrote that in the event of a repetition of the crises in the republic there could be two scenarios of the development of the situation: inertia and crisis.
The latter may be characterized by the following features:
The actual violation of the territorial integrity of Kyrgyzstan with the loss of control by Bishkek over the southern regions of Osh, Jalalabad and Batken; escalation of seizures of lands and houses by representatives of the "lumpen proletariat" and the criminal world; actual loss of Bishkek's ability to pursue foreign policy; economic collapse; escalation of interethnic tension, above all, between Kyrgyz and Uzbeks; sliding down of the country to a civil war due to social, clan-religious and interethnic contradictions.
In order to resolve the interethnic conflict between Kyrgyz and Uzbeks in the south of the country in June 2010, the Provisional government introduced curfew in Osh and Jalalabad regions, adopted a
decree on partial mobilization in the Kyrgyz Republic, and sent government troops to the zone of the conflict. However, these measures proved inadequate for putting down the clashes between these ethnic groups. In view of continuing disorders the Kyrgyz Republic has officially asked Russia to dispatch its troops to the zone of the Osh conflict as a "third force." However, Russia did not want to interfere in this internal conflict. Its assistance was confined to economic measures only.
Certain member-countries of the Islamic Conference Organization have responded to the call of the Kyrgyz Republic by allotting it financial assistance to a sum of about $3.3 million.
To investigate the reasons and circumstances of the interethnic tragedy of June 2010 the government of the Kyrgyz Republic has set up a special National Commission. However, it proved unable to answer all questions in its report.
The problem of providing housing space to all who suffered in the tragedy was very difficult. A special government commission was set up in charge of the restoration and development of the cities of Osh and Jalalabad.
Simultaneously the republican authorities carry on actions for reconciliation between Kyrgyz and Uzbeks. The elders of both ethnic groups gather for joint meetings to discuss the situation and search for ways of its improvement. Clergymen were especially active during the Muslim holiday Ramadan arranging joint prayers of Kyrgyz and Uzbeks at mosques. The Islamic factor is, perhaps, the most powerful instrument of influence on people in the country. However, so far reconciliation measures have an impact mainly on the older generation. And it should be admitted that young people nowadays do not obey and listen to old men as before. This is why it is necessary to reconcile young men, first of all, those who actively participated in the
interethnic conflict. The press reported that several Uzbek leaders staying in Moscow met with Uzbek financial and industrial tycoons and asked them to help promote and protect the interests of the Uzbek population in the southern regions of Kyrgyzstan. On the money granted by them a two-hour TV documentary about the June 2010 events has been made, and a photo album has been printed containing 200 pictures of horrific crimes perpetrated by Kyrgyzs. This album is distributed in western countries, and 25,000 additional copies of it have been ordered in Turkey. Uzbek activists from the south of Kyrgyzstan have appealed to the leaders of the Uzbek diasporas in Moscow, St. Petersburg, as well as those in Britain, France and Canada for assistance in their struggle against Kyrgyz domination. Part of the money collected was used for sending young Uzbek men to Pakistan for training in combat operations.
The well-known Russian scholar T. Stefanenko in his works on ethnic psychology emphasizes the importance of mutual exchanges of information between various ethnic groups with the necessary observance of the conditions contributing to a change of the situation for the better. This method is known as the information way of resolving conflicts. This is why it is necessary to carry on profound sociological studies of the concrete interethnic situation. Search prognostication is also necessary at the present development stage of interethnic relations. The need for the creation of a system of operational information on the ethnopolitical situation is quite urgent in the Kyrgyz Republic. The elaboration of computerizing bases of knowledge and means of analyzing ethnopolitical conflicts is absolutely necessary.
Among our practical recommendations the following ones should be heeded and taken first:
Creation of a bank of information dealing with the ethnic situation in various regions;
Information should include a list of regions and municipal units (towns and rural districts) in which there have been local interethnic conflicts;
Statistical data about the socio-economic, demographic, migration and criminogenic situation in conflict regions (districts) in dynamics for the past three years;
Standard legal documents of the bodies of power of districts (administrations, internal security departments, prosecutor's offices) on the problems of migration and interethnic relations;
Documents of ethnic public organizations (charters and rules, plans of work, decisions, applications, etc.);
Materials of the local mass media (district newspapers, radio, aids, etc.) on ethnic subjects;
Results of sociological surveillance on interethnic relations (polls and focus-groups);
Monitoring of the Internet materials
Expert assessments of the dynamics of the level of tension at pre-conflict and post-conflict stages.
The main premise is the need for the development of democratic processes in the country, which ensure equal rights to people of different nationality and equal living conditions irrespective of faith, nationality or the language.
"Voprosy natsionalnykh i federativnykh otnoshenii", Moscow, 2012, issue 3 (18), pp. 173-179.
