Advertisement A fourth Karakalpak has been released from detention in Kazakhstan, a year after her arrest ostensibly at the request of Uzbek authorities. The releases mark a stalemate of sorts. Kazakhstan’s government was under pressure to not deport Karakalpak activists to Uzbekistan, where they would likely face lengthy prison sentences. Ziuar Mirmanbetova was released on … Read more
Advertisement “Karakalpakstan is not Uzbekistan,” Aman Sagidullayev, the leader of the Alga Karakalpakstan movement stressed to The Diplomat. Sagidullayev fled his homeland in 2012 for Kyrgyzstan and eventually even farther abroad. His movement’s demand for a referendum on independence in Karakalpakstan was viewed by Tashkent as nothing short of rank separatism. “We Karakalpaks, apart from … Read more
Advertisement Quick on the heels of Uzbekistan’s constitutional referendum, President Shavkat Mirzoyoyev announced on May 8 that the country would hold an early presidential election on July 9. Mirziyoyev, in his May 8 speech, waxed poetic about the April 30 referendum, proclaiming that its results illustrated that the Uzbek people have “high confidence and full … Read more