Informal Ethnopolitics and Local Authority Figures in Osh, Kyrgyzstan

Abstract

The contribution examines local-level ethnopolitics in post-Soviet Kyrgyzstan, particularly in the southern city of Osh, in 1990 site of one of the bloodiest inter-communal conflicts of the late Soviet era. First, instruments of managing multi-ethnicity are briefly introduced, with particular attention being paid to territorial autonomy, also a pillar of Soviet ethnofederal structure. Next, the contribution focuses on Uzbek ethnopolitics in Osh as a case study which illustrates how formal and informal politics shape state -minority relations in an ethnically mixed and post-conflict setting. The contribution argues that local authority figures and patron -client relations are key to understanding how Uzbek ethnopolitics unfolds and violence is prevented from re-occurring. A combination of informal and formal institutions accounts for preserving inter-ethnic stability in post-Soviet Osh.This paper seeks to address one of the central puzzles in the study of ethnic conflict: what prevents ethnic violence from (re-)occurring in places with recent history of violent conflict? The absence of violence-although not necessarily conflict-in the city of Osh, site of the largest and bloodiest inter-communal conflicts in post-Soviet Central Asia, is indeed empirically as well as theoretically puzzling. As a result, understanding what happened in post-Soviet Osh constitutes a particularly useful starting point for examining the more general question of identifying the factors that helped maintain inter-ethnic peace.In June 1990 tensions originating from perceptions of unfairly distributed land and housing erupted in a sudden and short-lived, but particularly bloody, series of riots 1 in the south of the Soviet republic of Kyrgyzstan, then called Kirghizia. 2 Concentrated in the multi-ethnic city of Osh and the nearby town of Uzgen, 3 the Kyrgyz and Uzbek population clashed leaving about 200 people dead, and many more injured in what seemed to herald an era of ethnic conflict in the region (Naumkin, 1994;Rumer & Rumer, 1992). The conflict was not an isolated episode in Central Asia, and the clashes can be located in a broader trend of inter-communal violence and riots which marked the dusk of the Soviet era. Among similar types of events taking place in the USSR at the time, the Osh conflict was one of the largest and most violent (Tishkov, 1995, p. 134).

From mice-eaten passports to fingerprint scanning: fluctuating state presence and ‘entangled documents’ along the Kyrgyz–Uzbek border

“…However, as a minority in Kyrgyzstan, Uzbeks had lost the position within the larger society that would allow them to draw on their kinship and networks as a resource in managing the bureaucratic state apparatus. The Uzbek population in Kyrgyzstan, being the largest minority group in the country, having experienced violent ethnic conflicts and residing in the regions bordering the state of their ethnic belonging, has received some scholarly attention (Fumagalli 2007;Megoran 2007;McBrien 2011;Liu 2012;Ismailbekova 2013;Megoran 2017). Much of this literature has highlighted the politicization of ethnic identity in Kyrgyzstan, along with growing nationalism in the country.…”

Semi-Presidentialism in the Caucasus and Central Asia

“…In the aftermath of the 2005 events, after an initial period when an ethnic Uzbek was named governor of the city of Osh, relations with the administration of ousted President Kurmanbek Bakiyev rapidly soured. A combination of nepotism and the rise of Kyrgyz nationalism alienated the Uzbek population, which until 2005 had been seen as very close to the state's leadership (Fumagalli 2007 ). Exasperated by a mix of political alienation and progressive lawlessness, the Uzbek community swiftly expressed its support for the interim government in the aftermath of Bakiyev's overthrow.…”

Are Uzbeks Better Off than Kyrgyz? Measuring and Decomposing Horizontal Inequality

“…Kyrgyzstan was among the most ethnically heterogeneous Soviet republics at the time of the collapse of the Soviet Union (Fumagalli, 2007b Traditionally, the Kyrgyz were a nomadic people engaged in animal breeding, whereas the Uzbeks were sedentary agriculturalists and urban-based craftsmen and traders (Fumagalli, 2007b, Matveeva, 2010, Spector, 2004, Tishkov, 1995. This implies a higher concentration of Uzbeks in the plains and of Kyrgyz in mountainous areas, which still prevails.…”

“…After the collapse of the Soviet Union, president Askar Akayev showed to be committed to the ideology of a multiethnic society, as reflected in his slogan "Kyrgyzstan is our common home" (Fumagalli, 2007b, Matveeva, 2010, Melvin, 2011. At the beginning of his rule, improving ethnic relations was one of his priorities and he was able to build a broad coalition, which was inclusive of both nationalist factions as well as ethnic minorities (Fumagalli, 2007a, Melvin, 2011 (Tishkov, 1995).…”

“…Uzbeks, who are today the second largest ethnic group in Kyrgyzstan after the Kyrgyz, are considered to be economically more prosperous than Kyrgyz, while being politically under-represented and discriminated against (Fumagalli, 2007b, Matveeva, 2010. Both academics and media reporting on the violence largely referred to the economic disparity between Uzbeks and Kyrgyz, even inferring that it was the root cause underlying the outbreak of the clashes.…”