Analyzing Uzbek President Mirziyoyev’s Address To The People Of Karakalpakstan
The Uzbek leader’s decisive intervention in meeting face-to-face with local civil and political representatives successfully de-escalated the crisis and is responsible for restoring stability to Karakalpakstan.
Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev visited Nukus, the capital of his country’s autonomous Republic of Karakalpakstan, over the weekend to address its people following the outbreak of violence there on Friday. Locals participated in mostly peaceful but nevertheless unauthorized (therefore illegal) large-scale protests in response to their fear that the draft constitutional reforms that were published a week prior would erode their region’s autonomy and therefore threaten their linguistic rights that form an inextricable part of their identity as Karakalpaks. Criminal elements exploited the event as cover for unsuccessfully attempting to seize control of government buildings. The Uzbek leader’s earlier-mentioned trip to Nukus came within 24 hours of order being restored by the security services.
For a detailed analysis of what transpired, the reader is encouraged to review the author’s article series:
* “It’s Too Early To Call The Protests In Uzbekistan’s Karakalpakstan A Color Revolution”
* “Applying Putin’s Advice Against Wishful Thinking To Alt-Media’s Color Revolution Speculation”
* “Deconstructing What Just Transpired In Uzbekistan’s Karakalpakstan On Friday”
* “The Socio-Political (Soft Security) Dynamics Of Uzbekistan’s Karakalpakstan Crisis”
* “Ten Questions For The Alt-Media Community To Contemplate About Karakalpakstan”
What follows in the present piece is an analysis of President Mirziyoyev’s speech to the locals.
He began by explaining the political context of the country’s ongoing constitutional reform process, which he described as “extremely important for the present and future of our Motherland.” The Uzbek leader then clarified the process by reminding everyone that the sequence of events is as follows: the public discussion of draft reforms; feedback from the citizenry; finalization of the reforms by the Legislative Chamber; and then a nationwide referendum legitimizing these proposed changes. Importantly, according to him, “this process will take as long as it takes to improve the updated Constitution. In this work we will act only in consultation with our people.” This means that some folks’ perceptions of an anti-democratic and rushed process were inaccurate.
President Mirziyoyev directly addressed that when noting that “In some cases there is a misunderstanding of the interpretation of the essence of this issue. In particular, a group of people expressed dissatisfaction with some of the norms envisaged by the draft concerning the Republic of Karakalpakstan.” This in turn led to what he described as “demonstrations” – which he importantly didn’t say were illegal despite being unauthorized and therefore literally contrary to the law – that were subsequently exploited by criminal elements who attempted to seize government buildings exactly as local political and security officials reported in their joint statement about the Nukus Incident that also expressed concern about the influence of foreign forces in the information sphere.
Having explained what took place and why, the Uzbek leader then reaffirmed that “this draft will be changed and finalized on the basis of the will of our citizens, their proposals and opinions.” He then added that “Taking this into account, as well as ethnic, cultural characteristics, national customs and values, the special legal status of the Republic of Karakalpakstan, I consider it necessary to leave the norms regarding the legal status of the Republic of Karakalpakstan unchanged in the draft.” In other words, the locals have nothing to fear regarding their region’s autonomy since it won’t be removed and their linguistic rights that form an inextricable part of their identity therefore won’t be gradually eroded. Put another way, this wasn’t so much a “backtracking” like some portrayed it but a legal clarification.
The last parts of President Mirziyoyev’s speech concerned the centuries-long fraternal relations between the Uzbek and Karakalpak peoples and his promise to jointly build a “New Uzbekistan” and “New Karakalpakstan” throughout the course of the constitutional reform process. He also reminded everyone that “Those who try to undermine peace, tranquility and public safety will be subject to strict measures in accordance with the law.” He then concluded by saying that “In the current situation, I call on all our fellow citizens to unity and solidarity, prudence and not succumb to various provocations and subversive actions. I believe in the wisdom of the noble and generous Karakalpak people.”
Upon analyzing his words, a few points powerfully stand out. First, he corrected local perceptions that had been manipulated by foreign information warfare and the self-interested motivations of local criminals by clarifying that the drafts were always intended to be publicly discussed and were never set in stone. Second, by eschewing any description of the demonstrations as illegal despite those who participated in them having literally broken the law by not receiving prior authorization for their protests, President Mirziyoyev implied sympathy with those locals who’d been misled since he seems to have sincerely understood why they’d react the way they did if they were operating under the false perception that he clarified in his speech.
Accordingly, that’s why he reassured them that their concerns were heard and that they have nothing to fear by the reforms since he promised to ask the Legislative Chamber to consider his suggestion that the constitutional articles related to Karakalpakstan’s autonomy must remain unchanged. There’s no realistic chance that they won’t heed the head of state’s advice on the matter so the so-called “trigger event” of the relevant draft reforms that were published a week prior should therefore be considered resolved. This in turn means that there’s no longer any legitimate reason for any local to participate in illegal/unauthorized protests, especially since their region is under a state of emergency and associated curfew for at least the next month that strictly prohibit such anyhow.
Finally, there should be no doubt that those criminal elements responsible for opportunistically plotting and/or participating in violent anti-state activities will be brought to justice, ergo the state of emergency. From here on out, no public expressions of anti-government sentiment will be tolerated since there’s no longer any legitimate reason for them after the “trigger event” was resolved upon President Mirziyoyev’s legal clarification of events and especially considering the tense security context caused by those criminals’ attempted seizure of regional power on Friday. The Uzbek leader’s decisive intervention in meeting face-to-face with local civil and political representatives successfully de-escalated the crisis and is responsible for restoring stability to Karakalpakstan.