There’s no contradiction between President Mirziyoyev’s assessment and the author’s. To the contrary, they’re complementary. Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev was quoted by his spokesman on Wednesday as saying the following about last weekend’s Karakalpakstan Crisis: “All recent events were prepared and organized not one, and not ten days, prior to taking place. These events were under preparations for many years by foreign forces. The main aim was to infringe upon the territorial integrity of Uzbekistan and to spark up an inter-ethnic conflict.” There’s no reason to doubt the head of state’s assessment of the situation, but it isn’t as clear-cut as it seems.