"One cannot but think of him as a 50-year-old mausoleum exhibition"
August 29, 2016 1:53 PM   Subscribe

Following an admission yesterday by the government of Uzbekistan that its president, Islam Karimov, had suffered a stroke, it is now being reported that he has died. He was the only person to have led an independent Uzbekistan and it is unclear who might succeed him, as his once-popular (at least as far as her father was concerned) daughter Gulnara has been under house arrest since 2014 after a feud within the family. Last year, Daniil Kislov, whose Ferghana news agency was among the first to report Karimov's illness and death, had some reflections on Karimov's last few years of authoritarian rule.
posted by Copronymus (18 comments total) 20 users marked this as a favorite
 
If you're interested in a kind of academic/journalistic perspective, Sarah Kendzior did her dissertation work on politics in Uzbekistan and has compiled all of her research and work on the country in light of the president's death on her website. Her twitter feed is, as always, worth checking out for added context and comments.
posted by ChuraChura at 2:05 PM on August 29, 2016 [18 favorites]


What a sad and depressing legacy.
posted by Bringer Tom at 2:06 PM on August 29, 2016


I have been fascinated with this country for the last few years. It's going to be interesting to see what happens.
posted by bongo_x at 2:08 PM on August 29, 2016 [1 favorite]


As former Soviet Republic, Uzbekistan obviously has some strong historical connections to Russia. Over a 1.5 million Russians live in the country, and Russian is still widely spoken throughout the country. Russia recently forgave 95 percent of Uzbekistan’s outstanding debt to Moscow. But Uzbekistan's relations with China have been growing stronger over the years. China recently surpassed Russia as the country's biggest trading partner. Expect both Russia and China to be watching any transition of power very closely (and not necessarily passively).
posted by Kabanos at 2:34 PM on August 29, 2016 [4 favorites]


Weirdly, Uzbekistan has had a blip on the pop-culture radar recently too as Tashkent-born Milana Vayntrub (those of you in the U.S. probably know her from those AT&T commercials) "represented" Uzbekistan (and won) @midnght's Olympics-adjacent week featuring international comedians.

Sorry for the distraction. Not sure what to say to such ominous news.
posted by psoas at 3:07 PM on August 29, 2016 [2 favorites]


Been there and have a few indirect family ties, and friends. Living under the dictator has been shitty, and I don't hold me breath for something better to come from this power vacuum.
posted by Meatbomb at 3:30 PM on August 29, 2016 [1 favorite]


The way 2016 has been going, this country will now descend into some sort of civil war. Ugh! I sure hope not.
posted by InsertNiftyNameHere at 4:24 PM on August 29, 2016


Meet The Stans: Ep3 Uzbekistan
posted by Damienmce at 5:45 PM on August 29, 2016 [2 favorites]


Reading up on Gulnara, aka Googoosha, I wonder if both the country's economic woes and HBO's post-Game of Thrones plans could be solved by a reality show.
posted by Halloween Jack at 6:09 PM on August 29, 2016


Has his death been confirmed? A random twitter post isn't exactly the most reliable source on the web.
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 8:07 PM on August 29, 2016


Dysfunctional family. Dysfunctional country. Very sad.
posted by BlueHorse at 8:35 PM on August 29, 2016


At first I had Karimov confused with the leader of Turkmenistan, Saparmurat Niyazov, and was worried Melon Day might not continue. But I see Niyazov died in 2006, was replaced by a slightly less awful dictator, but Melon Day still duly celebrates the glories of the delicious musk melon. As far as Uzbek culture is concerned, the region did give us Tashkenti carrot salad, which is very delicious. (What do you mean, this isn't a food discussion?)
posted by aught at 6:25 AM on August 30, 2016


aught: I was just in Uzbek and got to celebrate their brand new national holiday Fountain Day, celebrating the glories of fountains!

(it was great! kids all over the place making tissue paper fountains and endlessly asking to have their picture taken with the 6'4" 300lb, bearded weirdo)
posted by Cosine at 9:59 AM on August 30, 2016 [1 favorite]


Weirdly, Uzbekistan has had a blip on the pop-culture radar recently

I did not know that about her, but I did know about Uzbek pop music. I found it interesting coming from such an isolated country.
posted by bongo_x at 10:07 AM on August 30, 2016


Has his death been confirmed? A random twitter post isn't exactly the most reliable source on the web.

I believe it is still just the report in Russian from Ferghana (linked to in that tweet) that is reporting that he's dead (there may be some other Russian sources but I don't read or speak it so there's only so deep I can go), but he is certainly gravely ill and the general sense from the news outlets I've read has been that they're assuming that he is dead or incapacitated and are just waiting for someone from the government to confirm it. That will probably depend on the security services cutting their current block on anyone who is in a position to confirm or deny from using phone service.
posted by Copronymus at 10:19 AM on August 30, 2016


Schrodinger's Karimov
posted by Kabanos at 6:21 AM on August 31, 2016


Well, now the Turkish Prime Minister is saying Karimov is dead (along with sources in the Afghan and Kyrgyzstani governments), although Uzbekistan is still silent on the issue. It sounds like they're planning for a funeral in the next couple of days. 5 days is a long time for palace intrigue, but I guess it got sorted out well enough to take the immediate next steps. Here's hoping this doesn't portend a long period of instability and uncertainty in Uzbekistan.
posted by Copronymus at 8:00 AM on September 2, 2016 [1 favorite]


And now it's confirmed.
posted by Copronymus at 8:54 AM on September 2, 2016 [1 favorite]


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