Discontent of Uzbek minority increasing

Tension affecting Kyrgyz-Uzbek relations is having an adverse impact on ethnic Uzbeks living in southern Kyrgyzstan. Local experts say the Kyrgyz government's policy of excluding Uzbeks from the region's political institutions, for fear of a possible separatist threat, could backfire and lead to an increase in discontent among the Uzbek minority, according to a report by EurasiaNet on Tuesday. A local political analyst, Akhmadjan Saipjanov, said that discontent could transform into disorder unless the Kyrgyz government re-evaluated its policies in southern Kyrgyzstan. "If the government doesn't stop regarding them [Uzbeks] as potential separatists, and take immediate measures to involve this group in different decision-making levels and processes, the increasing perceived and real discrimination among them may translate into the rise of a separatist mood," he said. Increased exclusion from political participation could lead some Uzbeks to find outlets in more radical Islamic organisations active in Kyrgyzstan, the report said. [For further information visit www.eurasianet.org/departments/rights/articles/eav032601.shtml]