Bob Report This Comment Date: March 04, 2005 07:55PM
I was recently interested in the 'Stan' countries outside of the well
publicised Afghanistan. Despite these countries being vast I don't know much at
all about them and I was wondering if anyone else here could give any info into
culture, customs etc. about these countries
Bob Report This Comment Date: March 04, 2005 07:59PM
Some info I found:
Uzbekistan is situated in central Asia between the Amu Darya and Syr Darya
Rivers, the Aral Sea, and the slopes of the Tien Shan Mountains. It is bounded
by Kazakhstan in the north and northwest, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan in the east
and southeast, Turkmenistan in the southwest, and Afghanistan in the south. The
republic also includes the Karakalpakstan Autonomous Republic, with its capital,
Nukus (1992 est. pop., 182,000). The country is about one-tenth larger in area
than the state of California
In June 1990, Uzbekistan became the first central Asian republic to declare that
its own laws had sovereignty over those of the central Soviet government.
Uzbekistan became fully independent and joined with ten other former Soviet
republics on Dec. 21, 1991, in the Commonwealth of Independent States.
Vozrozhdeniye, an island in the Aral Sea, was a secret test site for biological
weapons during the Soviet era. In 1988, the Soviets attempted to bury the
evidence on the island, a frightening legacy that Uzbekistan inherited upon
independence. U.S. scientists have confirmed that the island contains live
anthrax and other deadly poisons.
President Karimov, a former Communist Party boss, has effectively suppressed
opposition parties. Human rights abuses have grown at an alarming rate over the
years, and torture is used as a routine investigation technique.
In 1999, the country battled against militant Islamic groups bent on the
overthrow of the secular government. Fighting against the Islamic Movement of
Uzbekistan (IMU) continued for the next few years. In 2000, Russia offered to
help Uzbekistan “liquidate” the Islamic extremists. Several terrorist
bombings took place in March 2004, killing 40. A trial in Aug. 2004 sentenced 15
accused Islamic militants to prison, but human rights groups questioned the
trial's fairness.
In 2001, Uzbekistan provided the United States and the UK with a base to fight
against Taliban and al-Qaeda forces in neighboring Afghanistan, and became the
United States' main regional partner in the war on terror. As a strategic
partner, the U.S. was initially reluctant to take a firm stand regarding
Uzbekistan's dismal human rights record. The repressive country's 6,000
political and religious prisoners are subject to horrific torture and appalling
conditions. But in July 2004, the U.S. State Department announced it would cut
$18 million in military and economic aid to Uzbekistan because it had failed to
improve its human rights record.
Anonymous Report This Comment Date: March 04, 2005 08:05PM
thats an absolutely gorgeous shot of the mountains
Timmeh Report This Comment Date: March 05, 2005 02:11AM
Lotsa white poweder there, no wonder there is tracks where people have been
snorting that shit