Tajikistan Civil War

 

Hello everyone. My name is Khursand Marodbekov and welcome to my podcast. My today’s topic will be somewhat sad but true story of my people. I would like to talk about civil war that Tajikistan has faced after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

At first I would like to give you glimpse info about Tajikistan. It is located in eastern hemisphere of the globe, to be precise in Central Asia. Tajikistan borders with China, Uzbekistan, Kirgizstan, and Afghanistan.  Our country is in peaceful relationship with all its neighbors. It is land locked country and we don’t have any costs or whatsoever, but we are very rich of water. There are many small lakes and rivers in the country. The country is also known for its mountains, Pamir Mountains.  

Alright, now let’s go back to the topic that I wanted to talk about. Civil War. Tajikistan was part of the Soviet Union. It was one of the fifteen republics. Right after the Soviet collapsed all the countries gained their independence. Unfortunately Tajikistan did not go through a peaceful transition. There were mainly two groups who wanted to rule the country. In one hand the opposition which included democratic liberal reformist and Islamist, on the other hand, the so called government, which was mainly dominated by the people from the north, which had also made up most of the ruling elite during the Soviet. Tensions began right after the presidential election. Rahmon Nabiev,  who was from the north, elected as the first president of Tajikistan. He was also supported by the people of Khatlon, who later gained the control of the entire government and elected  a new president from the same region. Opposition members took it to the street and that’s how the war broke.

While the killing was going on and brothers were slaughtering each other, the neighbor countries including Russia had their own interest on the outcome of the war. Russians and Uzbeks were aiding the government and Afghanistan was supplying the opposition with weapons. The war was going on for years. The casualties were from 100,000 to 200,000. Over 1.2 million people were displaced. Some crossed the borders to Afghanistan others to Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan. Many others fled to Russia and never returned home.  Eventually the government forces gained control of the capital city and almost the entire country. Basically the opposition lost the war. For some times the government forces were cracking down on the opposition members.  Many people were killed not because they were part of the war but because they were from the same region that the opposing were.

In June 27 1997 a UN sponsored armistice finally ended the war. This was in part fostered by the Inter Tajik Dialogue, the initiative in which the main players were brought together by international actors, namely the United State and Russia. The peace agreement signed in Moscow, Russia between the opposition and the government. The peace agreement completely eliminated the people from north, who were the supreme rulers of the country at one point. The opposition also did not gain any major seats in the government. Emomali Rahmon became president and been ruling the country ever since.

This was my todays podcast story. It was a bitter story about my country but unfortunately this is the history and it will remain with its people forever.

Thank for listening . This is Khursand Marodbekov and this is my podcast for today.