Central Asia
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U.S. ONLINE TRAINING FOR OSCE, INCLUDING REACT Module 6. Central Asia This module introduces you to central Asia and the OSCE’s work in: • Kazakhstan • Turkmenistan • Uzbekistan • Kyrgyzstan • Tajikistan 1 Table of Contents Overview. 3 Central Asia. 4 States before the Soviet period. 7 International organizations. 9 Caspian Oil. 10 Getting the oil out. 12 Over-fishing and pollution. 14 Water. 15 Kazakhstan. 18 Geography. 19 People. 20 Government. 21 Before Russian rule. 22 Under Russian and Soviet rule. 23 From Perestroika to independence. 25 Domestic politics. 26 Ethnic relations. 31 Internal security. 32 Foreign relations. 33 Kazakhstan culture. 40 Turkmenistan. 42 Geography. 43 People. 44 Government. 45 Basic geography. 46 Historical background. 47 Domestic politics. 48 Ethnic relations. 53 Foreign relations. 54 Turkmenistan culture. 58 Uzbekistan. 63 Geography. 64 People. 65 Government. 66 Basic geography. 67 Historical background. 68 The Muslim civilization of Bukhara and Samarkand. 69 The Turko-Persian civilization. 70 Under Russian and Soviet rule. 71 Perestroika and independence. 72 Domestic politics. 73 Economics and politics. 77 Islam and politics. 78 MODULE 6. Central Asia 2 Ethnic relations. 80 Foreign relations. 81 Uzbekistan culture. 85 Kyrgyzstan. 89 Geography. 90 People. 91 Government. 92 Basic geography. 93 Historical background. 94 The Osh conflict and the ‘Silk Revolution’. 95 Ethnic relations. 96 Domestic politics. 97 Foreign relations. 106 Culture. 111 Tajikistan. 116 Geography. 117 People. 118 Government. 119 Four regions of Tajikistan. 120 Historical background. 121 The civil war. 122 Nature of the war. 124 Negotiations and the peace process. 125 Politics, economics and foreign affairs. 130 Domestic politics. 131 Tajikistan culture. 138 MODULE 6. Central Asia 3 CHAPTER 1 Overview MODULE 6. Central Asia 3 CHAPTER 1 Overview Central Asia There are OSCE missions in each of these five independent republics of Central Asia: • Kazakhstan • Turkmenistan • Uzbekistan • Kyrgyzstan • Tajikistan Borders, politics and geography All these republics are modern creations. Soviet officials brought them into existence as union republics of the USSR in the 1920s and 1930s, drawing the boundaries between them to correspond roughly with the pattern of ethnic settlement. These boundaries do not correspond either to natural or to traditional cultural divisions, nor do they correspond to the borders of states that existed before the Soviet period. Natural divisions Central Asia has four basic natural landscapes: • Northern Kazakhstan is steppe—that is, open grassland. Further south, the steppe gradually turns into semi-desert scrub and finally into desert. • Desert covers most of Turkmenistan and much of Uzbekistan and southern Kazakhstan. • The fertile areas of Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and.