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Islamic Fundamentalism in Post-Soviet Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan: Real Or Imagined Threat

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Islamic Fundamentalism in Post-Soviet Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan: Real Or Imagined Threat ISLAMIC FUNDAMENTALISM IN POST-SOVIET UZBEKISTAN AND KYRGYZSTAN: REAL OR IMAGINED THREAT A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES OF MIDDLE EAST TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY BY NUSKA BOTOIAROVA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF SCIENCE IN THE DEPARTMENT OF EURASIAN STUDIES MAY 2005 Approval of the Graduate School of Social Sciences. __________________ Prof. Dr. Sencer Ayata Director I certify that this thesis satisfies all the requirements as a thesis for the degree of Master of Science. __________________ Assist. Prof. Dr. Ceylan Tokluo ğlu Head of Department This is to certify that we have read this thesis and that in our opinion it is fully adequate, in scope and quality, as a thesis for the degree of Master of Science. __________________ Assist. Prof. Dr. Pınar Akçalı Supervisor Examining Committee Members: Assist. Prof. Dr. Pınar Akçalı _____________________ Assist. Prof. Dr. Ay şegül Baydar Aydıngün _____________________ Assist. Prof. Dr. Recep Boztemur _____________________ I hereby declare that all information in this document has been obtained and presented in accordance with academic rules and ethical conduct. I also declare that, as required by these rules and conduct, I have fully cited and referenced all material and results that are not original to this work. Name, Last name: Nuska Botoiarova Signature: iii ABSTRACT ISLAMIC FUNDAMENTALISM IN POST-SOVIET UZBEKISTAN AND KYRGYZSTAN: REAL OR IMAGINED THREAT Botoiarova, Nuska M. Sc., Department of Eurasian Studies Supervisor: Assist. Prof. Dr. Pınar Akçalı May 2005, 200 pages Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, there has been much concern among observers and analysts around the world over what role Islam is to play in the political, economic and social spheres of life in newly independent Central Asian states. Traditionally, Islam is the dominant faith, but had been strongly influenced by the Soviet atheist ideology during the last seven decades before Central Asia became independent in 1991. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, some observers in the West depicted Central Asia as an extension of the Middle East, invoking fears that Islamic fundamentalism was to pose a serious threat to the stability in the region of Central Asia. In this thesis I analyzed the dynamism of Islamic revival in Central Asia’s two post-Soviet states of Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan through the prism of the imported phenomenon of ‘Islamic fundamentalism’. The thesis demonstrates that iv Islam in Central Asia is a natural process determined primarily by internal socio- economic and political conditions and not influenced by outside forces. In order to support this argument, I approached the problem by analyzing both external factors and internal conditions. The concluding argument is that even if Islam is to be radicalized it will be because of internal factors, such as authoritarianism, violation of human rights and repression of moderate manifestations of Islam from within, rather than because of the influence of Islamic fundamentalist forces from abroad. Keywords: Islamic fundamentalism, Islam, Central Asia, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan. v ÖZ SOVYET SONRASI ÖZBEK İSTAN VE KIRGIZ İSTAN’DA İSLAM KÖKTEND İNC İLİĞİ : GERÇEK YA DA HAYAL İ TEHD İT Botoiarova, Nuska Avrasya Çalı şmaları Yüksek Lisans Programı Tez Yöneticisi: Yard. Doç. Dr. Pınar Akçalı Mayıs 2005, 200 sayfa Sovyetler Birli ği’nin da ğılmasından sonra dünyanın birçok ülkesinde ara ştırmacıların ve gözlemcilerin dikkati, ba ğımsızlıklarını yeni ilan eden Orta Asya ülkelerinde siyasi, ekonomik ve sosyal alanlarda İslamiyet’in nasıl bir rol oynayaca ğı üzerinde toplanmı ştır. Geleneksel olarak bölgede İslam ço ğunluğun dinidir, ancak bu din, Orta Asya ülkeleri 1991’de ba ğımsızlıklarını elde edene kadar geçen yetmi ş yıl boyunca Sovyet ateist ideolojisinden önemli ölçüde etkilenmi ştir. Sovyetler Birli ği’nin da ğılmasından sonra, Batılı bazı gözlemcilerin görü şlerine göre Orta Asya, Orta Do ğu’nun bir uzantısıdır ve İslam köktendincili ği Orta Asya bölgesinin istikrarına bir tehdit olu şturma potansiyeline sahiptir. Bu çalı şmada Sovyet sonrası dönemde Özbekistan ve Kırgızistan’daki İslami canlanma, ithal edilmi ş “ İslam köktendincili ği” olgusu açısından analiz edilmi ştir. Çalı şma, Orta Asya İslamı’nın, vi do ğal olarak ve öncelikle, toplumsal, ekonomik ve siyasi ko şullar tarafından belirlendi ğini ve dı ş güçlerden fazla etkilenmedi ğini gösterecektir. Bu argümanı desteklemek üzere tezde hem dı ş faktörlerin hem de iç ko şulların analizi yapılmı ştır. Sonuç olarak bölgede İslamiyet radikalle şme sürecine girse bile bu sürecin, dı ş köktendinci İslami güçlerden çok, otoriter rejim, insan hakları ihlali ve ılımlı İslam’a kar şı alınan sert tavırlar gibi iç faktörler yüzünden hız kazanabilece ği öne sürülmü ştür. Anahtar sözcükler: İslam köktendincili ği, İslam, Orta Asya, Özbekistan, Kırgızistan. vii In Memory of my Father viii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to express my gratitude to all those who gave me the possibility to complete this thesis. First of all, I want to thank the government of Turkish Republic for giving me an opportunity to pursue my academic career at the Middle East Technical University, Department of Eurasian Studies. It is a privilege for me to be among thousands of international students, who have an excellent opportunity to enrich their knowledge here at one of the best universities of the Middle East and Europe, for whom the acquired knowledge, skills and qualifications serve an invaluable springboard for their academic and professional endeavors around the world. I am deeply indebted to my supervisor Assist. Prof. Dr. Pınar Akçalı from the department of Political Science and Public Administration, whose skillful guidance, stimulating suggestions and encouragement helped me all the time during the process of writing this thesis. I am grateful to her for creating such an atmosphere in which writing this thesis became enjoyable. I would also like to thank other members of my examining committee Assist. Prof. Dr. Recep Boztemur and Assist. Prof. Dr. Ay şegül Baydar Aydıngün, who monitored my work and took effort in reading and providing me with valuable comments. My special thank goes to Yunus Emre Gürbüz, Deniz Yalçın and Mustafa Özba ş from the department of Eurasian Studies for their trouble-free help and support, who were always there whenever I needed their advice. I feel a deep sense of gratitude for my late father Kambaraly Botoyarov and my mother Anara Makeyeva, who formed part of my vision and taught me the good things that really matter in life. The happy memory of my father still provides a persistent inspiration for my journey in this life. To my dearest sister Jamal Botoyarova I express my most sincere gratitude for her eternal care and unshakable faith in all of my initiatives. Special words of gratitude go to my brother Avaz Botoyarov, who became more than just a relative to me when we both were far away from home. I am grateful for his motivation in times of desperation, wisdom and critique in times when I was wrong and for rendering the sense and value of brotherly understanding and support when I most needed it. Finally, I wish to extend the words of gratitude to Kamaldin Pirimbaev and Beishen Toktogulov for their technical support, which they so generously provided during the final stages of my thesis. ix TABLE OF CONTENTS PLAGIARISM…………………………………………………………………….…iii ABSTRACT…………………………………………………..……………….…….iv ÖZ………………………………………………………………..……………..……vi DEDICATION………………………………………………………..……….……viii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS………………………………………………………….ix TABLE OF CONTENTS………………………………………………………….....x CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION…………………………….…………………….….…..……...1 1.1 Literature Review………………………………..…………………...……….3 1.1.1 First Group of Scholars…………………..……..…...………………..4 1.1.2 Second Group of Scholars………………………..…….………...…..9 2. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND………….……………………...………….......22 2.1 Pre-Soviet Period……………………………………..…………………......23 2.1.1 The Importance of Geography…………………………..…………..23 2.1.2 The Arab Conquest………………………..…...……………………27 2.1.3 The Turkic Period…………………………………...…….…..…….30 2.1.4 The Mongol Period and the Timurid Dynasty………………...…….31 2.1.5 The Post-Mongol Period…………………..………….………….….35 2.1.5.1 Central Asia under Turkicized Chingizid Rulers……………35 2.1.6 The Tsarist Conquest…………………………………….……….....37 2.1.7. The Jadid Movement………………………………………………..45 2.2 Soviet Period……………………………...……….……………………...…50 2.2.1 Soviet Religious Policy…………………………………………..….50 2.2.2 Official Islam……………….………………..…………………..….61 2.2.3 Parallel Islam…………………………………….……………...…..73 2.2.4 Islam and Perestroika…………………………………………..……84 3. ISLAMIC REVIVAL IN POST-SOVIET UZBEKISTAN AND KYRGYZSTAN…………………………………………………………………….95 3.1 Introduction………………………………………………………..….….…95 3.2 External Factors………………………………………………..…………..102 x 3.2.1 Iran……………………………………………………..……..…....104 3.2.2 Turkey………………………………………………….....……..…110 3.2.3 Afghanistan……………………………………………..……….....115 3.2.4 Saudi Arabia………………………………………….....………….119 3.2.5 September 11 Attacks…………………………...………..………..122 3.3 Internal Factors in Uzbekistan………..……………………………………124 3.3.1 Political Conditions……………………..…….……………..…..…124 3.3.2 Economic Conditions………………….………………………...…131 3.3.3 Religious Conditions………………………………….....................135 3.3.3.1 Wahhabism…………..………………………..….…..……135 3.3.3.2 Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan …………………………141 3.3.3.3 Hizb-ut-Tahrir al-Islami.……………………… ……..……145 3.3.3.4 Islamic Renaissance Party………………………...…..……150 3.4 Internal Factors in Kyrgyzstan.…………………….…….……….………..154
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