Russia and Eurasia Programme paper: 2012/02
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- Osh government policy response 2: symbolic
REP Programme Paper: Averting Violence in Kyrgyzstan: Understanding and Responding to Nationalism www.chathamhouse.org 23 These generally had an inter-ethnic flavour, encouraging Uzbeks and Kyrgyz to engage in them together. Kyrgyz and Uzbek schools came together to stage festivals celebrating the good relations between the two groups, with children dressing up in national dress and dancing to Uzbek and Kyrgyz music. 82 Osh Shamy carried Kyrgyz-language articles about Uzbek culture, for example culinary, funeral and wedding traditions, and Uzbek-language articles about their Kyrgyz counterparts. 83 Numerous articles printed warm affirmations from Osh residents insisting that ordinary Uzbeks and Kyrgyz enjoyed strong fraternal bonds that could not be ruptured by the machinations of unscrupulous politicians. 84 As if to underline this, Osh Shamy printed photographs of Uzbeks and Kyrgyz together apparently enthusiastically burning copies of books and DVDs that document purported anti-Uzbek violence in Osh in June 2010 and allegedly attributed to Kodirjon Batyrov. 85 More positively, the mayor announced cash bonuses for inter-ethnic marriages formed after June 2010, and photographs of happy couples whose union embodied the message of tolerance and unity were splashed across the local press. 86
55 programmes and events were outlined in a table, along with their aims, source of funding, and the names of individuals and partner organizations responsible for carrying them out, gives an insight. They included programmes to encourage and reward the singing of Kyrgyz songs and thereby develop ‘an interest in and respect for national culture and traditions’ (number 12), Kyrgyz lessons for minorities who do not know the language (number 17), ‘teaching the young patriotism’ (number 20), ‘drawing the representatives of other ethnic groups into participation in Kyrgyz national sports’ (number 21), enabling businesses and municipal workplaces to use Kyrgyz in their formal written documents (number 34), and the like. Six programmes under the heading of ‘Defence and protection of rights’ had intended outcomes such as ‘instilling a patriotic spirit in the youth’ (number 54), ‘teaching schoolchildren to love the Fatherland’ (number 55), and ‘cultivating in the youth the feeling that serving their country is a sacred duty’ (number 52). Some of these were doubtless directed at Kyrgyz as well as Uzbeks: many Kyrgyz businesses and state agencies effectively use Russian rather than the state language, for example. Glaringly absent, especially in the law and order section, was any explicit recognition that improving ethnic relations demanded holding Kyrgyz politicians, the media and police to account for the mistreatment of minorities. For Uzbeks in Osh, this is a key prerequisite to establishing the conditions for peace. Taken together, the message of this programme is that peace is not a justice issue and is not about allowing minorities to get on with their own lives, but is to be achieved by ‘tolerance’ – meaning that all members of society, and especially the Uzbeks, come together by loyally identifying with the Kyrgyz nature of the state, speaking and using the Kyrgyz language, learning Kyrgyz cultural values and traditions, and increasing their love for the Kyrgyz republic.
The second identifiable plank of Myrzakmatov’s policy response to the June 2010 violence has been the use of symbols to assert and create civic allegiance among all ethnic groups to the idea of the city of Osh as a Kyrgyz city that is firmly and securely part of the Kyrgyz republic. This was facilitated by replicating trappings that are more commonly associated with statehood. In October 2011 the mayor announced the creation of a new flag for Osh (Figure 4). This flag superimposed a tyndyk, the central point of the structure of a Kyrgyz yurt, which is imbued with spiritual and cultural meaning, on an outline of Osh’s Solomon’s Mount/Throne, the iconic mountain
82
For an example of a report on such a festival, see ‘Toktobosyn yntymaktyn kerbeni’ [May the caravan of concordance not stop], Osh Shamy, 7 May 2011. 83
Osh Shamy, 28 May 2011; Osh Shamy, 29 September 2011. (Articles in Uzbek and Kyrgyz on each others’ funeral practices.)
84
‘Biri-biribizge tilegibiz ak bolsun’ [May our wishes for each other be pure], Osh Shamy, 28 May 2011.
85 ‘Oshtun eli chagymchylardyn araketine tatyktuu joop berdi’ [The people of Osh have given the malicious gossipers an appropriate response], Osh Shamy, 21 May 2011.
86 See, for example Osh Shamy, 11 June 2011.
REP Programme Paper: Averting Violence in Kyrgyzstan: Understanding and Responding to Nationalism www.chathamhouse.org 24 around which the city sprawls. The inhabitants of neighbourhoods around the base of the mountain are largely Uzbek (neighbourhoods that saw some of the worst violence), so the symbolism here is unmistakeable. Likewise, the mayor introduced a new anthem for the city, which declared that Osh was Kyrgyz land. He instructed that the hymn be played at all political activities and celebrations, after the national anthem, and that the city’s flag must be displayed alongside the national flag in all municipal state organizations and bodies.
More tangibly, the mayor initiated the construction of a number of monuments around the city. To mark the ‘year of strengthening the relations, concordance and friendship between ethnic groups in the city of Osh’, the so-called ‘Bell of Peace’, made in the Russian city Novosibirsk, was installed. 87
mothers’ tears’. In a speech, he said that the slogan ‘Kyrgyzstan is my homeland’ (Kyrgyzstan – menin mekenim) is sacred, symbolizing the unity of the citizenry and the apex of the common national idea. 88
narratives of Kyrgyz national history as towering figures in the pantheon of military/political leaders: Barsbek, Alymbek and Manas. Barsbek was a leader of the Kyrgyz in the late seventh and early eight centuries, 89 Alymbek an important leader controlling the Alai region for the pre-Tsarist Kokand Khanate of the mid- to late nineteenth century, 90 and Manas, the central character of the eponymous epic narrative poem, the leader who united and liberated the Kyrgyz tribes suffering under Kalmak rule. Each statue was erected on a major approach road to the city. That of Alymbek was installed on the road to Uzgen, in the largely Uzbek-inhabited Furkat area, scene of some of the worst violence against Uzbeks in 2010. It is accompanied by a giant arch and new murals depicting Kyrgyz pastoral scenes – superimposed, somewhat incongruously, against a long stretch of burnt-down Uzbek homes. The area was to be renamed ‘Kyrgyz Street’ so that, according to a journalist, people entering or leaving the city could be reminded of the semi-nomadic Kyrgyz past. 91
The statue of Manas was officially unveiled on 11 June 2012, the second anniversary of the violence.
87
‘Kalaaga yntymakty jar salgan “Tynchtyk konguroosu”‘ [The ‘bell of peace’ announcing concordance to the city], Osh Shamy, 14 May 2011. The monument’s inscriptions are in Kyrgyz, Russian and English but – pointedly – not in Uzbek.
88 ‘Osh shaarynyn meri M. Myrzakmatov iyun koogalanyn bir jyldygyna karata elge kayryll jassady’ [Osh city mayor M. Myrzakmatov has made an appeal to the people of Osh on the first anniversary of the June riots], Osh Shamy, 11 June 2011.
89
Asankanov, Abylabek and Junushaliev, Janybek (2000). Kyrgyz Respublikasynyn Taryxy [History of the Kyrgyz Republic]. (Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan), p.85-87.
90
Osmonov, Oskon and Asankanov, Abylabek (2001). Kyrgyzstan Tarykhy: Eng Bayyrky Doordon Azyrky Mezgilge Cheyin. p.168.
91 ‘ Toraga A. Keldibekov Oshtun oyun ukt,’ [Chairman A. Keldibekov heard the thoughts of Osh], Osh Shamy, 26 June 2011.
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