Birdamlik: It is high time Karimov was isolated.

23.05.12 12:42

An official Uzbek delegation’s participation in a NATO summit in Chicago has been greeted by a rally and a theatrical stunt by Birdamlik entitled “About the country of slaves”.

On 21 May the Uzbek delegation, led by Foreign Minister Abdulaziz Kamilov and Defence Minister Kabul Berdiyev, took part in a special session on Afghanistan held at the NATO summit.

Uzbek President Islam Karimov, despite an official invitation, refused to go to the Windy City. According to one theory, he declined the invitation because of US President Barack Obama’s unwillingness to grant him one-to-one meeting.

Karimov’s expectations from the Chicago summit inspired the Birdamlik people’s movement to stage a rally and a theatrical stunt called “About the country of slaves” on the day of the summit’s opening on 20 May.

Bahodyr Choriyev, the Birdamlik leader living in the USA, told Uznews.net ahead of the summit that their stunt should shed light on the USA’s cooperation with one of the world’s most repressive regimes in the war in Afghanistan.

“Karimov’s failure to attend has not stopped us,” he said. “We still held a rally and attracted the attention of residents and guests of the city to Uzbekistan and to what is happening in this country.”

Birdamlik members and supporters and ordinary Uzbek citizens – about 40 people in total – built a stage on a busy Chicago street to tell passers-by about Islam Karimov’s Uzbekistan.

Those who missed

	Karshi-based human rights activist Yadgar Turlibekov holds a poster with an Uzbek pensioner’s story

their performance could read the texts of the play on posters told by one of the characters.

These characters included President Islam Karimov, Prime Minister Shavkat Mirziyayev, representatives of power-wielding structures, teachers, doctors, pensioners, students and pupils.

Protesters also held photos of Uzbek political dissidents – journalists Dilmurod Sayid, Salijon Abdurahmanov and Muhammad Bekjan, writer Mamadali Mahmudov, human rights activist Agzam Turgunov and others, demanding their release.

“We believe Karimov should be isolated by the international community,” Choriyev said. “Democratic countries should admit that their cooperation with the dictator is only strengthening him and is making the Uzbek people unhappier.”

Choriyev is not aware if any member of the Uzbek delegation attended the rally, but he is confident they knew about what had happened on Chicago streets.

“We aimed to show Americans and other people what NATO partner Islam Karimov and his regime were like,” he said.

Uzbek Ministers Kamilov and Berdiyev, the NATO press service said, signed a joint declaration together with the Afghan

	A street actor in Chicago personifies Islam Karimov

leader and the leaders of countries involved in the Afghan campaign.

The declaration sets a timeframe for the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan – the end of 2014. Countries involved in the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan reassured Kabul that it would not be left on its own.

“We reaffirm that our close partnership will continue beyond the end of the transition period,” the declaration said.

The transfer of responsibility for ensuring security in the country to the Afghan government started in July 2011 under accords signed in Lisbon in November 2010.

On 13 May 2012 Afghan President Hamid Karzai announced the launch of the third phase of the transition period when the share of the Afghan population whose security is ensured by Afghan forces will reach 75%.

By mid-2013, the declaration said, the entire country will be controlled by the local forces.

“ISAF is gradually and responsibly drawing down its forces to complete its mission by 31 December 2014,” the declaration said.

Uznews.net