Kyrgyz army “fails to defend ethnic Uzbeks from Kyrgyz looters”
Photo posted on neweurasia.net 13 June.
Violent clashes between ethnic Kyrgyz and Uzbeks have left more than a hundred killed and 1,500 injured in and around the city of Osh, in southern Kyrgyzstan. An ethnic Kyrgyz and an ethnic Uzbek from the city give us their accounts of the situation.
Since the interethnic clashes broke out on Thursday night, tens of thousands of ethnic Uzbeks - a minority population in Kyrgyzstan - have fled to neighbouring Uzbekistan. In the city of Osh, the epicentre of the violence, bodies litter the streets and hundreds of cars and houses have been gutted.
What sparked the clashes remains unknown. But Kyrgyz authorities on Monday said that they had arrested "a well-known person" on suspicion of fomenting the riots. The country's interim government - brought into power after the former president was ousted during riots in early April - called on Moscow to intervene on Saturday. The Russian government has so far rejected the appeal.
“We can’t leave the neighbourhood to get food and medicine because we’re afraid of being killed”
Araz (not his real name) is a young ethnic Uzbek from Osh. He prefers to remain anonymous.
I am a Kyrgyz citizen. This is my city, my country. I am here to defend my relatives and my property. I am not planning to leave. Women, children and elders have been taken to Uzbek villages near the Uzbek-Kyrgyz border, but as a man, I will stay behind.
These clashes were definitely organised by certain powers. Where did ordinary people get their weapons from? Where are the snipers from? This looks like organised genocide to me.
The army is biased. Soldiers and policemen did nothing when Uzbek neighbourhoods were being destroyed - they let young Kyrgyz men loot and destroy the properties of Uzbek people. Another example: we had blocked the entrances to our neighbourhood to stop looters and killers from getting in. But the army came with their armoured personnel carriers to destroy the barricades. After doing that, how can we say the army is here to help us?"
“I believe the army is neutral”
Alymbek, an ethnic Kyrgyz, is a member of the Liberal Youth Club in Osh.
On the first night we really had no idea who was behind the clashes. Whoever it was used weapons to stir up inter-ethnic tension. And it worked - when rumours started spreading, Kyrgyz started attacking Uzbeks and vice versa. The situation escalated when Kyrgyz from local villages came into the city to seek revenge."
A divided city
People write “Kyrgyz” on their car to avoid attack. Image posted on neweurasia.net 13 June 2010.
Comments
Defense of the Oppressed
Submitted by A concerned observer (not verified) on Wed, 16/06/2010 - 04:42.This whole incident stinks of hidden players and no one seems to be defending the Uzbeks.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100615/ap_on_re_as/as_kyrgyzstan
Where is the Uzbek military from across the border? Turkey would never allow its neighbors to slaughter ethnic Turks. The U.N should immediately deploy peace keepers to protect the Uzbeks from the Kyrgyzistani military and militias who are committing acts of genocide and ethnic cleansing. The Uzbeki military should deploy its special forces units into Kyrgyzstan without any identification and in civilian cloths to arm the uzbeks and organize them into militias to defend their neighborhoods. It's sickening that acts like this continue to happen in the modern world.