Islam abduganievich karimov biography

(b. Samarkand, 30 Jan. 1938)

Uzbek; President of Uzbekistan 1990– Karimov started his career working in the Tashkent Aviation Factory. He joined the Communist Party in 1964. From 1966 to 1983 he worked on the organization of the state ‘five-year’ plans (Gosplan) for Uzbekistan. From 1983 to 1986 he was Uzbekistan's Minister of Finances. After coming to power in 1985, Gorbachev launched a full-scale purge of the corrupt and conservative Uzbek party leadership. In 1986 Karimov embarked on a party career when he entered one of the posts made vacant thanks to Gorbachev, becoming First Secretary of Kashkadar'ya regional committee. In June 1989 he was made First Secretary of the Uzbekistan Communist Party, replacing Rafik Nishanov, who became chairman of the USSR Soviet of Nationalities. In 1990 Karimov became President of the Uzbek Republic. In July that year he was elected to the Central Committee and to the Politburo. In August 1991 he declared the independence of Uzbekistan, and was elected President at the end of the year, gaining 86 per cent of the vote. He has remained in power ever since, both through extending his presidential terms and by elections in 2000 and 2007, elections in which the voters were offered little genuine choice. In the 2007 election, he won over 88 per cent of the vote on a 90 per cent turnout. His regime has suppressed human rights, employing heavy press censorship and the use of torture, and has indulged in corruption, weakening the economic health of the country. The USA valued Uzbekistan's location, and Karimov agreed to having a US base at Khanabad (used to support US troops in Afghanistan) in 2001. In 2005 several hundred Uzbek protesters were killed by government troops in Andijan, an event strongly criticized by the USA and the EU. In response, the US troops were expelled, and Karimov strengthened his relations with Russia and China. In 2008 Putin visited Tashkent and closer cooperation was agreed upo

Islam Karimov

Islam Karimov

Islam Abduganievich Karimov, the founder of Uzbekistan's independence, a prominent statesman who developed the country's independent development program and set the course for national development, was born on January 30, 1938 in Samarkand region. Islam Karimov served as President of the Republic of Uzbekistan from 1991 to the end of his life. Under the leadership of Islam Karimov, Uzbekistan has experienced a very strong development. During his tenure, Karimov established diplomatic relations with more than 100 countries. Karimov is remembered by the Uzbek people for his good deeds during his presidency.

   He was one of the main authors of the Constitution of the Republic of Uzbekistan, which fully meets the democratic requirements and international standards. He studied the peculiarities of the people and the best world practices and developed a new model of economic activity. This path of development includes five well-known principles, such as the supremacy of the economy over politics, the rule of law, the role of government in transition, the gradual implementation of reforms, strong social protection, and is known around the world as the "Uzbek model". The recognition was made through I.Karimov.

   During his presidency, Karimov has won many state awards. For example, he was awarded the Order of the Hero of Uzbekistan, the Order of Independence the Order of Amir Temur. as well asKarimov has been awarded more than 62 international awards

  Karimov was also elected an honorary doctor of sciences, professor and academician of more than 10 foreign universities and academies of the Academy of Sciences of Uzbekistan for his great contribution to the development of economics, science and education.

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President Islam Abduganievich Karimov was born in 1938 in the silk-road city of Samarkand. Raised in a Soviet orphanage, Karimov went on to study engineering and economics. He came to power as First Secretary of the Communist Party of Uzbekistan in 1989 and was named president of the Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic in 1990.

Shortly after Uzbekistan's independence in 1991, President Karimov declared victory in the new state's seriously marred first presidential election. He extended his term in office through a plebiscite in 1995. President Karimov was re-elected for what was supposed to be his final five-year term in 2000. The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) declined to send observers to that presidential vote after determining that the election environment allowed no possibility for a genuine contest. U.S. officials announced that the election "was neither free nor fair and offered Uzbekistan's voters no true choice." The State Department also noted that the only candidate ostensibly running against President Karimov announced that he himself had voted for the incumbent president.

The Uzbek government held another referendum in January 2002 to extend President Karimov's presidency to 2007 by amending Uzbekistan's constitution to allow for seven-year presidential terms.

In His Own Words

"The OSCE focuses only on establishment of democracy, the protection of human rights and the freedom of the press. I am now questioning these values." - President Karimov, after the OSCE criticized the 1999 parliamentary elections. Agence France-Presse, January 8, 2000.

"Such people must be shot in the forehead! If necessary, I'll shoot them myself…!" - President Karimov, upon the 1998 adoption of a highly restrictive religion law, warning parliament not to be soft on "Islamic extremists." Many peaceful Muslims have also been rounded up in the sweeps of "fundamentalists." BBC Monitoring report of Uzbek Radio second program, May 1, 1998.

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