By IPS Correspondents
BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan, May 5 2008 (IPS)

A new demand has been made for the independence of Karakalpakstan, an autonomous region in the north-west of Uzbekistan.

Karakalpakstan had a status similar to that of Kyrgyzstan at the beginning of Soviet days. But now Kyrgyzstan and neighbouring Kazakhstan are independent nations, while Karakalpakstan remains a region within Uzbekistan.

Karakalpakis are just about 2.5 percent of the 27 million people in Uzbekistan, though the region is a third of the territory. The region borders Kazakhstan in the north and west, and Turkmenistan in the east. The language and traditions in this region are closer to Kazakh and Kyrgyz people. The region takes its name from Karakalpak, which means a traditionally worn black cap.

An independent political group called Free Karakalpakstan, said to be based outside of Uzbekistan, has now demanded a referendum for independence. The group says the government in Tashkent has done little to improve employment, and to protect people from environmental catastrophes.

In a statement published on the Internet, Ernazar Konuratov from the group has appealed to supporters within the region to join the party.

“The majority of Karakalpak youth may support this appeal,” says human rights activist from Karakalpakstan, Salijan Abdurahmanov. But for the moment support is expected from Karakalpak youth outside Uzbekistan.

Divisions within Uzbekistan go back a long time, and stand between many groups. Uzbeks in Khorezm, in Surkhandarya and in Kashkadarya are separated from each other not just geographically, but also culturally.

Karakalpakstan saw its first independence movement in the mid-1980s, led by economist Marat Aralbaev. “Unfortunately, then the ecological problems of the Aral sea were more important, and gradually the idea of independence was forgotten,” says Salijan Abdurakhmanov, human right activist in Nukus.

Diversion of river water for agriculture led to a sharp fall in the level of the Aral Sea. As a result, land salinity increased, and much of local flora and fauna disappeared. People are still affected by the results of those changes, and this is in part feeding the demand for independence.

But no member of the Uzbek parliament supports a referendum. “Uzbek authorities will never allow Karakalpakistan to be independent as long as the present regime is in the power”, analyst Kasym Jaynakov in Kyrgyzstan capital Bishkek told IPS. “I think the Uzbek President (Islam Karimov) is more interested now in keeping the country united than ever before.”

According to recent reports, Karakalpakstan has about 2 trillion (million million) cubic metres of gas reserves, and large reserves of crude oil. For that reason alone Karakalpakstan will never gain independence, Tashbolot Joldoshev, an analyst in Tashkent told IPS on email. “I think the group asking for the independence of Karakalpakstan is very weak, and they do not know the way to achieve their aim. But they can destroy the stability of Uzbekistan.”

According to unofficial estimates, about 200,000 people from Karakalpakstan, mostly Kazakh in origin, have left the country. Most of them have settled down in Kazakhstan. And officials in Kazakh capital Astana are encouraging this process in order to increase the population. Kazakh officials have created a special programme called Oralman to support Kazakh people returning to Kazakhstan.

Karakalpakstan is among several regions in Central Asia where large numbers of people are demanding independence. Beside Tibetans, Uighurs in north-west China have been holding demonstrations to demand independence. More than a thousand Uighurs took part in protests in the Xinjiang region of China in March. They were dispersed by military forces.

Similar demands have been raised in Badakhshan, an autonomous region within Tajikistan, bordering China and Afghanistan.

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