Uzbekistan (State Flag)
Uzbekistan (State Flag), The flag was officially introduced in 1991. The basis of the flag’s design is the flag that the country carried as part of the Soviet Union, but the colors are different. Blue stands for water and sky, white for peace. Green is the color of nature and symbol of fertility, red is of the life force of the people. The moon stands for the growth of the new republic. The stars represent the 12 months and the 12 zodiac signs in the zodiac.
- Countryaah: What does the flag of Uzbekistan look like? Follow this link, then you will see the image in PNG format and flag meaning description about this country.
Uzbekistan (History)
According to a2zgov, Uzbekistan covers an area that has played a key role in Central Asia for millennia (see Central Asia (history)). In addition, the Muslim Uzbeks around 1500 came from their nomadic existence on the steppes to the north and settled around the cities of Bukhara, Samarkand and Khiva, where they mingled with the resident Turkish-speaking and Persian population. This first Uzbek kingdom became in the late 1500-t. divided into the Khanates of Bukhara and Khiva, which together with the Khanate of Kokand were among the most important power factors in the area until Russia’s expansion to the south. It began in 1865 with a storm on Tashkent, which was considered by the Russian government as the gateway to Central Asia. In 1867, Tashkent became the administrative center of the Turkestan General Government, which included the northern parts of the Kokand Khanate as well as the southern parts of present-day Kazakhstan. In 1868-76, Russia subjugated Samarkand, Bukhara, and Khiva, which became protectorates, as well as Kokand, which was incorporated into Russia. The Russians did not interfere much in the internal affairs of Turkestan. In the 1880’s and 1890’s, the Trans-Spas Railway from Krasnovodsk was led across Samarkand and Tashkent into the Fergana Valley, and in 1906 the railway between Tashkent and Orenburg was opened. By rail, the area’s most important product, cotton, was transported to the Russian weaving mills.
- AbbreviationFinder: Check three-letter abbreviation for each country in the world, such as SKD which represents the official name of Uzbekistan.
In 1917, Soviet power was proclaimed in Turkestan. It was countered by the so-called basmati, an anti-Russian and anti-Bolshevik guerrilla movement. In 1924, the Uzbek SSR was formed, where the Tajiks came to constitute a large minority, and the Sovietization began to fight against Muslim and national traditions and the collectivization of agriculture. From 1989, Islam has Karimovwas the country’s leader, first as party leader, from 1991 as the elected president and after the dissolution of the Soviet Union as chairman (until 1996) of the renamed Communist Party, the Democratic People’s Party, the country’s dominant party. In 1995, a referendum extended his term by five years. In the 2000 presidential election, he won over his only opponent with 91.9% of the vote. The conduct of this election and the 1999 parliamentary elections were sharply criticized by OSCE election observers., of which Uzbekistan is a member. Karimov has cracked down hard on any kind of opposition, and democracy and human rights have poor conditions in the country. In a referendum in 2002, he had his term extended by two years until 2007. His rule has become increasingly authoritarian. Opposition parties are banned and there are serious violations of human rights. In 2004, elections to a new parliament were held without the participation of the opposition, and OSCE observers concluded that the conduct of the election far from lived up to Uzbekistan’s commitments to the OSCE. Karimov fights Islamic extremism in the form of Uzbekistan’s Islamic Movement and Hizb-ut-Tahrir. International lenders and investors are reluctant due to lack of economic reforms; the European Development Bank EBRDcut sharply in 2004 on aid to the country, and the World Bankdeclared in early 2006 that it would not grant loans to Uzbekistan in the foreseeable future. In 2001, the country joined the US-led anti-terror coalition and made available the Karshi-Khanabad air base in southern Uzbekistan for its attack on Afghanistan. In May 2005, riots broke out in the city of Andijan in the Fergana Valley, where people had been protesting peacefully for months against the imprisonment of 23 local businessmen accused of Islamic extremism. Armed insurgents stormed the jail and freed the 23 and several other inmates. Later, security forces opened fire on protesters in a central square of the city, killing hundreds of unarmed civilians; however, more than 500 managed to escape across the border into Kyrgyzstan. The government accused militant Muslims of being behind the demonstrations, but would not agree to an independent inquiry at the request of the United States. When the United States further helped evacuate the Uzbek refugees from Kyrgyzstan, the Uzbek government gave US forces 180 days to leave the Karshi-Khanabad base. Russia and China endorsed the crackdown on the demonstrations in Andijan and are believed to have put pressure on Uzbekistan to force the United States out of the country. Relations with Russia have improved since Vladimir Putin became Russian president; countries have concluded strategic partnership agreements (2004) and military and economic cooperation agreements (2005). In September 2005, for the first time since the dissolution of the Soviet Union, joint military exercises were held, and in June 2006, Uzbekistan strengthened its security policy ties with Russia by joining the CSTO collective security organization. Relations with China are being developed within the framework of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization SCO. The EU has begun lifting the sanctions imposed on the country following the events in Andijan, although EU requirements have only been partially met. The reason for this is the EU’s interest in direct supplies of gas from Uzbekistan via Turkmenistan outside Russia. The United States has also begun resuming military relations with Uzbekistan to secure alternative supply routes to Allied forces in Afghanistan, following problems over the continued use of the Manas base in Kyrgyzstan. In this context, both the EU and the US place less emphasis on Uzbekistan’s human rights violations, which include: has resulted in virtually all foreign NGOs being forced out of the country, including the UNHCR.
In December 2008, Islam Karimov was re-elected president for seven years, after which he was re-elected in 2015. He continued his authoritarian policy until his death in 2016.