Russia summons Uzbek ambassador over 'abusive statements' by university provost

By Elena Teslova

MOSCOW (AA) - Russia on Wednesday summoned Uzbek Ambassador Botirzhon Asadov for a protest over what it called abusive remarks by the head of Uzbekistan's top media university.

Commenting on Provost Sherzodkhon Kudratkhuja words that "people who do not speak Uzbek in Uzbekistan are either idiots or occupants," the Foreign Ministry said such statements are "in complete contradiction with the relations of deep strategic partnership and alliance that bind Russia and Uzbekistan."

"A protest was expressed to Asadov in connection with the statements of a member of the Advisory Council for the Development of Civil Society under the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan, a member of the Central Executive Committee of Uzbekistan, Provost of the University of Journalism and Mass Communications of the Republic of Uzbekistan Sherzodkhon Kudratkhuja, who spoke about the residents of his country who do not speak Uzbek in an extremely offensive and absolutely unacceptable form," the ministry said.

It emphasized that Russian and Uzbek people "built a common Homeland – the USSR," where all peoples had the opportunity to preserve and develop their own culture, receive education in national languages.

"At the same time, the Russian language played a unique unifying role as the language of multifaceted interethnic communication," it said.

The ministry said it does not consider Kudratkhuja's remarks as reflecting the state position.

"Today, Russia and Uzbekistan are developing their relations as sovereign independent states based on the principles of equality and respect for each other's interests, based on the glorious pages of our common history. It is obvious that the mentioned successes could not have been achieved under the occupation," it said.

The ministry stressed that any attempts from inside or outside to split the peoples of the two countries are "doomed to failure."

"We hope that in the near future the Uzbek Foreign Ministry will publish an official comment with a principled assessment of the odious statements of the aforementioned high-ranking figure," the ministry said.

Uzbekistan declared independence from Soviet Union after its collapse in 1991. Uzbek and Russian are the most commonly spoken languages in the Central Asian country of 35 million people.