Qirg’iziston janubida vaziyat hamon og’ir. Hukumat to’polonlarning yangi to’lqini boshlanishi mumkin, deya ogohlantirmoqda. Qo’shma Shtatlar Roza Otunbayeva va uning ma’muriyatini har bir fuqaro huquqini ta’minlashga, aholiga adolatsiz munosabatda bo’lmaslikka chaqirmoqda.
Amerika Tashqi ishlar vazirligining rang-barang bayroqlar osilgan katta zalida turib, biz bilan gaplashar ekan, Davlat kotibi muovini Robert Bleyk (Robert Blake) “Qirg’iziston bu yerdan ancha olis, lekin u yerda odamlar chekkan va chekayotgan azobni bu yerdan ham his qila olayapmiz”, - deydi.
Robert Bleyk, AQSh Davlat kotibi muovini bilan suhbat, Vashington
Nega unda Amerika xalqaro tergov boshlanishi, adolat ta’minlanishi uchun chaqqonroq harakat qilmayapti?
“Harakat bor va yaqin kunlarda aniq qadamlar tashlanishi muqarrar. Roza Otunbayeva, muvaqqat prezident sifatida endigina ish boshladi. Maxsus komissiya tuzish haqida gap ketmoqda”.
Roza Otunbayeva mustaqil xalqaro tergov o’tkazilishiga rozi demoqchimisiz?
“Bu haqda qirg’iz hukumatining o’zi bildirgani ma’qul. Respublika o’zi maxsus komissiya tuzishi va xalqaro tergov olib borilganida, u jarayonda ham hamkorlik qilishi kutilmoqda”.
Yevropada Xavfsizlik va Hamkorlik Tashkiloti bo’yicha AQSh komissiyasi raisi, kongressmen Alsi Xeystings “Haqiqat va Yarashuv” qo’mitasi tuzishni taklif qilmoqda, ya’ni O’sh va Jalolobodda yuz bergan qirg’in izchil va xolis tarzda o’rganib chiqilishi, javobgarlar jazoga tortilishi, kimdan nima xato o’tgani ochiq muhokama qilinib, kechirim so’ralishi va aholi orasida hamjihatlik targ’ib qilinishi kerak.
Lekin o’zbek aholi, o’zini asosiy jabrdiydalar deb biladigan odamlar bu hukumat ular manfaatini ko’zlab ish tutishiga ishonmaydi.
O’z fuqarolarini qabih jinoyatlardan himoya qila olmagan rahbariyatdan qanday adolat kutish mumkin? O’zbeklar qirg’in ortida aslida qirg’iz rahbarlarining o’zi turibdi deyapti va buni isbotlovchi videolar, ishonchli ashyoviy dalillar bor.
“Masala bu qadar chigal ekani sir ema. Hozir janubda odamlar asossiz hibsga olinayotgani, o’zbek aholi tazyiq ostida ekani haqida bilamiz. Bu albatta hukumatga ishonchni yanada yemiradi. Har bir qadam qonunga binoan tashlanishi kerak. Vayron bo’lgan o’zbek xonadonlari, mahallalar qayta qurilishi, tirikchilik izga tushishi uchun ko’p mehnat qilish kerak bo’ladi. Ularga yordamni oshirish kerak",- deydi Robert Bleyk.
"Hozir tekshiruv ham asosiy talab ekanini yana bir bor eslatib o’tmoqchiman. O’zbeklarni kim nishonga oldi va nima uchun? Jinoyatchilar erkin yuribdi. Yana hujumlar bo’lishi ehtimoli yo’q emas. Shu bois tergov komissiyasi ishni qancha tez boshlasa, shuncha yaxshi. Barcha ish xalqaro me’yorlarga javob berishi shart. Mening nazarimda qirg’iz hukumati bunga tayyor va bu borada yaqin kunlarda ularning o’zidan eshitamiz degan umiddaman”.
Amerika Qirg’izistondagi fojiaga nisbatan yetarlicha chora ko’rmadi, bu Rossiyaning ishi deya tashlab qo’ydi degan tanqidlarga nima deysiz?
”Bu fikrlarni rad etamiz. Biz qo’l qovushtirib o’tirganimiz yo’q. AQSh eng ko’p miqdorda insonparvarlik yordami ajratdi, ko’p-qirrali ko’mak ko’rsatmoqda. Qochqinlar vatanga qaytar ekan, ularga g’amxo’rlik qilayapmiz. Tergov va adolatga chaqirib kelayapmiz. Rossiya bilan bu borada hamkorlik qilayapmiz. Qolaversa, Qozog’iston, Yevropada Xavfsizlik va Hamkorlik Tashkilotining hozirgi raisi bilan yaqindan ishlayapmiz.
Manas tranzit markazi Afg’onistondagi urush uchun zarur ob’yektlardan biri. AQSh rasmiylari uning ahamiyatini tan oladi, ammo Vashington shuning uchun ham qirg’iz hukumati bilan qattiq gaplashmayapti degan iddaolarni qabul qilmaydi.
Davlat kotibi muovinining aytishicha Obama ma’muriyati Bishkekka fojia yuzasidan o’z fikr-qarashlarini ochiq bildirib kelmoqda va tomonlar bir-birini tushunadi.
Qirg’iziston Markaziy Osiyoda Amerika tomonidan quvvatlangan demokratik tajriba edi, u sinovdan o’tmadi; erkinlik va demokratiya agar shunday fojia, beqarorlikka yetaklasa, diktatorlarning temir panjasi ostida yashashdan boshqa yo’l yo’q deb xulosa qilayotganlar ko'p... Ular nazarida Qirg'iziston bugun butkul tubanlikka yuz tutgan.
"Men Qirg’izistonda demokratiya qaror topishiga ishonaman. To'g'ri, bugun mamlakat juda murakkab vaziyatda, lekin yaqinda o’tgan referendum - katta muvaffaqqiyat. Oktyabrda o’tadigan parlament saylovlari yana bir sinov. Siyosiy munozalar qizisa ajabmas. AQSh bu xalqqa o’z yo’lini topishda yordamlashishda davom etadi”.
Interview by Robert O. Blake, Jr. Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia with Navbahor Imamova, VOA Uzbek TV, Washington, DC July 7, 2010
VOA Uzbek/Navbahor Imamova: Thank you for being with us.
ASSISTANT SECRETARY BLAKE: It’s nice to be with you.
VOA Uzbek/ Navbahor Imamova: The situation in southern Kyrgyzstan is very tense. President Roza Otunbayeva is basically warning that a new wave of violence may occur, and she’s continuing to ask for international support. We’ve been reporting a lot about civil arrests [actions] by the security[inaudible] forces. Lots of arrests in the Uzbek community. You have been calling for an international investigation. There have been a lot of calls for an international, independent investigation. Do you believe that investigation will happen? And what are you doing about it, to ensure that it will happen?
ASSISTANT SECRETARY BLAKE: That’s a lot of questions there. Let me start with first, the new interim president, Roza Otunbayeva, was inaugurated over the weekend. The United States very much supports her rise to the presidency. I’ve had a number of opportunities to speak with her, and I think that she’s committed to what we are trying to seek, which is first of all democracy, a return to democracy through these elections that will occur in October for a new parliament, but I think she also wants to work on reconciliation and help to rebuild the country and provide humanitarian assistance to all of those who were displaced.
And with respect to this very important question of a commission of some sort, I think there are discussions underway. I think we have to give them a chance. She’s only been in office now for a couple of days.
VOA Uzbek/ Navbahor Imamova: So she will let the international community to … --
ASSISTANT SECRETARY BLAKE: You know, I’m going to let them speak for themselves, but I think there are efforts underway, again, to form a national commission and I think they will cooperate in some way on an international one as well, but really that’s for them to make an announcement about.
VOA Uzbek/ Navbahor Imamova: Congressman Alcee Hastings, when we talked recently, he’s the chairman of the Helsinki Commission, he’s throwing the idea of creating Truth and Reconciliation Commission, something like what was formed in South Africa. What do you think of that idea? Would the U.S. push for something like that?
ASSISTANT SECRETARY BLAKE: Again, I think first of all let’s see what the Kyrgyz themselves come up with. It’s always best to have a home-grown solution, particularly if it enjoys credibility with the international community. So again I think we should give Ms. Otunbayeva a chance to come forward with her own thoughts and those of her government, and then we’ll be glad to make comments after that.
VOA Uzbek/ Navbahor Imamova: But right now her government doesn’t really have much trust within the Uzbek community who see themselves to be the main victims. They look at this government as a total failure. They blame the government for not protecting them. How do you convince these people that they should look at their government with some level of credibility, as you say that America supports this government?
ASSISTANT SECRETARY BLAKE: First of all there’s the very important priority of having an investigation into the causes of the violence that took place and who was targeting the Uzbek community and why. And clearly all of those people are still out there, so the situation remains very fragile.
So I think again, it’s very important for this commission to proceed as quickly as possible and for it to meet international standards. Again, I believe the Kyrgyz government is committed to that, but we have to give them a chance to have their, say what they plan to do.
VOA Uzbek/ Navbahor Imamova: You and other members of the Obama administration have been calling for international collaboration in response to this crisis…
ASSISTANT SECRETARY BLAKE: Right.
VOA Uzbek/ Navbahor Imamova: America has been expressing a lot of interest in working together with Russia. But in the eyes of many in the region, and the dominant view is that America has sort of left this crisis to be taken care of and dealt with by Russia. How do you respond to that criticism? What are you doing specifically with Russia to help ease the situation?
ASSISTANT SECRETARY BLAKE: First of all I wouldn’t say that we’ve left the situation to anybody. I myself have traveled out there repeatedly, pretty much once a month for the last several months. And the Secretary of State and the President themselves are following very closely the situation in Kyrgyzstan. I think we’re the largest single donor of assistance to Kyrgyzstan, and we have been very public in calling for international accountability and for reconciliation and for assisting those who were displaced. So I think we’ve played quite an important role, but we continue to coordinate very closely with Russia, with Kazakhstan, the chairman of the OSCE right now, and with important organizations like the European Union and the OSCE.
VOA Uzbek/ Navbahor Imamova: Do you still believe that democracy can take deeper roots in Kyrgyzstan? A lot of people have been doubting, saying that well, Kyrgyzstan was an experiment of American democracy supported by the U.S. government and it failed, and maybe this is a good time for the rest of the region not to really push harder than this, and maybe it would be better off being run by dictators.
ASSISTANT SECRETARY BLAKE: I do believe that democracy can take hold there, and I’m quite optimistic about the potential. As you know they’ve just gone through a national debate on a new constitution, and that new constitution was approved by a referendum. Now these elections will take place in October for a new parliament that will then choose a new prime minister. So I think this is actually quite an important moment in not only Kyrgyzstan’s history, but also potentially for Central Asia. So the United States is very much committed to helping the new government to ensure that they’re able to organize elections in accordance with OSCE standards so that a true democracy really can emerge there.
VOA Uzbek/ Navbahor Imamova: You have started these bilateral annual meetings with all the governments in Central Asia, and that has come under a lot of criticism by the civil society, saying that well, America is coming in with its specific narrow interests, dealing with all these authoritarian regimes and is not really paying enough attention to human rights and democracy. What do you say to that?
ASSISTANT SECRETARY BLAKE: Well, first of all I don’t think that it’s come under as much criticism as you might think. We’ve made a sincere effort to include members of civil society in many of our annual bilateral consultations that we’ve already had. We had planned to have a civil society forum as part of the Kyrgyzstan annual bilateral consultations that were scheduled before the overthrow of the government then. So we are very much committed to trying to advance democracy and human rights in all of these countries. And again, we think we have a particular opportunity here in Kyrgyzstan which we are moving very aggressively to again try to work with the government to ensure that it succeeds.
VOA Uzbek/ Navbahor Imamova: Going back to southern Kyrgyzstan again, a lot of people here in Washington have been very careful to define what really happened there. A lot of people say we shouldn’t really think too much about how to define it, but we should deal with the crisis. In your conversations, how does the Obama administration regard this? How do you define it? What happened, in your view, in southern Kyrgyzstan?
ASSISTANT SECRETARY BLAKE: I don’t think anybody really knows the answer to that question, and that’s why we need not only a national commission but also an international one because there is an international aspect to this since there are many refugees who are still in Uzbekistan, and I think also the international community can provide a lot of added value and expertise that perhaps the Kyrgyz themselves don’t have. That’s why we believe the international component of this is also very, very important, and it will give I think some comfort to the Uzbek community which as you know is feeling very aggrieved right now and very worried, and itself has been I think the object of many of the arrests that have taken place so far, which itself I think is causing some questions about the government’s true commitment to reconciliation. So I think it’s important --
VOA Uzbek/ Navbahor Imamova: And the US embassy in Bishkek just warned and called for fair treatment of all citizens.
ASSISTANT SECRETARY BLAKE: Exactly. So I think it’s going to be very important as this commission proceeds that also the arrests be done in a fair and equitable manner so that all of the culprits who may have been responsible for the violence are brought to justice, and I think it will also be very important to help the Uzbek community to rebuild. To rebuilt their houses, to rebuild the infrastructure and all that was destroyed during those terrible days of violence that took place so that again, they can feel that they have a future of hope, of equality, and opportunity in Kyrgyzstan.
VOA Uzbek/ Navbahor Imamova: We hear there is a candidate to replace Richard Norland, Ambassador Norland, in Tashkent. Can you confirm that? And who is it going to be? Ambassador Norland is credited for renewing U.S.-Uzbek relations, and we know that the political circles in Tashkent like him.
ASSISTANT SECRETARY BLAKE: They do like him and he’s been a wonderful ambassador. The President has announced a new candidate. Like all new ambassadors that candidate is subject to confirmation by the Senate, at the advice and consent of the Senate. So we hope that he will have an early hearing by the Senate and that he will be able to serve with the same distinction that Ambassador Norland has been able to serve.
VOA Uzbek/ Navbahor Imamova: And this person is?
ASSISTANT SECRETARY BLAKE: We’ve already announced it, right?
VOA Uzbek/ Navbahor Imamova: George Krol.
ASSISTANT SECRETARY BLAKE: George Krol, that’s right. George Krol, as you know, has been our Deputy Assistant Secretary for Central Asia throughout the last two years and has served very very capably and with great distinction, so I think he would make a wonderful ambassador there subject to the advice and consent of the Senate.
VOA Uzbek/ Navbahor Imamova k: Quickly, you just talked to the Uzbek-American business forum at the Uzbek embassy today. What was your main message?
ASSISTANT SECRETARY BLAKE: Well, the Uzbek embassy in conjunction with the Uzbek-American Chamber of Commerce here was organizing a seminar and a forum to I think better explain some of the opportunities of the Navoi Economic Zone there. So I just want to send a message first of all that the United States is committed to trying to expand trade and investment with Uzbekistan and that we believe there are quite significant opportunities. Blue chip companies like Honeywell and General Motors are looking at expanding their role in Uzbekistan. The Uzbek economy has done very very well throughout the economic downturn, growing by at least eight percent over the last several years which would be the envy of almost every country in the world. And I think as you look at how the private sector is developing there, increasingly foreign investment is really taking the place of aid, and that’s a good sign. That shows that there are in fact a lot of opportunities, not just in the oil and gas sector, but I think in many other sectors as well - petrochemicals, food processing, various kinds of electrical products. So the purpose of this seminar was really to, again, explain to the business community here some of those opportunities.
And I also took the opportunity to say that when we organize our next annual bilateral consultations in Tashkent this winter, we don’t yet have a date for that, that if there is sufficient private sector interest here in the United States, I would be glad to take a trade delegation with me to Tashkent to again have a separate business forum there to further explore some of the opportunities. I think that was a message that was welcomed by our business community and we’ll try to work on that as we move forward.
VOA Uzbek/ Navbahor Imamova: Thank you. Nice to talking to you.
ASSISTANT SECRETARY BLAKE: Thank you. Nice to talking to you too.