Friday, August 13, 2004

Impressions of Uzbekistan

From Russian Newsweek (via Ferghana.ru):

"There is no cult of personality or superficial signs of totalitarianism in Uzbekistan. No portraits of or quotes from Islam Karimov - save for in his native Samarkand perhaps. In the early 1990's, Karimov himself initiated the law banning superficial tokens of exaltation. Upon hearing of the latest development in nearby Turkmenistan, the realm of Super Murat as he is colloquially called here, residents of Tashkent let out a sigh of relief and ponder on how lucky they are."