The war in eastern Ukraine has spurred calls for independence for Karakalpakstan, a depressed semi-autonomous region of Uzbekistan. But some say the campaign risks a backlash that could endanger the whole community

The Republic of Karakalpakstan is one of the most depressed areas of the former Soviet Union.

Much of the vast semi-autonomous region of northern Uzbekistan is a toxic salt desert that was left behind as the Aral Sea dried up. Desert winds spread harmful trace elements through the air, leading to high incidence of respiratory problems.

Some locals also attribute their poor health to the Soviet biochemical ground at Vozrozhdeniye Island, where the Red Army developed and tested biological weapons until 1992.



The United Nations, International Monetary Fund and others have contributed huge sums for environmental programmes led by the Uzbek government to try to save the inland sea and alleviate the health issues facing that region’s 1.7 million people.

Yet those living in Karakalpakstan say conditions are not improving, and Nasa photographs show that a large area of the sea is now “completely dried”.

Karakalpak is roughly translated as black hat, and was the name given to a collection of tribes. In 1925, the Karakalpak Autonomous Oblast was formed within the Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic, under the Soviet Union. It was later passed to Russia and then Uzbekistan. After the collapse of the USSR in the early 1990s, divisions within the Karakalpak political elite allowed Tashkent to preserve Karakalpakstan as a semi-autonomous part of Uzbekistan.



Much of the vast semi-autonomous region is a toxic salt desert that was left behind as the Aral Sea dried up

The years since have been hard for the Karakalpak people. From the late 1990s, women in Uzbekistan have been sterilised as a way of controlling population growth. For Karakalpaks, whose number could be anywhere between 620,000 and 1.5 million worldwide, this inhumane project has been especially costly.



Along with inaction on environmental and health issues, Karakalpakstan’s natural resources have been tapped. Oil and gas extraction facilities and pipelines have been developed in partnership with the state-owned Uzbekneftegaz and international firms, but income goes through Tashkent, not Nukus, the Karakalpak capital.



Facebook Twitter Pinterest Nukus, Karakalpakstan Photograph: Gary Calton

Faced with unemployment, many Karakalpaks have moved to neighbouring Kazakhstan, Russia and even South Korea to find work. Those who have moved to Kazakhstan often claim to be ethnic Kazakh in their documents; it makes obtaining citizenship and social assistance from the state easier. Some of those who have stayed change their nationality to Uzbek to make job-hunting easier at home.

All of these factors threaten the future of the Karakalpak ethnic group. To me, the most critical threat to Karakalpaks, however, is a separatist movement that claims to fight for them.



Russia’s actions in Ukraine made a Crimean scenario in Karakalpakstan seem possible

Two online activists with the names Marip Kungradskyi and Roman Mamytov appeared on social networks in spring 2013 calling for a referendum on Karakalpak independence. Their posts, written in everyday Karakalpak, demanded the government in Nukus be overthrown and ended with “Alga Karakalpakstan!” (Go Karakalpakstan!) After a while, the phrase became the name of this small, unknown movement.



The internet separatists pointed out that the agreement between Tashkent and Nukus signed in 1993 had stipulated that a referendum on Karakalpak independence be held 20 years later.



Of course there was no referendum in 2013. Karakalpakstan’s government remained silent. Islam Karimov’s Uzbek regime and law enforcement agencies prevent any open discussions on such matters.



I believe all of these factors threaten the future of the Karakalpak ethnic group

It was clear that Kungradskyi and Mamytov, whoever they were, were operating outside Uzbekistan, and their everyday Karakalpak language and often terrible Russian suggested this was not a serious political movement. Maybe that’s why Uzbekistan’s National Security Service, which is infamous for its cruelty to dissidents whether inside or outside the country, did not pursue it.



Facebook Twitter Pinterest Children in the Karakalpakstan region of Uzbekistan. Residents in the area around the Aral Sea suffer with a higher incidence of tuberculosis. Photograph: Gary Calton

Karakalpak separatist sentiment could have been lost in the vastness of the internet then, if not for the Ukraine crisis. After Crimea joined Russia in March 2014, Alga Karakalpakstan! returned with greater determination, claiming Karakalpakstan would also join Russia if separatists “hear a good signal from Kremlin”. Though the group had mentioned such aspirations before, Russia’s actions in Ukraine made a Crimean scenario in Karakalpakstan seem possible.

Post-Soviet world: what you need to know about Uzbekistan Read more

As the movement attracted media attention across the post-Soviet countries, Kungradskyi revealed himself to be Aman Sagidullaev, an ethnic Karakalpak who left Karakalpakstan in 2011 after being accused of stealing two billion Uzbek soums (more than $1m) from a tractor company. Sagidullaev, now living in Kyrgyzstan, says the allegations are fabricated. Roman Mamytov is also thought to live in Kyrgyzstan.

Russia did not respond to the separatists’ plan, but Uzbek authorities have issued an international arrest warrant for Sagidullaev. Despite this, the movement’s social network page still publishes demands for independence. Now there is also “Shiraq News” press service and an official website.

An area once covered by the Aral Sea. Photograph: flickr

As an ethnic Karakalpak, however, I believe that Sagidullaev and his supporters have harmed Karakalpaks, especially those living outside Karakalpakstan.

Karakalpaks who would support moves towards full independence are believed to be in the minority. This, combined with the apparent threat of a high-profile campaign that actually lacks a real plan or policies could give Uzbek authorities an opportunity to extend control over Nukus under the guise of ensuring regional stability.

In its online posts, the movement said “because of the threat of reprisals opposition work is carried out by us under the auspices of diaspora’s cultural events” – politicising events and support networks that should be apolitical.



There are two Karakalpak cultural centres in Kazakhstan and one in Russia. The stream of Karakalpaks leaving their homeland don’t need dances and songs, they need legal assistance and employment, and material and psychological support to adapt to the new country.

Now, attempts to organise such support could attract the attention of Uzbek authorities. Karakalpaks living abroad have already begun to avoid such national associations for fear of reprisals.



Now, any attempts to organise support for Karakalpaks abroad can be met with persecution by Uzbek authorities

It seems that Sagidullaev and supporters of the Alga Karakalpakstan movement are mostly former officials and heads of companies who lost their positions at home. Among them there are also friends, family members and colleagues of all those who have been arrested or terrorised by the Uzbek security services. Yet it appears that both groups are may not be driven not by national consciousness or a desire to preserve the identity of Karakalpaks, but by personal goals.



If Karakalpaks continue to renounce their nationality and diaspora do not preserve their national identity for future generations, I believe these separatist statements “on behalf of all Karakalpaks” could lead to the eventual disappearance of the Karakalpak people.