Tajik authorities rule out ethnic conflict under Kyrgyz scenario.

29/7 Tass 132

DUSHANBE, July 29 (Itar-Tass) - Tajik Foreign Minister Khamrokhon
Zarifi said there are no grounds in the republic for an ethnic conflict
under the Kyrgyz scenario and that all the statements by so-called experts
on Tajikistan are "insinuations and provocation."
"Ethnic Uzbeks who have been living in Tajikistan from of old
(according to official figures they number over one million people - eds
Itar-Tass) are citizens of the republic with all the ensuing
Constitutional rights," Zarifi underlined at a news conference in the
Tajik capital on Thursday.
Even during the Civil War in the country (1992-1997), there were no
ethnic clashes between Uzbeks and Tajiks, the Tajik foreign minister said.
"All the attempts by extremists will be intercepted in a tough way,"
he underlined.
Speaking about Tajik-Uzbek relations, Zarifi noted that they are
developing "fruitfully and successfully along the main guidelines of
bilateral cooperation, under the principles of good neighborly relations."
At the same time, he pointed out at the existing problems, in
particular in the water resources/energy sector.
Zarifi recalled Tashkent's tough resistance to the construction of the
Rogun hydroelectric power plant in Tajikistan, as Uzbekistan regarded the
project as an environmental and man-made threat to the region. But
Tajikistan insists that its HPP projects do not threaten its neighbors,
which is shown by Dushanbe's consent to carry out an international
independent expert examination of the safety of the Rogun HPP, under the
aegis of the World Bank.
-0-myz/mil


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