KHUJAND, February 1, 2011, Asia-Plus — An Uzbek Culture Center has opened in Khujand, the capital of Sughd province.
The Center director Ilhom Yusupov says the center is dedicated to unite ethnic Uzbeks and raise spiritual values and ethnic culture of Uzbeks. “We do not position ourselves as a political organization,” Yusupov stressed.
According to him, the center will study problems ethnic Uzbeks living in Sughd are faced with, but “our main goal is to promote strengthening of friendship between the Tajik and Uzbek peoples and inform people of Tajik government’s policy”. “We will also try to promote development of good-neighborly relations with Uzbekistan,” the director noted.
The center also has its newspaper –
Manaviyat
. Its first edition is expected to be printed in the near future.
Uzbek Society that now functions in Tajikistan has its branches in all regions of the country. According to the preliminary results of the 2010 census, nearly 900,000 ethnic Uzbeks live in Tajikistan. In Sughd province, ethnic Uzbeks reportedly constitute 40 percent of the population.
According to some sources, nearly 1.5 million ethnic Uzbeks had lived in Tajikistan before 1991.
