October 1991, Page 16

The Six Soviet Muslim Republics

Soviet Muslims Face Uncertain Future

By Grace Halsell

After more than 200 years under Russian domination, 50 million Muslims of the USSR face an uncertain future.

Ten republics voted on Sept. 2 to move central authority from the Kremlin into themselves. Of these 10 republics, six are Muslim (five Central Asian republics plus Azerbaijan in the Caucasus).

It was President Nursultan A. Nazarbayev of Kazakhstan who spoke on behalf of Gorbachev and the presidents of the 10 republics at the National Congress proposing a new kind of Soviet Union. In the emergency plan, each republic is guaranteed the right to "independently determine the form of participation in the union."

The majority of Muslims living in the Soviet Union are Turks, who speak Turkish languages and, along with the Turks of Turkey and elsewhere, originated in Central Asia. Russians and Soviet Muslims have never really integrated culturally or socially, and intermarriages are rare.

Shocking Western Ignorance

Westerners know shockingly little about the Muslim republics. In the US, in particular, this is consonant with a traditional pro Israel tilt and a lack of interest in Islam. This almost willful ignorance was exemplified on a Sept. 1 "This Week With David Brinkley" TV show in which columnist George Will expressed astonishment that "something called Kazakhstan" has nuclear weapons. Kazakhstan, twice the size of Alaska, has more than 16 million inhabitants. Will, who writes eloquently on questions related to Israel, has never expressed alarm that that tiny nation, considerably smaller than New Hampshire and with only 4 million inhabitants, also has nuclear weapons.

Four of the six Muslim republics, Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, Kirghizia and Tajikstan, have voted for independence.

Azerbaijan, a southern Muslim republic on the Caspian Sea, with Baku, once the foremost Soviet oil center, as its capital, enjoyed a brief period of independence between 1918 and 1920 before being absorbed into the Soviet Union. Unlike Central Asian Muslims who are Sunni, the majority of Azeris are Shi'i, as are their neighbors to the south in Iran.

Last month, Azerbaijan President Ayaz Mutalibov, 53, flew from Baku to Tehran to meet with his Iranian counterpart, Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, for talks on economic links between the two countries.

Uzbekistan is the largest, in population, of the Central Asian republics. It is also the cradle of the region's Islamic civilization, which dates back to the seventh century. It is the homeland of some of Islam's greatest architectural gems, in Bukhara, Samark and and Khiva. Nineteen million Uzbeks live within the republic.

A viable independent state, Uzbekistan produced almost 90 percent of the USSR's cotton. This month Uzbekistan began trading cotton to Leningrad, for TV sets.

Kirghizia abuts China and lies entirely within the Tian Shan range (the Heavenly Mountains). This republic has about four and a half million people. Historically nomadic pastoralists, they continue to make livestock, especially sheep, the basis of their economy.

In Tajikistan, pro democracy legislators forced the president to resign. They accused him of failing to denounce the coup. Tajiks, unlike other Central Asians who are Turks and speak a Turkish language, are descendants of early Aryans and speak a Persian language. They once were part of Alexander the Great's empire.

For these four Muslim republics, beset with economic problems and traditional enemies on all sides, the decision to declare independence did not reflect a desire to go it alone so much as a need to position themselves for a new world not ruled by the Communists, but one in which the "center" might remain Russia.

Unlike leaders of the four republics who voted for independence, Kazakhistan President Nazarbayev took care to have his republic join with Russia in an economic union similar to that between Russia and the Ukraine.

These two agreements were made out of immediate security concerns. Russian President Boris Yeltsin had earlier declared that he might challenge the borders of neighboring republics if they seceded from the union.

Both the Ukraine and Kazakhstan have large minorities of ethnic Russians. If the boundaries were redrawn on ethnic lines, Kazakhstan would lose much of its industrial north.

Another of the six Muslim republics is Turkmenistan, with about four million people. Turkmen, like Azeri, Kazakh, Uzbek and Kirghiz, speak a Turkic language. Nearly 90 percent of the republic is the KaraKum Desert, but oil and sulfur have been found in the Murgab Valley and near oases cotton, dates, olives, figs and sesame grow.

Kazakhstan's Nuclear Weapons

Kazakhstan, bigger than any republic but Russia, is the only Muslim republic with nuclear weapons. It has about 1,000 nuclear warheads mounted atop intercontinental missiles capable of reaching as far away as the United States. Russian President Boris Yeltsin, in a televised Sept. 5 "town meeting" with American callers, indicated these and other nuclear tipped missiles in the Ukraine would be withdrawn to Russia.

A possible Chevron oil venture with Kazakhstan is being heralded as a test case for East West business initiatives. When Chevron officials attempted to close a deal with Moscow, Kazakhs insisted that Chevron deal with them.

In Azerbaijan, the president remains Communist. He even supported the coup. He wanted the removal of Gorbachev who, during a peaceful demonstration, had sent armored mks that fired upon and killed Azens.

Grace Halsell is completing a book based on her travels among the Muslims of the Soviet Union.

SIDEBAR

The Muslim Republics

Azerbaijan

Population …  7,145,600

78% Azeri, 8% Russian, 8% Armenian

2.4 % of Soviet population

1. 7 % of Soviet GNP

Kazakhstan

Population … 16,538, 100

36 % Kazakh, 41 % Russian, 6 % Ukrainia

2 % Tatar

5.7 % of Soviet population

4.3 % of Soviet GNP

Kirghizia

Population … 4,372,000

52% Kirghiz, 22% Russian, 13% Uzbek, 2.5% Ukrainian, 1.6% Tatar

1. 5 % of Soviet population

0. 8 % of Soviet GNP

Taffikistan

Population … 5,112,000

59% Tajik, 23% Uzbek, 10% Russian, 2% Tatar

1. 8 % of Soviet population

0. 8 % of Soviet GNP

Turkmenistan

Population … 3,621,700

68 % Turkmen, 13 % Russian, 9 % Uzbek, 3 % Kazakh

1. 3 % of Soviet population

0. 7 % of Soviet GNP

Uzbekistan

Population  … 19,906,000

69 % Uzbek, 11% Russian, 4 % Tatar, 4 % Kazakh, 4 % Taj ik, 2 % KaraKalpa

6.9% of Soviet population

3.3 % of Soviet GNP