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Wednesday, 18 September 2002

TAJIKISTAN'S DRAFT NATIONALITY CONCEPT CRITICIZED

Published in News Digest

By empty (9/18/2002 issue of the CACI Analyst)

Representatives of the Tajik presidential staff, political parties, international organizations, and organizations representing ethnic minorities attended a roundtable in Dushanbe on 18 September to discuss the draft nationality concept prepared by the presidential staff. Most minority representatives rejected the draft and called for it to be reworked. Valerii Yushin, who heads Tajikistan's Russian community, said the draft is devoid of specific content and does not address such issues as education and representation of minorities in local government bodies.
Representatives of the Tajik presidential staff, political parties, international organizations, and organizations representing ethnic minorities attended a roundtable in Dushanbe on 18 September to discuss the draft nationality concept prepared by the presidential staff. Most minority representatives rejected the draft and called for it to be reworked. Valerii Yushin, who heads Tajikistan's Russian community, said the draft is devoid of specific content and does not address such issues as education and representation of minorities in local government bodies. Viktor Kim, who is president of the Soviet Koreans' Association, noted that Tajikistan still has no legislation on ethnic minorities. He also pointed to unspecified "difficulties" in rural areas with the law on language and argued that Russian should be designated an official language. Islamic Revival Party Chairman Said Abdullo Nuri pointed out that the law makes no reference to religion, which he termed an important unifying factor. A working group was established to rework the draft concept. (Asia Plus-Blitz)
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