Perestroika and the inter-ethnic tragedies

In April 1985 a plenum of the CPSU Central Committee announced deep reform of society: democratisation and economic reform. According to the textbook, the first stage (1985–1986) was linked with traditional administrative measures and the second (1987–1989) with comprehensive reforms; openness and variety of opinion grew, but reforms were not completed because of the lack of a clear programme and party leaders’ attachment to old methods. In May–June 1989 a fight among youths in Quvasoy grew into a clash between local youths and Meskhetian Turks and spread across the Fergana Valley and Tashkent oblast. According to official data, in the Fergana oblast on 3–12 June 1989 103 people were killed, 1,011 injured and 757 homes burned or destroyed; the textbook also writes of shooting in Kokand on 7–8 June, and the numbers of victims in these events differ by source. On 21 October 1989 the Supreme Soviet adopted a law giving Uzbek the status of state language, which also provided for developing the languages of other peoples. In June 1990 a conflict between Kyrgyz and Uzbeks broke out around Osh and Uzgen in Kyrgyzstan; the textbook says thousands died, but figures in official and independent sources differ.