Publication

This report analyzes the role of Islam in Central Asia. It outlines different politics in Central Asia toward Islam: repression in Uzbekistan, compromise in Kyrgyzstan, government policy in Kazakhstan, and the relationship between religion and the cult of personality in Turkmenistan. The report states that Islam in contemporary Central Asia is a multifaceted and complex phenomenon that is in considerable flux; the governments often resort to old Soviet methods of control, with Uzbekistan being repressive in the extreme and Kyrgyzstan much more subtle.