October 11, 2025
BNE Intellinews - Few will mourn passing of Turkmen Iron Lady Atajanova and Uzbek Grey Cardinal Jurabekov
The history of the Central Asian states since independence dawned in 1991 centres around the leaders of the five countries.
Even casual observers of the region remember how Nursultan Nazarbayev was Kazakhstan’s president, Islam Karimov was Uzbekistan’s leader and Saparmurat “Turkmenbashi” (head of the Turkmen) Niyazov was Turkmenistan’s demigod. Yet the people behind the scenes who supported this trio and carried out their instructions in the first 10-15 years of independence are now nearly forgotten.
As it happens, two of those people lately died – and, notably, their passing seems for the most part to have been overlooked by the current leaderships of Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.
Read the full article on BNE Intellinews.
Bruce Pannier is a Research Fellow at the Turan Research Center.