Central Asia and the Soviet “Muslim” Peoples

Abstract

The five union republics that comprised Soviet Central Asia were undoubtedly the most affected by the Soviet-Afghan War, especially the three that bordered on Afghanistan – Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan – all of which had sizable kindred populations in Northern Afghanistan. In addition to their geographic proximity, their populations were traditionally Muslim peoples and so – like the other Soviet "Muslim” ethnic groups – might conceivably identify with the Islamic opposition in Afghanistan. The chapter examines the war's impact on the Central Asian republics; the tension it created between Moscow and its Central Asian citizens; the role and functioning of Central Asian soldiers in Afghanistan; and the war's impact effect on their fealty to their Soviet mother country. It demonstrates that despite Moscow's apprehensions, most Central Asians retained their belief in the Soviet system, although fringe groups took an opposite line, giving Moscow a pretext to attack "Islamic extremism” inside the Soviet Union.