PREFERENCES FOR RUSSIANS IN TAJIKISTAN.

Last week the government of Tajikistan issued an ordinance establishing a Tajik-Russian Slavonic University with Russian as the language of instruction, to financed jointly by Tajikistan and Russia. President Imomali Rahmonov promoted the ethnic Russian mayor of the capital Dushanbe, Yuri Ponosov, to first deputy prime minister. Ponosov switches places with Mahmadsaid Ubaidulloev, who had been forced to resign during a February factional conflict. And a delegation of Russian Duma deputies praised Tajikistan’s legislation on dual Tajik-Russian citizenship as a "model for integration processes" at a meeting with Rahmonov.

Also last week, Russian State Television correspondent Viktor Nikulin was assassinated in Dushanbe. In an instant-reaction statement, Russia’s Foreign Ministry claimed that the opposition had murdered Nikulin in order to frighten ethnic Russians in Tajikistan. (Itar-Tass, Interfax, March 28 & 29)

The Monitor is a publication of the Jamestown Foundation. It is researched and written under the direction of senior analysts Jonas Bernstein, Vladimir Socor, Stephen Foye, and analysts Ilya Malyakin, Oleg Varfolomeyev and Ilias Bogatyrev. If you have any questions regarding the content of the Monitor, please contact the foundation. If you would like information on subscribing to the Monitor, or have any comments, suggestions or questions, please contact us by e-mail at pubs@jamestown.org, by fax at 301-562-8021, or by postal mail at The Jamestown Foundation, 4516 43rd Street NW, Washington DC 20016. Unauthorized reproduction or redistribution of the Monitor is strictly prohibited by law. Copyright (c) 1983-2002 The Jamestown Foundation Site Maintenance by Johnny Flash Productions