Roots of Islamism in Uzbekistan

After the disintegration of Soviet Union, Islamism gained a considerable weight in Central Asia, particularly in Uzbekistan. Islamism in Uzbekistan is of a fundamentalist nature. Through a historical, comparative method, the present paper will study the roots of emergence and spread of Islamism in Uzbekistan. Also the contexts of the emergence and spread of this phenomenon will be studied from the viewpoint of external factors and role of other countries including Iran, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Afghanistan as well as some events such as September 11 attacks and their aftermath. Also internal factors such as the continuation of authoritarian system, violation of human rights, civil-political freedoms, suppression of Islamist groups, and social and economic problems will be studied. The hypothesis of the present paper is as follows: although external factors have been effective in the emergence and promotion of fundamentalism in Uzbekistan, internal factors have played a stronger role in this trend.