400 delegates of the region’s Uzbek community on May 24, 2006, at the people’s kurultay in Uzbek National Cultural Center (UNCC) decided to hold a rally demanding designation of Uzbek as an official language in Jalalabad on May 27, 2006. The President of the UNCC Kadyrjan Batyrov stressed that the protest was not connected with the bigger opposition meeting in Bishkek scheduled the same day. Despite many promises by UNCC leaders on holding a meeting with several thousand participants, only 600-700 people took part in the protest. The main demand of the action was the recognition of Uzbek as an official language. Other demands included constitutional reforms and reforms of judicial and law enforcement bodies. Parliamentarian Kadyrjan Batyrov and Abdumutalip Hakimov noted in their speeches that the Uzbek people are native residents of the southern part of Kyrgyzstan and the Uzbek language has a right to gain official status. The Governor of Jalalabad oblast, Iskender Aidaraliev, also participated in the meeting. “Nobody is violating the right of Uzbeks who make up 24 percent of the total population of the oblast”, he said. The day before the rally, the Governor noted in a televised address that “there are 35 Uzbek language schools in the oblast, Uzbek television and newspapers operate on the same level as the Kyrgyz ones”. In an interview to the “Litsa” newspaper on June 1, Batyrov stated that Uzbeks are the second biggest ethnic group on the territory of Kyrgyzstan, totaling a million people. “I think the recognition of Uzbek as an official language will bring positive results,” said Batyrov. He also stated that it will help solving the problem of expansion of religious extremism. “When Uzbek young people see no future because of lack of knowledge of the Russian and Kyrgyz languages, they join religious extremist organizations which are very active in the south.” Batyrov said that local governments did everything to hamper the conduct of the rally. According to the Parliamentarian, a special committee to hamper the meeting was created by Governor Aidaraliev. Local law enforcement bodies intimidated the Uzbek population and forced them to abstain from participation the meeting, said Batyrov in the interview. A member of Parliament from Jalalabad electoral district #30, Batyrov is one of the leaders of Uzbek community in Kyrgyzstan. He owns several spinning and cigarette factories in Russia and Uzbekistan. Before becoming a Parliament member, he was President of the Airline “Batyr Air”. He is President of the Jalalabad oblast Uzbek National Cultural Center (UNCC). During the May 30, 2006 session, members of Parliament discussed this issue. Most of the deputies criticized Batyrov, accusing him of destabilizing the situation in the south. Parliamentarians agreed that this kind of initiative could lead to a repetition of the inter-ethnic clashes in the south of Kyrgyzstan in 1990. According to Soorobnay Jeenbekov, “some Parliament members gamble on the language issue in order to earn some points before the Uzbek population”. Some deputies from the southern part of Kyrgyzstan argued that their Uzbek electors were against this initiative. In particular, Kamchibek Tashiev said that the leaders of the Uzbek Diaspora in his electoral district asked him to settle the current highly explosive situation. The problem surrounding the Uzbek language was also raised at the meeting of State Secretary Adahan Madumarov with OSCE High Commissioner on ethnic minority issues Rolf Ekéus on June 2. Ekéus emphasized the necessity of constant dialogue around the Uzbek language. The State Secretary disagreed with the OSCE official, saying that Kyrgyzstan is a unitary country, not a confederation, and it is not going to grant the Uzbek language official status. “It would not be right if the OSCE High Commissioner on ethnic minority issues aggravated the current situation while trying to help to solve the problem”, said Madumarov. President Kurmanbek Bakiev, in turn, made a clear statement on the Uzbek language issue. At the meeting of all branches of power on June 7, 2006, Bakiev stated that the Uzbek language will not be recognized as an official language. The President called upon the members of Parliament to stop destabilizing the situation. In the light of these events, mass media related the detention of Bazarkorgon rayon UNCC branch head Mamatkadyr Karabaev on June 6, on the Kyrgyz-Uzbek border. However, the head of Jalalabad oblast police department Nurlan Temirbaev stated the proceeding against Karabaev was instituted in 2003 for embezzlement. “There is no any hidden motive in the detention of Mr. Karabaev,” said Temirbaev.