On January 12, Tashkent held an opening ceremony for a new monument called “An oath to the Motherland” (“Vatanga Kasamyod”). The opening ceremony was held on the eve of the Defenders of the Motherland Day. Apparently, the new monument replaced the older one dedicated to “A defender of the southern borders of the Soviet Union”. This replacement caused discontent among some representatives of the Russian authorities. Their Uzbek counterparts, however, were quick to provide explanations to the matter. Nevertheless, even though the situation will hardly cause a serious breakdown in the relationships of Uzbekistan and Russia, several experts view the event as yet another indicator of growing nationalist ideology in Uzbekistan and an urge to get rid of the Soviet past.

An Uzbek soldier, covered in gold and holding a service cap kneels in front of his mother and kisses the state flag of Uzbekistan. This is the composition of the new monument to the state defenders of Uzbekistan. President Islam Karimov personally approved the design of the monument. At the opening ceremony, he mentioned that “there is a powerful factor that gives the army strength, and becomes crucial when needed – moral-psychological preparedness of the military personnel, their firm will and spirit, active life position, and most importantly their deep understanding of why and for whom they perform their military duty.” In this regard, the President expressed his hope that such artistic images as this one will become a spiritual guide for the youth of Uzbekistan.

Furthermore, the President found the replaced Soviet monument to a soldier with a submachine gun “uninteresting and not in accordance with the call of the times” and “reflecting the ideology of the old system”. The old monument had been mounted in front of the Armed Forces Museum of Tashkent back in 1973.

It seems that the Uzbek authorities did not want the replacement to get a wide publicity. Thus, the old monument was removed at night on November 22, 2009. The removal caused upheaval among the activists of the Kremlin-supported youth movement “Nashi”. It declared its intention to hold a protest demonstration against the monument’s removal. In response to this, the ambassador of Uzbekistan in Russia Ilhomjon Nematov stated that the monument is sent for renovation. However, it later became known that during the removal, the Soviet monument was cut into pieces and sent to an exhibition storehouse.

On January 15, Russian Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Grigoriy Karasin held a telephone conversation with Uzbek Ambassador Nematov. They discussed “the status and perspectives of the bilateral relations”; Mr. Karasin also “called for Mr. Nematov’s attention to concerns and negative reactions of the Russian community in relation to the removal of the monument to a Soviet soldier – defender of the Motherland – in Tashkent in Memorial Complex of the Defense Ministry of Uzbekistan”.

On January 21, twenty representatives of the “Nashi” movement gathered in front of the Embassy of Uzbekistan in Moscow with posters calling Ambassador Nematov to keep his promises and put the Soviet monument back in place.

Under pressure from the Russian authorities and representatives of the “Nashi” movement, on January 25 the information agency of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Uzbekistan released the official explanation for the removal and replacement of the Soviet monument. First of all, it is highlighted that currently the Museum of Armed Forces has about 12,000 museum pieces from three historical periods: the Temurid epoch (14th-16th centuries), Uzbekistan during World War II, and phases of current development of the state’s military forces. Thus, the Soviet monument no longer corresponded to the current content of the exhibition. Secondly, it was stated that the monument was removed during an overall restoration of the park as it was “morally obsolete, meaningless and carrying no intellectual load”.

In addition, the press release emphasized that “the monument was not a symbol immortalizing the memory of the soldiers that died during World War II, but reflected the system of the old regime”. Moreover, it is highlighted that in 1975, on the thirtieth anniversary of the victory in World War II, a memorial called “Mourning Mother” was set up in another part of the city. The latter was also the place where the soldiers were buried.

The situation with replaced monuments in Uzbekistan is reminiscent of the 2007 situation in Estonia. The replacement, however, is more indicative of the nation-building process in Uzbekistan. In fact, the removal of monuments from the Soviet past seems to be an essential part of such processes in all newly independent Central Asian republics. In this particular situation, however, it does not seem to constitute a complete negation of the Soviet past.