Karimov, Islam (1938-2016), was president of Uzbekistan from 1991 until his death in 2016. He became president after Uzbekistan gained independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. He had previously been elected president of the Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic (SSR) by the Supreme Council in 1990. As president, Karimov limited freedom of speech and of the press. His government clamped down ruthlessly on organized crime but was accused of political corruption itself.
Karimov promoted a gradual transition from a centrally controlled economy to one based on private enterprise. He sought economic and military links with Russia, Western Europe, and the United States. His country attracted outside investment from several countries, including Germany and South Korea. Under Karimov’s leadership, Uzbekistan had uneasy relations with the neighboring central Asian republics, such as Tajikistan, with which it had border disputes. Karimov faced increasing violence by Islamic extremist groups both within Uzbekistan and on the border with Tajikistan.
Islam Abduganiyevich Karimov was born in Samarqand on Jan. 30, 1938. He was educated at the Central Asian Polytechnical Institute and the Tashkent Institute of National Economy. Karimov joined the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) in 1964 while working at an airplane factory in Tashkent. He served in several positions in the Uzbek SSR, including finance minister, deputy chairman of the Council of Ministers, and first secretary. In 1990 and 1991, Karimov was a member of the Central Committee of the CPSU and of its policymaking body, the Politburo. He resigned from the CPSU in 1991, the year he became president of Uzbekistan. He served as chairman of the People’s Democratic Party of Uzbekistan from 1991 to 1996.
In March 1995, a referendum extended Karimov’s term to 2000. He won a second term as president in January 2000, in a controversial election in which he had only one challenger and won 92 percent of the vote. In 2002, a constitutional amendment extended the presidential term from five years to seven. Although Uzbekistan’s Constitution set a two-term limit for presidents, Karimov was reelected in 2007 and 2015. On Aug. 28, 2016, Karimov was rushed to a hospital, reportedly for treatment of a cerebral hemorrhage. After much media speculation, the Uzbek government announced Karimov’s death on September 2.
