TASHKENT (TCA) — Uzbekistan’s President Islam Karimov, who ruled the country for a quarter-century, has died at the age of 78.
Uzbekistan’s state television announced late on September 2 that Karimov died at 8:55 p.m. local time in Tashkent.
Early on September 2, the Cabinet of Ministers said that during the past 24 hours, Karimov’s health condition had sharply worsened and medics assessed it as “critical”.
The state TV has announced the death of President Karimov following days of unconfirmed reports suggesting that he had already died.
The TV presenter read a statement from the Uzbek Cabinet and Parliament, which hailed Karimov as “a great historic figure.”
The anchor said Karimov had died of a stroke, and that his funeral will be held on September 3 in the late President’s home city of Samarkand.
Uzbek Prime Minister Shavkat Mirziyoyev was appointed head of a commission organizing Karimov’s funeral.
Karimov, the former communist boss, ruled Uzbekistan for 27 years at the center of a tight inner circle and ruthlessly applied the country’s security and intelligence forces to keep a firm lid on dissent. His regime was accused of routinely torturing detainees and jailing political opponents, RFE/RL reports.
Karimov has no apparent successor, and speculation has raged for days that a secretive effort was under way to replace him.
The Uzbek Constitution states that if the president dies or is unable to perform his duties the head of the upper chamber of parliament assumes presidential authority for a period of three months. That is Senate Chairman Nigmatulla Yuldashev, who has led the upper house since January 2015.
Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed condolences to Yuldashev, saying Karimov’s death was a “heavy loss for Uzbekistan.”
“I grieve for the loss of a friend whom I worked with side-by-side for 30 years,” Kazakhstan’s President Nursultan Nazarbayev was quoted as saying.
Preparations also appeared to be under way for Karimov’s funeral in Samarkand.
Security sources told RFE/RL’s Uzbek Service that Prime Minister Shavkat Mirziyoyev, who has been touted by outsiders as a possible successor, had made a trip to Samarkand. In Karimov’s absence, Mirziyoyev led a commemorative event in Tashkent on August 31 that marked the start of Independence Day celebrations.
Tajik President Emomali Rahmon confirmed he will attend the funeral while Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov and Afghan President Ashraf Ghani were reported to be also planning to go.
The Russian delegation at the funeral will be headed by Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, his spokeswoman Natalia Timakova was quoted as saying.
Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Belarus said they were also sending delegations headed by their prime ministers.
