In Kyrgyzstan, ethnic Uzbeks form the largest national minority and are concentrated mainly in the southern and western parts of the country, especially the Ferghana Valley and the three administrative provinces of Batken, Osh and Jalal-Abad. The Uzbek language does not have any official status and this has indirectly led to the continued under-representation of Uzbeks employed in government offices. Demonstrations calling for official status for the language, and for some kind of proportional representation of Uzbeks in state administration in the southern provinces, have been held in 2006. A former governor of the Osh province alleged that President Bakiyev removed him from his position because of his Uzbek ethnicity. In October 2006, the head of the Center of Uzbek Culture in Osh was murdered and an investigation into his death remains unresolved.

The trend towards a 'Kyrgyzstan for the Kyrgyz' has gathered pace in 2006. New language provisions require that candidates for elected office need to demonstrate proficiency in Kyrgyz, as do students wishing to enter or graduate from university. State officials are to use primarily Kyrgyz, though Russian remains as a 'language of inter-ethnic communication'.

In February 2006, clashes between Kyrgyz and Dungan youth in a village about 70 km outside the capital, Bishkek, were feared by some to be a symptom of growing resentment and nationalism. The Dungans are Muslims of Chinese origin who moved to central Asia in the 1870s to escape persecution at home and there are about 40,000 in the country today.

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