Tajik president speaks of unity

President of Tajikistan Emomali Rahmon has congratulated the nation with the National Unity Day celebrated on June 27.

“The people of Tajikistan do remember that in early 1990s our young state was mired in a whirl of imposed civil war which resulted in a severe crisis in all spheres of social life. The firm will and the policy chosen y the national government were sincerely supported by the people, and as a result of continuous effort, long negotiations, 19 years ago we signed the General Agreement on Peace and National Consensus,” says a statement of the president.

Emomali Rahmon notes that the agreement allowed alleviating the threat of division in the nation and collapse of the Tajik state. According to him, restoration of peace and stability, establishment of conditions for peaceful life was a result of will and hard work of the Tajik people.

Earlier, Rahmon visited the Gorno Badakhshan Autonomous Region, which is the most problematic area for the central government. According to local sources, he expressed concern that youth from the Vanj District is often involved in “terror groups.” The president urged the local governments to “take the children from the dangerous way” that made them participate in “wars in other countries like Syria and Iraq.”

Observers are quite critical of Rahmon’s statements. They say that it was Rahmon who undermined the General Tajik Agreement by prosecution of the opposition, the constitutional reform held to the befit of his personal powers. They say that in case the tension escalates he will be to blame.