Khudoberdy Kholiknazarov

Khudoberdy Kholiknazarov (; also spelled Kholiqnazarov, Kholiqnazar; born 14 June 1951) is a Tajik diplomat, politician, historian, and orientalist who served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Tajikistan in 1992. He also served as Minister of Labour and Employment (1998–2000) and as Director of the Center for Strategic Studies under the President of Tajikistan (2012–2019).

Early life and education

Kholiknazarov was born on 14 June 1951 in the city of Khorog, the capital of the Kuhistoni Badakhshon Autonomous Oblast in the Tajik SSR, Soviet Union. In 1975, he graduated from the Persian language department of the Faculty of Oriental Languages at Tajik State University (now Tajik National University). He received a Candidate of Sciences degree in history in 1987.

Career

From 1974 to 1976, Kholiknazarov worked as a Persian Dari translator in Afghanistan. He served as librarian of the Faculty of Oriental Languages at Tajik State University from 1976 to 1978. From 1978 to 1980, he worked as a Persian translator in Iran. From 1980 to 1987, he was a research fellow at the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Academy of Sciences of the Tajik SSR. He worked again as a translator in Afghanistan from 1987 to 1988. From 1989 to 1991, he served as deputy head of the Department of Philosophy and History at the Institute of Russian Language and Literature. From 1991 to 1992, he was chairman of the Nasir Khisrav society. On 11 May 1992 Kholiknazarov was appointed Minister of External Relations of Tajikistan, serving until 20 July 1992, when he became Minister of Foreign Affairs. He served as Foreign Minister until November 1992, when he was succeeded by Rashid Alimov. In September 1992, he addressed the United Nations General Assembly as the first representative of the independent Republic of Tajikistan. From 1993 to 1998 Kholiknazarov served as deputy chairman of the Coordination Center of Democratic Forces of Tajikistan in the CIS countries. On 12 February 1998, he was appointed Minister of Labour and Employment of Tajikistan as part of the quota allocated to the United Tajik Opposition (UTO) in the coalition government, serving until January 2000. From 2012 to 2019, he served as Director of the Center for Strategic Studies under the President of Tajikistan. He was also a professor and had been first deputy chairman of the Center since May 2012.

Political views and public statements

In January 2014 Kholiknazarov stated that Tajikistan ought to value its relations and strategic partnership with Russia, noting that "having such a partner, Tajikistan will have an opportunity to expand its political influence and develop in a normal course." In May 2014 at a conference in Dushanbe on "SCO and the provision of regional security: problems and perspectives," Kholiknazarov called for a consolidation and merger of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) and the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), which he presented as being of key importance to regional security and stability. In April 2011 Kholiknazarov noted that NATO troops would not withdraw from Afghanistan even by the 2014 deadline. In May 2014, he warned that Afghanistan's instability would affect neighboring countries if urgent measures were not taken. In January 2015 Kholiknazarov warned that Tajikistan should take efforts not to turn into a "plaything in the hands of world powers." He stated that a "cold war" between world powers was ongoing in the Central Asian region and that Tajikistan must prevent it from turning into armed conflict.

In July 2015 Kholiknazarov stated that the 1997 General Agreement on Peace and National Accord had been fully implemented. He rejected claims by the Islamic Renaissance Party of Tajikistan (IRPT) that the agreement was not fully implemented, noting that the IRPT had only two representatives out of eight in the UTO negotiations, representing 25%, and that its attempt to speak on behalf of the entire UTO was "fundamentally wrong." In July 2018 he stated that the Dortmund conference had shown that there had been a breakup between the IRPT and other opposition organizations, and that the IRPT no longer posed a threat to Tajikistan. In November 2017 Kholiknazarov defended Tajikistan's "open door" foreign policy, stating that "we choose our path, the path of the diplomacy of peace and tolerance, accord and unity." In February 2019 Kholiknazarov stated that "Tajikistan was always a trusted ally of Iran and never opposed this country."

Publications

Kholiknazarov is the author or editor of several publications, including:

  • Respublika Tadzhikistan i Kitaĭskai︠a︡ Narodnai︠a︡ Respublika--sotrudnichestvo vo imi︠a︡ razvitii︠a︡: (sbornik stateĭ 2009-2012 gg.) (2012) – a collection of articles on Tajikistan–China relations.

He has also contributed to academic works on the regional significance of the SCO and Central Asian political experiences within the SCO.

  • Russian Wikipedia entry
  • Tajik Wikipedia entry