Memoirs of Akbar Hashemi – May 10, 1992

I woke up for prayer and did not sleep again. I listened to the news. The result of the day-before-yesterday's Tehran election led to the defeat of the radicals. Although in the second round they campaigned a lot and Messrs. Ahmad Agha, Seyyed Abdolkarim Mousavi Ardabili, Sheikh Yousef Sanei, and others expressed clear and strong support for Mr. Mehdi Karoubi, none of them won votes in Tehran.

I studied a bit about the situation in the Central Asian countries. At ten in the morning we went to the meeting venue at the Presidential Palace. After some negotiation in a private session, we went to the formal and open session; filming and Mr. Niyazov's speech, and the discussion began on the clauses of the statement. Kazakhstan objected to the emphasis on the right of destiny, so that it would not be exploited by different ethnic groups in their countries, and the other republics also voted for its removal. Regarding the inclusion of the issues of Karabakh, Kashmir, and Tajikistan, opinions were divided.

They called a recess, and after several hours of private negotiations, with Turkey, Pakistan, and Iran yielding, we reached agreement on Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kashmir, and Palestine. The Central Asian republics are very afraid of Russia and America and do not want to say anything on hot political issues outside the region.

Uzbekistan and others were willing to support the government in the conflict between the people and the government of Tajikistan, but they are also afraid of the people and worried about it spreading to their countries, and they do not hide this; in the end they gave a faint support.

During the negotiations, Mr. Niyazov said that Nabiyev, the President of Tajikistan, had informed by telephone that the crisis had become more severe and that the Ministry of Interior and Intelligence had joined the opposition people and surrounded Nabiyev's residence; only a thousand armed men were defending him.

Mr. Islam Karimov said the main force is the Islamists and asked me to tell them to back down. He claimed they listen to Iran. Everyone was saying Iran is very popular in Dushanbe. I said we do not know the opposition leaders and it is not right to call them. They said to call Nabiyev; I agreed. I inquired about his health and said the summit is ready to send a delegation for mediation. It was decided that he would ask the opponents to secure the airport for the delegation's arrival and inform us if they agreed; in our view, the mere fact of my call was important to them. Therefore, in the press conference, they especially asked me about this. Incidentally, this approach of mine had a good effect on them; they thought we were influential in the people's movement. Later Mr. Nursultan Nazarbayev said this same thing to me.

Finally we signed three documents. We went to the open session and finished the work. We collectively participated in a short press conference. Each of us answered two questions. We participated in the signing ceremony of the declaration of relations with the President of Uzbekistan.

We went to the banquet hall. At the dinner table, Mr. Nazarbayev came, and we spoke about developing relations. He asked my opinion about the propaganda of the fundamentalist program and the export of the revolution. I put his mind at ease. I went to the parliament building and participated in the meeting of researchers and academics. They gave me an honorary doctorate from the Academy of Sciences of Turkmenistan and membership in this academy, and they were very humble. I gave them friendly remarks.

I came to the residence. After bathing and resting and watching television, Mohsen came and gave a report on his observation of Qara-Bogaz. Today, with a six-hour flight with Mr. Hossein Vakili, they went there. For the order to open the mouth of Qara-Bogaz, which has been closed for years and has caused the water level of the Caspian Sea to rise. They are building a bridge to remove the dam entirely; they said the piles have been driven. I sent Mr. Mahmoud Vaezi to Azerbaijan and Armenia for mediation.