I remember my first and so far the only trip to Uzbekistan - back under Islam Karimov.
This country literally struck then, it appeared as some kind of oriental fairy tale: Samarkand, Bukhara, Khiva ... It was the Khiva Khanate that once included part of the territory of modern Karakalpakstan, which recently suddenly came into focus due to unrest among the local population.
After the Russian Empire took Khiva under its wing, our country became responsible for peace and tranquility in this region.
Yes, after the collapse of the USSR, something has changed, and now our Foreign Ministry has declared that this is an internal affair of Uzbekistan, but the Russian people still cannot be indifferent to the fate of the peoples living in the neighborhood.
That is why it was so bitter to learn about the bloody clashes in the capital of Karakalpakia - the city of Nukus, as well as in smaller cities - Chimbay and Muynak.
During the riots, 243 people were injured (18 died), 94 of them remain in hospitals, the National Guard of Uzbekistan, which is responsible for ensuring the state of emergency imposed by Tashkent, said.
The given figure of victims contradicts the data of the Minister of Health of Karakalpakstan Sultanbek Ziyaev, who announced that thousands of wounded were in hospitals.
It is felt that the political split in the country has not yet been overcome.
The security forces also detained 516 people, many of whom were released.
Among them is the instigator of the protest, Karakalpak lawyer and journalist Dauletmurat Tazhimuratov.
But the President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev reasonably did not name specific numbers of victims.
At the same time, he acknowledged the tragedy, noting that this is the pain of all citizens of Uzbekistan, regardless of the region of residence.
He also blamed "malicious forces" for organizing the protest and made it clear that there was influence from abroad.
It is important that the head of Uzbekistan did not hide from the political crisis in Tashkent and within three days personally flew to Nukus twice, where he met with local residents, deputies, elders, demonstrating an understanding of the problems and concerns of local residents.
Not later than in early June, speaking at the Youth Day, Mirziyoyev called himself the son of not only the Uzbek, but also the Karakalpak people.
Have to match.
July 1 in Nukus was hot.
Thousands of protesters occupied the streets in the center of the capital, tried to seize weapons in state institutions, got into fights with the police... On the fourth day after the start of the riots, the authorities announced that the situation was under full control.
Tough measures contributed to stabilization: a curfew, personal searches of citizens and vehicles, blocking entry into and exit from the republic, including the border with neighboring Kazakhstan.
But the main factor of calm is political.
The Parliament of Uzbekistan adopted today the decision promised earlier by Mirziyoyev.
Tashkent decided to deprive Karakalpakstan of its special status within Uzbekistan.
It was this part of the constitutional reform being carried out in the country that blew up the Karakalpaks.
The thing is that from a formal, legal point of view, Karakalpakstan is a sovereign state, which has an agreement with Tashkent on joining Uzbekistan with the right to withdraw from it at any time.
We just need to hold a local referendum.
It was this norm, which obviously provokes separatism, that Mirziyoyev intended to cancel during the constitutional reform currently underway in the country.
And it was against this that the Karakalpaks rebelled.
Now, for the sake of civil peace, everything will remain the same.
Tashkent played back.
Nevertheless, the Prosecutor General's Office of Uzbekistan initiated a criminal case on the fact of unrest in Karakalpakstan for "encroachment on the constitutional order of the Republic of Uzbekistan."
The strange legal norm that defines the independence of Karakalpakstan is the result of the twisted history of this region.
Once a part of the Kazakh ASSR, it became part of Soviet Uzbekistan for a long time in transit through the RSFSR.
But in 1990, it actually declared independence and was lured back under the arm of Tashkent only by wide political privileges - autonomy.
The desert land of the Karakalpaks occupies almost half of the territory of Uzbekistan.
It's a pity to lose so much land.
But the population there is small - only 2 million people against 33 million Uzbeks.
By the way, the patriarch of Russian politics and the unconditional, as is now clear to everyone, political visionary Vladimir Zhirinovsky warned that unrest could one day begin in Karakalpakstan.
It is easy, however, to guess that in the event of the hypothetical independence of this territory, already poor, like the Ferghana Valley, Karakalpakstan will almost certainly become even poorer.
But when did this stop political adventurers who were aiming to become leaders of their own (or even foreign) national formations?
Back in 2014, at the OSCE conference in Warsaw, a representative of the Karakalpak diaspora in Kyrgyzstan complained about harassment, including language, and then the Western media began to write that the Karakalpaks allegedly want to annex their country to Kazakhstan.
Astana, however, was imperturbable and did not support the rumors.
In general, the political fuss around a topic that is fertile for geopolitical rogues may not be weak.
The obvious way out is to continue Tashkent's line to equalize the living standards of Karakalpakstan with the rest of Uzbekistan in the hope that national passions will subside on a full stomach.
Russia is also beneficial.
Tranquility in the border regions is in our interests.
No wonder Moscow is trying to finely regulate labor migration, which is almost the main source of replenishment of the budget of the Central Asian countries, including Uzbekistan.
Demonstration of undeniable military force, of course, can solve problems, as was the case in January in Kazakhstan, but it is much better not to bring it to that.
Moreover, Uzbekistan is not a member of the CSTO.
However, after the events in Karakalpakstan, there may be a knock.
The point of view of the author may not coincide with the position of the editors.