DUSHANBE, October 23, Asia-Plus - On Friday October 20, Alliance of Ethnic Minorities of Tajikistan, representing ethnic communities of Georgians, Kazakhs, Germans, Koreans, Tatars and Bashkirs, held a meeting to discuss the upcoming presidential election in Tajikistan.   

Viktor Kim, chairman of the Alliance’s board, said in an interview with Asia-Plus that representatives from the ethnic minorities in Tajikistan had not taken a consolidated participation in presidential election in Tajikistan after the 1991 elections.  “The Alliance members making only 1 percent of voters in Tajikistan but representing 100 nationalities took a decision on joint actions in the upcoming presidential election set for November 6,” said Kim, “We will carry out a poll among embers of the our communities within a week and set up an initiative staff to support one of candidates for president.”     

The Alliance of Ethnic Minorities of Tajikistan was established on January 8 2005.  At present its members are ethnic communities of Arabs, Georgians, Germans, Kazakhs, Tatars and Bashkirs.  The main objective of the Alliance is in promoting integration of ethnic minorities into Tajik society with preservation of their ethnic originality.