Samarkand: Asian Florence. Interview with Franco Cardini

Mainly because for centuries it was a very important city, standing at the crossroads of the Silk Road, and then, at the end of the fourteenth century, it became the capital of Timur, which the Italians usually call Tamerlane; unfortunately, the Italians know little about this figure, but he is one of the main characters of Eurasian history. Then, of course, there is the aesthetic fact: it is one of the most beautiful cities in the world. Finally, along with my profession as a university professor, I am a consultant to some tourism organizations, especially on study trips. In this context, a destination like Samarkand is almost an ideal place.

It is a big city of tourism and culture. It is one of the main cities of the new Republic of Uzbekistan that broke away from the Soviet Union in 1990. It went through the post-communist period. Presently, it is being intersected by many interests and therefore many disturbances. If you go to Samarkand, you will be attracted – under the guidance of a good professional or if you hone your ingenuity – by the fact that there are inscriptions on signs, on the streets, and in shops that randomly alternate between Latin, Cyrillic and Arabic letters.

Why?

The idea suggests itself – it is quite obvious that the Latin letter is international, diplomatic, natural in the English language. There are no references to classical Latin, but it is somewhat implied. Cyrillic refers to a long period, from the second half of the nineteenth century until 1990, when Samarkand was Russian, belonging to the Russian Empire. Cyrillic characters are well associated with this more than a century-long permanence in Russia. Finally, there are Arabic symbols, because Uzbekistan, like all the former Soviet-Tatar republics of Central Asia, went through a kind of traditionalist wave that would like to return to its own Muslim culture, which also hides fundamentalist temptations. When you are in front of an inscription in Arabic, you must bear in mind that the one who imposed it, who chose it in a certain way, wants to give us his political appearance: this is a person who thinks about the Muslim world, who must rediscover his roots.

Yes, in fact, to fundamentalist and even terrorist movements in the past, but presently the country is pursuing a very complex policy also towards Israel and the United States. This is a policy that also involves an attempt to penetrate into Central Asia.

Some argue that the ultimate goal, even if it is never achieved, perhaps because it is a process that must be very long, is a federal unification between the Republic of Turkey and all the Turkish-Mongolian republics of Central Asia, and this would be a series of endless consequences if that were to happen. Just think about the strategic importance of this area for oil, oil pipelines… Erdogan wants to give the impression of a man who lives by long epochs. He is a statesman who has a lot of experience and many opportunities for development, but tries not to disturb anyone with his ideas that could appear imperialistic. In Uzbekistan, just like in a number of other Arab countries, Muslims are noted to sympathize with him – if they are not extremists – and his presence is strongly felt in Uzbek politics.