BISHKEK -- Kyrgyz Mufti Chubak-Hajji Jalilov shut down the Religious Directorate branch in the southern city of Osh on December 6, RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service reports.
Jalilov told RFE/RL that religious clerics in Osh will now report directly to the Religious Directorate in Bishkek.
"The directorate's branch in Osh was established last year after the deadly ethnic clashes in Osh," Jalilov said. "The idea to open it there was based on the necessity of having a local religious board that could help stop the standoff between local ethnic groups and establish interethnic concord. The situation [in Osh] has improved and there is no need to have the branch there anymore."
In mid-June 2010, violent ethnic clashes between Uzbeks and Kyrgyz left more than 400 people dead and thousands wounded.
Read more in Kyrgyz here
Jalilov told RFE/RL that religious clerics in Osh will now report directly to the Religious Directorate in Bishkek.
"The directorate's branch in Osh was established last year after the deadly ethnic clashes in Osh," Jalilov said. "The idea to open it there was based on the necessity of having a local religious board that could help stop the standoff between local ethnic groups and establish interethnic concord. The situation [in Osh] has improved and there is no need to have the branch there anymore."
In mid-June 2010, violent ethnic clashes between Uzbeks and Kyrgyz left more than 400 people dead and thousands wounded.
Read more in Kyrgyz here
