Abdusalom Azizov
By Exec Edge Editorial Staff
Abdusalom Azizov, the head of Uzbekistan’s state security apparatus, was dismissed by President Shavkat Mirziyoyev during an emergency cabinet meeting Friday night in Tashkent, Radio Free Europe/Radio Libertyand Uzbekistan media are reporting. A number of other high-ranking government officials, including Alijon Ashurov, the Head of the Internal Security Unit of the State Security Service, were also dismissed for obstructing the investigation in a widening shake-up, RFE/RL is reporting.
The firing comes nearly one month after the failed attempt on the life of Komil Allamjonov, the president’s former press security, who left the government in September. Since the attack, four suspects have been arrested, but a fifth has fled to South Korea, where he has thus far eluded Korean and Uzbek authorities.
Neither government has released an update on the investigation or offered a motive, raising international scrutiny and pressure on Uzbekistan and South Korean authorities.
Uzbekistan-watchers are speculating that Azizov’s dismissal is connected to the assassination attempt.
The attempt on Allamjonov’s life pulled back the curtain on the interconnected nature of the highest levels of Uzbek government and society, past and present, as reporters have sought to untangle the Byzantine story.
In office, Allamjonov worked closely with Saida Mirziyoyev, oldest daughter of the president and No. 2 in the government. Media reported on a rift between Allamjonov and Otabek Umarov, the president’s deputy head of security and husband of his younger daughter, Shahnoza.
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty is reporting that Umarov left Uzbekistan today, though his motivations are unknown.
Following the assassination attempt, two gunman briefly sought refuge in a night club in eastern Uzbekistan owned by the daughters of the late Vitaly Fen, Uzbekistan’s long-serving ambassador to South Korea, who died in June. The fifth suspect in the attack, Javlon Yunusov, is the common-law husband of one of the night club owners and fled to South Korea in the hours following the attack on Allamjonov.
Azizov, 64, a veteran of the highest levels of Uzbekistan’s administration, had been head of the country’s State Security Service for five years. Prior to that, he was Minister of Defense for two years and briefly served as Minister Internal Affairs before that. In 2019, Azizov received a military title of lieutenant general and was appointed as the chairman of the State Security Council shortly after. He also served as president of the Football Association of Uzbekistan. A career security official, Azizov was head of Internal Affairs for Tashkent and headed the Department of Internal Affairs for the Jizzakh region of Uzbekistan, west of Tashkent, before serving in Mirziyoyev’s government.
