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1990 Dushanbe riots | |||
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Part of the dissolution of the Soviet Union | |||
![]() BMPs blocking off protesters in the city's main thoroughfare following the imposition of martial law, 14 February 1990 | |||
Date | 12–14 February 1990 | ||
Location | 38°32′12″N 68°46′48″E / 38.53667°N 68.78000°E | ||
Caused by | Local anti-Armenian sentiment and Tajik anti-communist nationalism | ||
Resulted in | Outbreak of the Tajikistani Civil War in 1992 | ||
Parties | |||
Lead figures | |||
Casualties | |||
Death(s) | 26 | ||
Injuries | 565 | ||
Location within Tajikistan |
The 1990 Dushanbe riots marked a period of heightened civil disobedience and inter-ethnic violence in the capital city of the Tajik SSR of the Soviet Union. Existing tensions over lacking economic and political reforms were exacerbated by the arrival of Armenian refugees from the Azerbaijan SSR due to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. The mass movement of Tajik nationalists (e.g., the Rastokhez), anti-communists, and Islamists targeted ethnic minorities, such as Armenians and Russians, as well as unaffiliated Tajiks—namely women who did not conform to Islamic clothing standards. By late 1991, the dissolution of the Soviet Union gave way to the Republic of Tajikistan declaring independence, though this was followed by the Tajikistani Civil War less than a year later.