Uzbek President: All nations need peace

President of Uzbekistan visited Honour Square in Tashkent and put wreath to the monument of Grieving Mother, the press service of the President of Uzbekistan said. The Uzbek President paid tribute to the people, who died in the war in 1941-1945. The war and labour veterans, Senators, MPs, military officials, public representatives and other participated at the event.

“Today, our nation is widely marking an unforgettable historic date - the 70th anniversary of the victory over fascism in World War II. It gives me great pleasure to congratulate, primarily, our respected veterans who had shown courage and bravery in the war, selfless work in the rear, as well as all the people of Uzbekistan on this glorious date. Of course, it is our first duty to pay tribute to those who had fallen on the battlefields in the name of the peaceful life and a clear sky. Today, it is well known that WWII, which claimed the lives of millions of people, leaving untold loss, pain and grief, was the most ruthless, the bloodiest war in human history, and no one in the world will not forget it,” Uzbek leader said to journalists.

“Naturally, every family, every person in our country is deeply aware of how high the price of the victory over fascism was. And we have to preserve peace and tranquillity in our land as the apple of our eye. The fact that of nearly 6.5 million residents of Uzbekistan at that time, more than 1.5 million participated in the war, shows that nearly a quarter of our population fought against fascism”.

He said that 70 years past, but families still remember that over 500,000 people did not return to their homes, while thousands were injured. Many women became widows, and children became orphans.

Uzbek President stated that people of Uzbekistan worked hard during the war time and contributed to the victory. He recalled that about 1 million people were evacuated to Uzbekistan, including children. He said that the Uzbek people shared their homes and bread with them, showing mercy, generosity and nobility.

President Islam Karimov said that 338 citizens of Uzbekistan received titles of Heroes of Soviet Union, while thousands and thousands were awarded with orders and medals.

Islam Karimov said that 17 year ago Uzbekistan announced 9 May as a Day of Remembrance and Honor and time showed that this was correct decision. He said that the decision was based on national traditions.

President of Uzbekistan said that it is necessary to strengthen work directed at supporting veterans of the World War II. He said that officials of all levels should pay attention to solving problems and needs of the veterans.

He said that there is no life without problems. He said Uzbekistan should pay attention to material and moral support of elder people, improve their medical and domestic services.

Uzbek President said that measures should be adopted to prevent repeat of bloody, cruel and merciless wars, murder of people. He said that people should be also protected from fascism threat.

“Today we clearly and confidently say - we, like other nations of the world, need peace and tranquillity in the first place,” he said. President Karimov said that Uzbekistan needs bright future and clean skies. He recalled that all people in the planned need just peace and tranquillity.

However, unfortunately, in the current rapidly changing complex world, the situation, which is emerging in the near and far abroad, including around us is becoming more alarming, threatening. He said that time itself requires all of us to avoid indifference and carelessness, people should be always vigilant and attentive.

He stressed that in various regions of the world controversy and confrontation, bloody conflicts, threats such as international terrorism, extremism, drug trafficking are growing, fascism, nationalism, chauvinism are spreading.

He noted that the UN Security Council and international organizations should play more role in such difficult situation.

“We believe that our first priority is to further strengthen the friendly relations and mutually beneficial cooperation with all countries, especially with neighbouring ones. We support the idea of solving the ongoing conflicts and confrontation in various parts of the world only via a political, peaceful means,” Karimov said. “We consider it inadmissible to join any military-political blocs and the deployment of foreign military bases in Uzbekistan, as well as the deployment of our troops abroad. Today we live in a beautiful, modern and dynamically developing country,” he said.

“In this regard, if we have to ask ourselves: “Who we were yesterday, and who have we become today?”, then we can clearly see that every person in Uzbekistan experiences a sense of pride for our great achievements and appreciate the great results. But life does not stand still. And when we speak of our most key priorities, the most important thing, on which we have to focus more, is the creation of conditions and opportunities for our children, youth, the new generation, who is the successor of all our noble endeavours and who is ready to take responsibility for the fate and future of the nation and the country,” the Uzbek President said.

“We should protect them from various afflictions. I would like to draw your attention to the fact: With the assistance of the United Nations, sociologists at Columbia University (USA) have recently conducted a survey “World Happiness Index” and its results were published in the press. According to the survey, Uzbekistan is ranking 44th among 158 countries, and is the first one among the CIS states,” Uzbek head underlined.

He said that this shows that Uzbekistan recorded high results and sustainable economic growth during independence years. Life standards are growing, he added.