Tajikistan, 1997 — military coup attempt

Event Summary

The dataset records an event coded as an attempted military coupi in Tajikistan on 11 August 1997 during the fragile, violence ridden implementation of the peace accord that was meant to end the country's devastating civil war. The war, fought since 1992 between the government of President Emomali Rahmon, backed by Russia and Uzbekistan, and the United Tajik Opposition, an alliance of Islamist and democratic forces, had killed tens of thousands before a peace agreement was signed in June 1997. But the peace was precarious, threatened by warlords and armed factions, some nominally aligned with the government, who resisted disarmament and reintegration and pursued their own agendas.

In this turbulent period, armed clashes and challenges to Rahmon's authority erupted repeatedly, and an attempt to seize power or an armed revolt in August 1997 arose from that instability. Rahmon survived the challenge, as he did others during the rocky peace, gradually asserting control, sidelining and crushing recalcitrant commanders, and consolidating an increasingly authoritarian grip. He would rule Tajikistan for decades, entrenching a durable personal rule long after the civil war formally ended.