UNITED NATIONS (Sputnik) — The special event began with a minute of silence in memory of Karimov, who died on September 2 after suffering a stroke. Attending were representatives of UN member-states, the president of the General Assembly’s current session and UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.
“I join with all of you in extending our condolences to the bereaved family of the late president of Uzbekistan, Mr. Islam Karimov,” Ban told the audience. “As the first president of the independent Republic of Uzbekistan, Mr. Karimov undertook wide-ranging efforts to further the economic and social development of his country.”
The secretary-general also credited Karimov’s promotion of the Central Asian Nuclear Weapon-Free Zone, a treaty that took effect in 2009 and comprises the region’s five former Soviet republics.
Karimov was elected as the first president of the Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic in 1990. In late 1991, he won independent Uzbekistan’s first post-Soviet presidential election.
