Aral Sea Bank's restoration projects, especially in the North Aral, were giving rise to some unexpected, tentative relief in what had been an extremely pessimistic picture. The future of the Aral Sea and the responsibility for its survival are now in the hands of the five countries: Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Turkmenistan. In 1994, they adopted the Aral Sea Basin Programmme. The Programme's four objectives are: The first phase of the plan effectively began with the first involvement from the World Bank in 1992, and was in operation until 1997. It was ineffectual for a number of reasons, but mainly because
Turks in Uzbekistan to return to Georgia are required to change their names from Turkish to Georgian, the vast majority of the Meskhetian Turks have rejected these conditions. Uzbekistan has not conducted a census since 1989, therefore there are no official statistics regarding the current Turkish population in Uzbekistan. International organizations have given rough averages. It is believed that approximately between 15,000 and 20,000 Turks live in Tashkent, Sirdarya, Jizzakh, Kashkadarya. Furthermore, there are 3,000 Turks in Bukhara, 4,000 in Samarkand and 2,000 in Nawoiy. Unlike neighbors Turkmenistan or Kazakhstan, the Turks living in Uzbekistan is not lucky like them. The Turks had