President of Tajikistan President of Tajikistan The President of Tajikistan is the head of state and the highest position within the Government of Tajikistan. The position of President was created in November 1990 while Tajikistan was still a Soviet Republic. The President of Tajikistan lives in the capital, Dushanbe. The first President of Tajikistan was Qahhor Mahkamov, who held the position of First Secretary of the Communist Party of Tajikistan and was appointed President of the Tajik Soviet Socialist Republic in November 1990. Mahkamov served both as First Secretary and President but was forced to resign in August 1991 due to the unpopularity
Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic as Soviet Uzbekistan. Beginning 20 June 1990, the Uzbek SSR adopted the Declaration of State Sovereignty within its borders. Islam Karimov became the republic's inaugural president. On 31 August 1991, the Uzbek SSR was renamed the Republic of Uzbekistan and declared independence three months before the Soviet Union's dissolution on 26 December 1991. Uzbekistan was bordered by Kazakhstan to the north; Tajikistan to the southeast; Kirghizia to the northeast; Afghanistan to the south; and Turkmenistan to the southwest. The name, Uzbekistan, literally means "Home of the Free", taken from an amalgamation of "uz" (Turkic: "self"), "bek" (Turkic: "master", "bey in