Armed Forces of the Republic of Tajikistan Armed Forces of the Republic of Tajikistan The Armed Forces of the Republic of Tajikistan (Tajik:Қувваҳои Мусаллаҳи Ҷумҳурии Тоҷикистон) is the national military of the Republic of Tajikistan. It consists of National Army, Mobile Forces, Air Force, Presidential National Guard, border and internal troops. There are also significant Russian forces in the country principally the 201st Motor Rifle Division. Unlike the other former Soviet states of Central Asia, Tajikistan did not form armed forces based upon former Soviet units on its territory. Instead, the Russian Ministry of Defence took control of the Dushanbe-based 201st Motor Rifle Division. Control simply shifted
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