President of Tajikistan of his support for the August Coup of 1991 in Moscow and the resulting street demonstrations in Dushanbe. From 1991 to 1992 the post of the president changed hands several times due to the political changes and uncertainty following the dissolution of the Soviet Union and ensuing social unrest and violence in the Tajikistan Civil War. Since 1994, Emomali Rahmonov has held the position of the presidency. The presidential elections were last held in 2013. Presidential elections in Tajikistan have consistently been criticized by international observers as unfair and favoring the ruling party. The President of the Republic of Tajikistan
Islam in the Soviet Union Islam in the Soviet Union The Soviet Union (USSR) was a federation made up of 15 socialist republics, and existed from 1922 until its dissolution in 1991. Six of the 15 republics had a Muslim majority: Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kirghizia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. There was also a large Muslim population in the Volga-Ural region and in the northern Caucasus region of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic. A large number of Tatar Muslims also lived in Siberia and other regions. In forming the USSR, the Bolsheviks wanted to include as much territory of the former Russian Empire as possible. This