Editing History of Tajikistan (section)

=== Independent country and the Commonwealth ===
{{main|Belovezha Accords|Alma-Ata Protocol|Common Economic Space of the Commonwealth of Independent States|Mobility rights arrangements of the Commonwealth of Independent States|Military of the Commonwealth of Independent States}}

[[Post-Soviet countries]] have signed a [[Succession, continuity and legacy of the Soviet Union|series of treaties and agreements to settle the legacy of the former Soviet Union]] multilaterally and bilaterally.

The Tajikistan Soviet Socialist Republic (SSR) was among the last republics of the Soviet Union to declare its independence. On September 9 (1991), following the collapse of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics ([[Soviet Union|USSR]]), Tajikistan declared its independence. During this time, use of the [[Tajik language]], an official language of the Tajikistan SSR next to Russian, was increasingly promoted. Ethnic Russians, who had held many governing posts, lost much of their influence and more Tajiks became politically active.

The nation almost immediately fell into a civil war that involved various factions fighting one another; these factions were often distinguished by clan loyalties.  The non-Muslim population, particularly Russians and Jews, fled the country during this time because of persecution, increased poverty and better economic opportunities in the West or in other former Soviet republics.

[[Emomali Rahmon]] came to power in 1994, and continues to rule to this day. Ethnic cleansing was controversial during the [[Tajikistani Civil War|civil war in Tajikistan]]. By the end of the war Tajikistan was in a state of complete devastation. The estimated dead numbered over 100,000. Around 1.2 million people were [[refugee]]s inside and outside the country.<ref>[https://www.un.org/events/tenstories_2006/story.asp?storyID=600 Tajikistan: rising from the ashes of civil war] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090818073537/http://www.un.org/events/tenstories_2006/story.asp?storyID=600 |date=2009-08-18 }}. United Nations</ref> In 1997, a [[ceasefire]] was reached between Rahmon and opposition parties ([[United Tajik Opposition]]).

Peaceful elections were held in 1999, but they were reported by the opposition as unfair, and Rahmon was re-elected by almost unanimous vote. [[Russia]]n troops were stationed in southern Tajikistan, in order to guard the border with [[Afghanistan]], until summer 2005. Since the [[September 11 attacks|September 11, 2001 attacks]], [[United States|American]], [[India]]n and [[France|French]] troops have also been stationed in the country.

In October 2020, President Emomali Rahmon was [[2020 Tajik presidential election|re-elected]] for next seven-year period with 90 per cent of the votes, following a tightly controlled and largely ceremonial election.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/10/12/tajikistan-leader-rakhmon-wins-election-with-over-90-percent|title=Tajikistan re-elects leader Rahmon with overwhelming majority|access-date=2021-05-03|archive-date=2020-11-20|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201120060537/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/10/12/tajikistan-leader-rakhmon-wins-election-with-over-90-percent/|url-status=live}}</ref>