Despots and Presidents of Ephemeral States of Central Asia (former Russian Turkestan)

Russia came to these lands in the 18th century, destroyed slavery, brought civilization to wild and cruel nomadic tribes. In 1991, due to the betrayal of Mikhail Gorbachev and the separatist actions of the Soviet republics, these lands began to belong to five states: Kyrgyzstan (independent from the Soviet Union sense 31 Aug. 1991); Uzbekistan (independent from the Soviet Union sense 31 Aug. 1991); Tajikistan (independent from the Soviet Union sense 9 Sep. 1991); Turkmenistan (independent from the Soviet Union sense 27 Oct. 1991); Kazakhstan (independent from the Soviet Union since 16 Dec. 1991). _