President Islam Karimov blames the Andijan uprising and the bloodshed that followed on Islamic extremists. However, the authoritarian president has been ostracized by the West for what was widely viewed as a violent government crackdown: rights groups accused Uzbek police and troops of opening fire indiscriminately on the demonstrators, and have called the events a massacre of innocents.
Addressing a joint news conference with his Kyrgyz counterpart, Karimov said, "The tragic events in Andijan in May 2005 are a wound that will long remain in the heart of every Uzbek citizen and those who sympathize with us."
Since the protests, provoked by the arrests and trial of Uzbek businessmen on religious extremism charges, more than 250 people have been sentenced to long prison terms for their alleged involvement in the revolt. Karimov's government has also clamped down on foreign aid groups and media in the country, and the president has rejected demands for an international probe into the Andijan events.
After the tragedy, in which human rights groups said more than 700 protesters were killed in contrast to the official government figure of 187, thousands of refugees fled the eastern city, mainly to neighboring Kyrgyzstan, the U.S. and Russia.
In August, Kyrgyzstan handed over five refugees wanted in Uzbekistan for involvement in the uprising, a move that was condemned by the United Nations as violating the 1951 Refugee Convention.
However, Karimov said the Andijan events should not be allowed to mar relations between Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan. "As the president, I feel their pain, and it is more than that - it is my personal pain that I have never hidden," he said.
"The death of so many will forever remain in the memory of our peoples, first and foremost their close ones, their parents," Karimov said.
The hardline leader, who has ruled the republic since Soviet times, also conveyed his condolences to those affected by the events.
