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Time - Man of the Year
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1992-08-28
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GRAPEVINE, Page 9READING, WRITING AND GEOPOLITICS
By JANICE CASTRO/Reported by Wendy Cole
What's in an alphabet? For the six Central Asian
republics of the former Soviet Union -- Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan,
Kirghizia, Tadzhikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan -- the
answer may be cultural identity. As the 55 million inhabitants
of the republics, most of them Muslims, consider a new written
form of expression to replace the Russian Cyrillic alphabet, the
choice has taken on geopolitical implications. Turkey, whose
switch from Arabic to Latin script 64 years ago symbolized its
shift toward Western-style democracy, wants the republics to
follow its lead. Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia and Iran are pressuring
them to adopt Arabic script -- and, they hope, a Middle Eastern
point of view. Some diplomats think the West won Round 1 last
week, when Azerbaijan's parliament chose the Latin alphabet's
ABC's.