Longtime Uzbekistan President Islam Karimov Dies After Stroke

President Islam Karimov, who ruled Uzbekistan for 25 years, died Friday, the Uzbek government announced on the state-run news agency Uza. He was 78 years old.

Uzbekistan's first and only president has died, leaving an uncertain future for a government marred by controversy.

President Islam Karimov, who ruled Uzbekistan for 25 years, died Friday, the Uzbek government announced on the state-run news agency Uza. He was 78 years old.

Karimov had a stroke and was hospitalised on Saturday, his daughter Lola Karimova-Tillyaeva announced on Facebook. On Friday, she posted a black square on her official Instagram account, with the message, "He left us."A funeral will be held Saturday.

Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed his condolences in a statement on the Kremlin website Friday. "It is difficult to overestimate the contribution of Islam Karimov to the establishment of relations of strategic partnership between our countries," the Russian President said.

"Under (Karimov's) guidance ... Uzbekistan held a peaceful foreign policy, contributed to the strengthening of security and stability in Central Asia and to the development of multilateral cooperation in the region," Putin added. 

Karimov's death leaves the future of the resource-rich country in question, said Andrey Kortunov, president of the New Eurasia Foundation.

There is "no master plan, no successor who has been endorsed and accepted by everybody (in Karimov's inner circle)," Kortunov said.

Karimov became leader of the Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic in 1989. Two years later, he declared the independence of the Republic of Uzbekistan and assumed the presidency of the new country.

In 1995, his mandate was extended for another five years by referendum. Despite a two-term limit, he won re-election in 2000, 2007 and 2015.

International critics, including Human Rights Watch, said voters had no real choice in the elections because the government restricts opposing political activity.

In 2007, Karimov made Parade magazine's list of "World's Worst Dictators." In addition to violating the two-term limit, Parade said, "his government engages in routine torture of citizens and has subjected dissenters to forced psychiatric treatment."