Umarali Kuvvatov

Umarali Izatovich Kuvvatov was born on 21 November 1968 in the city of Dushanbe. His father was a veteran of the Eastern Front in World War II. When he was five years old his father died. His mother died shortly afterwards. Kuvvatov grew up in an orphanage together with his four sisters and a brother. After finishing high school he attended the faculty of economics of Tajik National University, where he developed an interest in business. ==Business career==

As a businessman Kuvvatov was involved in market research and strategic management. He was responsible for building an oil pipeline from Tajiistan to Afghanistan. == Political positions ==

Kuvvatov was a critic of president Rahmon, accusing him of nepotism and corruption. The Social Democratic Party and Islamic Renaissance Party of Tajikistan, both opposition parties, distanced themselves from Kuvvatov. ==Exile==

In 2012 Kuvvatov went into exile to first Russia and later the United Arab Emirates after Tajikistan asked for his extradition. Kuvvatov went to Turkey, where he was arrested on 20 December 2014 on an alleged visa violation. His extradition was once more sought by Tajikistan in January 2015, for extremism, economic crimes and hostage-taking. Turkey however refused extradition. == Death ==

According to Turkish media reports, conspirators planned his murder for three months. At first they wanted to poison Kuvvatov at a joint dinner on the night of 5 March 2015 in Istanbul. After Kuvvatov and his family wanted to leave to go the nearest hospital, he was shot dead with a single bullet to his head around 22:30 in the Fatih district of Istanbul. The Turkish authorities subsequently arrested three persons of Tajik nationality. Kuvvatov's wife, Kumriniso Hafizova, told RFE/RL on 8 March that she, her husband and their two sons had been invited for dinner at the house of Sulaimon Qayumov, a 30-year-old Tajik citizen. Qayumov had been living in Turkey for three months and positioned himself as a Kuvvatov sympathizer. Turkish media also reported that Kuvvatov's wife and children had symptoms of poisoning. Some observers have drawn parallels between the murder of Kuvvatov and the late February 2015 assassination of Russian opposition leader Boris Nemtsov. Speaking to journalists on 6 March, Muhiddin Kabiri, the leader of the opposition Islamic Renaissance Party of Tajikistan, compared the killing to the recent deaths of Nemtsov and Rakhat Aliyev, the former son-in-law of Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev. Rajabi Mirzo, an independent political analyst, described Kuvvatov's death as a "shameful and terrible event" that could be compared with Nemtsov's killing. "Nemtsov was killed the day before the announced rally, and Quvatov after the announcement of the [parliamentary] election results" he wrote. ==Personal life==

Kuvvatov was married and had children including at least two sons. ==See also==