Lola Karimova-Tillyaeva BBC interview
There hasn’t been much information on Lola Karimova-Tillyaeva following her surprisingly forthright interview with the BBC, published on 25 September, where she said she was not on speaking terms with her elder sister Gulnara Karimova for over a decade, and described Gulnara’s chances of succeeding her father as slim. Lola’s statements provoked much outrage from Gulnara, who is known as the notorious “princess of Uzbeks”, and is the country’s most-feared and hated person, according to US diplomatic cables published by Wikileaks, where she was also described as “a robber baron”. In response to her sister’s interview, Gulnara launched a scathing attack making a barrage of accusations against Lola and her husband, which many described as preposterous and childish.
In a statement published on her website on 12 December, Karimova-Tillyaeva said she and her husband were speaking to their lawyers over the possibility of bringing a legal suit against Gulnara over defamatory and slanderous statements she was making.
“We have been receiving many requests from the media to comment on the accusations which Gulnara Karimova has been making against me and my husband.
"For our part, of course, we would like to refrain from making any comments on the events. However, the situation leaves us with no choice but to start consultations with our lawyers, and consider taking a legal action against Gulnara Karimova through filing suit in court in connection with the spread of defamatory statements, slander and threats against me and my husband Timur Tillyaev in social networking websites and the media,” the statement said.
Lola Karimova-Tillyaeva, who currently serves as Uzbekistan’s permanent representative at UNESCO, is married to businessman Timur Tillyaev and they have three children. She also runs two charitable organisations in Uzbekistan, which help children left without parental care and children with disabilities.
According to reports posted on her official website and page on the Facebook, on the day her interview with the BBC was published, Lola and her husband Timur Tillyaev were on a visit to the city of Samarkand where they inaugurated new premises of an orphanage, renovated with the financial backing of Lola’s charity called “You are not alone”.
According to reports published on Lola Karimova-Tillyaeva’s website, “You are not alone” foundation was set up in 2002 to provide comprehensive assistance and support to children left without parental care and its primary goals are to promote development of orphaned and abandoned children, provide them with better opportunities to get education, assistance in healthcare and psychological support.
“Through promoting better education at the country's orphanages, the charitable organization strives to prepare children for independent life, ensure that they become self-reliant, confident and emotionally stable people when they come of age,” the website says.
Karimova-Tillyaeva's second charitable organization, the National Centre for the Social Adaptation of Children, provides children with special needs with assistance in the areas of diagnosis, orthopedic and neurological treatment, speech therapy and education.
According to the website, over the last two years Karimova-Tillyaeva’s foundation sponsored major renovation work at the National centre for the social adaptation of children, the Tashkent orphanage for children under the age of three, orphanages in Samarkand and Chirchik in central Uzbekistan.
