The Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Uzbekistan (Uzbek: O'zbekiston Respublikasi Mudofaa vazirligi) exercises administrative and operational leadership of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Uzbekistan. The Uzbek Minister of Defense is the nominal head of all the Armed Forces, serving under the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan, who is the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Uzbekistan. In this capacity, the minister exercises day-to-day administrative and operational authority over the armed forces. In wartime, the defense minister also serves in an official capacity as the Deputy Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the military. The General Staff, the executive body of the Ministry of Defense, implements the defense minister's operational instructions and orders. The Oliy Majlis exercises legislative authority over the Ministry of Defense through the Government of Uzbekistan, which is nominally responsible for maintaining the armed forces at the appropriate level of readiness.^[1]

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Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Uzbekistan

O'zbekiston Respublikasi Mudofaa vazirligi
Seal of the Ministry of Defence
Flag of the Ministry of Defence
Minister of Defense Bakhodir Kurbanov
Defense Ministry overview
Formed	July 3, 1992
Preceding Defense Ministry	Soviet Defense Ministry
Jurisdiction	Government of Uzbekistan
Headquarters	100 Mirzo Ulugbek Avenue, Tashkent, Uzbekistan
Minister responsible	Major General Bakhodir Kurbanov, Minister of Defense
Defense Ministry executive	Major General Shukhrat Kholmukhamedov, First Deputy Defense Minister and Chief of the General Staff
Website	Ministry of Defense of Uzbekistan

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The ministry is currently located in the former headquarters of Turkestan Military District (TurkVO) on 100 Mirzo Ulugbek Avenue (formerly known as Maxim Gorky Avenue) in Tashkent. The current Uzbek minister of Defense is Major General Bakhodir Kurbanov.

The ministry was created as one of the first military departments established in the former Soviet Union, being established 1 day after the founding of the (one day after the creation of the Ministry of Defense of Azerbaijan. On September 6, 1991, the newly elected president Islam Karimov signed a decree establishing the Ministry of Defense, being originally named as the main military department of the Uzbek SSR. On July 3, 1992, the department was renamed to the Ministry of Defense. The appointment of the first civilian to the ministry in the early 2000s were part of plans to "establish civilian control over military structures within the state", with the defence ministry playing a more administrative role, while army commanders took charge of military operations.^[2]

The Ministry of Defense manages its subordinate troops, and ensures the implementation of state policy in the field of defense and army building, equipping the national military with modern weapons and military equipment, expanding military cooperation, and organizing of recruitment and training of the armed forces. The Ministry of Defense has five military districts, a special purpose unit (communications, engineering, chemical, etc.), a counter-terrorism unit and a special operations unit, as well as higher military educational institutions. The ministry also maintains and operates the State Museum of the Armed Forces of Uzbekistan.

Military districts of the armed forces are under the jurisdiction of the defense ministry, with their headquarters being the center of their regions of which they are responsible for. It is the main military administrative unit and territorial general military operational-strategic association that protects the security and territorial integrity of the Republic of Uzbekistan for the specific operational areas. The following are a list of military districts in Uzbekistan:

• Rustam Akhmedov (September 6, 1991 – September 29, 1997)
• Hikmatulla Tursunov (September 29, 1997 – February 20, 2000^[12])
• Yuri Agzamov (February 20 – September 30, 2000^[13])
• Kadyr Gulyamov (September 30, 2000 – November 18, 2005)^{[lower-alpha 1]}
• Ruslan Mirzaev (November 18, 2005 – September 17, 2008)
• Qobul Berdiev (September 17, 2008 – September 4, 2017)
• Abdusalom Azizov (September 4, 2017 – February 11, 2019)
• Bakhodir Kurbanov (February 11, 2019 – Present)

• Qobul Berdiyev
• Abdusalom Azizov
• Kadyr Gulyamov