Yearbook 2011
Kyrgyzstan. In January, an official investigation into the bloody riots that haunted the Fergana Valley in the south came in 2010. The transitional government, which followed the overthrow of President Kurmanbek Bakijev, was not considered to have done enough to stop the violence. At the same time, the report blamed the riots on local Uzbek leaders as well as supporters and relatives of Bakijev. Visit ABBREVIATIONFINDER for the acronym of KYR that stands for the country of Kyrgyzstan.
According to Countryaah official site, the Uzbek minority felt unfairly accused, and when several Uzbek imams were arrested in the Osh region near the Uzbek border, local protests erupted. Authorities said they were interfering with terrorist concerns, while the Uzbeks saw the interventions as a pretext to fight the opposition.
In May, an international report was published, in which the uz cups were instead described as the main victims of the violence in 2010. The security forces were accused of not stopping the violence but instead making it worse. According to the report, 470 people were killed, close to 2,000 injured and about 400,000 displaced from their homes.
The report’s conclusions were rejected by the governing bodies, and Parliament declared that the President of the Commission, the OSCE representative and the Finnish Kimmo Kiljunen, were no longer desirable in the country. But the government decided on compensation for the families who lost someone in the violence, or where someone was injured. Amnesty International expressed concern that those responsible were not brought to justice, which was considered to increase the risk of new violence. In October, presidential elections were held following the democratization of the country in 2010. A total of 83 candidates signed up, but 16 remained in the end. Many failed in the Kyrgyz language test required to be approved as a candidate. In the capital Bishkek, more than a third of the population is Russian-speaking. The election was held a year and a half after Bakijev’s overthrow, and interim president Roza Otunbajeva did not stand. The favorite was Prime Minister and Social Democratic Party leader Almazbek Atambayev, who belonged to the political elite in Bishkek in the north and was an opponent of Bakijev. He was challenged mainly by two politicians originating in the south and with ties to Bakijev. It was the nationalist Fatherland’s (Ata-Zjurt) leader Kamchybek Tashyev, who exploited anti-Uzbek sentiments among Kyrgyz voters, and Adacham Madumarov of nationalist United Kyrgyzstan (Butun).
Atambayev won big already in the first round with just over 63% of the vote, while Madumarov and Tashyev got just over 14% each. More than 600 international observers were present. According to the OSCE, there were significant irregularities in the counting of votes, and many voters were not included in the lengths of votes. But the OSCE did not reject the election, which led to harsh criticism from the opposition. Tashyev and Madumarov refused to acknowledge the official result, they claimed electoral fraud and demanded re-election. Their supporters protested in the cities of Dzjalal-Abad and Osh in the south. Among other things, the highway towards Bishkek was blocked.
The government declared during the year that the US air base in Manas in Kyrgyzstan will be closed in 2014, when the contract expires and the US military leaves Kyrgyzstan’s neighboring country Afghanistan.
In December, Kyrgyzstan’s first peaceful exchange took place at the presidential post. Interim President Roza Otunbajeva resigned and was succeeded by the newly elected Almazbek Atambayev. Subsequently, Republican Party leader Omurbek Babanov was elected head of government for a new four-party coalition. Babanov received 113 of Parliament’s 120 votes.
Dictionary of History
Kyrgyzstan Central Asian state. Annexed by Russia in 1864, in 1918 the Kyrgyzstan became part of the Republic of Turkestan; autonomous republic since 1926, it became part of the USSR in 1937. In 1991 it proclaimed independence, later facing serious economic difficulties. In fact, being an extremely backward country, it was particularly affected by the disintegration of the Soviet market, while the rapid transition to a market economy led, in the early 1990s, to a decline in production capacity and a significant deterioration in the living conditions of the population. At the same time, there was an increase in criminal activities linked to the production and trade of drugs and a growing spread of corruption. A further element of instability was the rekindling of the ethnic conflict between the Kyrgyz people and the other minorities, in particular. Russian and Uzbek. A. Akaev, elected president in 1990, with ever wider powers, ruled in violent contrast with the opposition forces, of communist and nationalist inspiration, committed to obtaining a reduction of presidential prerogatives and a strengthening of the ethnic character of the state. Reconfirmed twice as president (1995 and 2000), Akaev was forced to flee (2005) by protests that denounced fraud in the legislative elections. The subsequent presidential elections were won by Kyrgyzstan Bakiev, former prime minister of Akaev. Kyrgyzstan, who joined the Commonwealth of Independent States in 1991, has maintained close relations with Russia.