Latest Articles about Kyrgyzstan
KYRGYZ LOCAL ELECTIONS HELD AMID CONTROVERSY
On October 5 Kyrgyzstan held local government elections in which 491 seats were contested. The competition was most fierce, with the Chair of the Central Election Commission (CEC) Klara Kabilova scandalously resigning just days before the vote (see EDM, October 1). Both local and international... MORE
SCANDAL ERUPTS OVER KYRGYZ CENTRAL ELECTIONS COMMISSION DAYS BEFORE LOCAL ELECTIONS
On September 26 former Chair of the Central Elections Commission (CEC) Klara Kabilova released a video statement describing psychological and physical intimidation by President Kurmanbek Bakiyev’s son Maksim in the run-up to local elections scheduled for October 5. According to Kabilova, Maksim repeatedly threatened her... MORE
CORRUPTION IN THE HYDRO-ENERGY SECTOR BECOMES CLEARER IN KYRGYZSTAN
On September 18 and 19 representatives of the Central Asian ministries of energy met in Almaty to discuss regional energy cooperation. The first round of negotiations was held on September 9 and 10 but failed to produce any agreement among the participating states, because of... MORE
FIERCE COMPETITION OVER LOCAL GOVERNMENT ELECTIONS IN KYRGYZSTAN
The Kyrgyz government has become involved in a number of intrigues ahead of local elections scheduled for October 5. Among the most scandalous is the arrest of Ishenbay Kadyrbekov, a member of the Ata Meken opposition party. Several other cases suggest that President Kurmanbek Bakiyev... MORE
RUSSIA OFFERS SUPPORT AMID KYRGYZSTAN’S ECONOMIC CRISIS
Following a bilateral meeting in Moscow, Kyrgyz Prime Minister Igor Chudinov announced an agreement with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin to begin cooperation in the hydro-energy sector (www.24.kg, September 17). Furthermore, Russian Gazprom will explore natural gas reserves in Kyrgyzstan. Chudinov was vague about how... MORE
ASSASSINS OF KYRGYZ JOURNALIST STILL AT LARGE
On October 24, 2007, one of the most prominent journalists in the southern Kyrgyzstan and the Uzbek part of the Ferghana Valley, Alisher Saipov, was assassinated in the town of Osh. The passersby, who were in the vicinity, said that Alisher was killed pointblank by... MORE
CSTO SUMMIT DISAPPOINTS MOSCOW, UNITES CENTRAL ASIA
At the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) summit in Moscow on September 5, Central Asian leaders once again avoided supporting Russia's recognition of South Ossetian and Abkhaz independence. As at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit on August 28, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Prime Minister... MORE
CAN NAZARBAYEV HELP KYRGYZSTAN ESCAPE MOSCOW’S PRESSURE?
Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev’s reluctance to support Russia’s recognition of South Ossetia and Abkhazia’s independence at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in Dushanbe last week has clearly damaged the organization’s internal cohesion, revealing cleavages between its strongest members–Russia and China. But Nazarbayev also gave... MORE
KYRGYZ NGOS REJECT GOVERNMENT’S CRITICISM
Following the Tulip Revolution on March 24, 2005, and amid continuous political instability in the country, Kyrgyz political leaders habitually accuse local non-government organizations for their dependence on foreign financing. Some politicians see local civil society groups cooperating with foreign donors as an encroachment on... MORE
CONFLICT IN SOUTH OSSETIA CONFUSES KYRGYZ GOVERNMENT AHEAD OF CIS SUMMIT
Although Kyrgyzstan has yet to declare its official response to the conflict in South Ossetia, Kyrgyz pundits have quickly used the developments in Georgia in their revision of real and imagined implications of the U.S. military base at the Manas Airport. The Kyrgyz government and... MORE