Following the May 21 visit to Bishkek by Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) General Secretary Nikolai Bordyuzha, Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev ordered the government to form a special commission to investigate the expediency of the U.S. military base at the Manas airport vis-à-vis Kyrgyzstan’s national... MORE

On May 16 Kyrgyz Prime Minister Almazbek Atambayev met a senior Russian military delegation led by Army General Vladimir Isakov, the Russian deputy defense minister and head of the Rear Services. The Kyrgyz were keen to highlight that this was the highest Russian military delegation... MORE

The December 6, 2006, killing of Kyrgyz truck driver Alexander Ivanov by U.S. soldier Zachary Hatfield continues to fuel Kyrgyz public anger toward the U.S. military base in Kyrgyzstan. Hatfield left Kyrgyzstan on March 22 despite the Kyrgyz government’s appeal to keep the soldier on... MORE

On December 6, 2006, U.S. soldier Zachary Hatfield shot and killed 42-year-old Kyrgyz citizen Alexander Ivanov, a fuel truck driver, at the entry gate to the Manas airbase outside the Kyrgyz capital, Bishkek. Subsequent U. S. intransigence about submitting Hatfield to the Kyrgyz justice system... MORE

During his April 26 visit to Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan’s President Nursultan Nazarbayev promised greater economic integration with Kyrgyzstan. The president, however, slammed his Kyrgyz counterpart Kurmanbek Bakiyev for the continuous political turmoil in that country. Along with his pledges to increase involvement in Kyrgyzstan’s key economic... MORE

Since the Kyrgyz government's crackdown on opposition rallies on April 19, President Kurmanbek Bakiyev has embarked on a series of suppressive activities against unwanted political figures. The Kyrgyz security service arrested Omurbek Suvanaliyev, former minister of interior and the United Front opposition bloc’s key leader,... MORE

On April 19 the Kyrgyz police violently ended the week-long protests staged by opponents of the government. The protests were staged by two opposition blocs, the United Front and For Reforms, and brought up to 12,000 people into central Bishkek, the Kyrgyz capital. The police... MORE

Since April 11, ongoing opposition rallies in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, have paralyzed both the government and parliament. Neither President Kurmanbek Bakiyev nor the legislature is trying to find compromises with the opposition. Instead, both seem to be waiting until the protests calm down and the opposition’s... MORE

With only one week left until Kyrgyzstan’s two main opposition blocs, “United Front” and “For Reforms,” plan to stage a large-scale demonstration to remove Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev from office, neither the president nor the opposition are willing to start negotiations. Meanwhile, Kyrgyz experts and... MORE