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| Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia | |
| Kyrgyzstan government ousted in violent revolt | |
| 2010-04-08 | |
| [Dawn] Opponents of President Kurmanbek Bakiyev took control Wednesday of Kyrgyzstan after a day of spectacular violence that ended with Bakiyev fleeing the capital of the strategic Central Asian state. "All this to be the president of Kyrgyzstan? I'm outta here!" Opposition protesters seized the presidential administration Wednesday night and announced on state radio that they had formed a provisional government with former foreign minister Roza Otunbayeva at its head. A worker at Bishkek's international airport told AFP that the 60-year-old Bakiyev had fled the capital aboard a small plane as his opponents consolidated their grip on key national institutions. Memo to self: Ensure my personnal pilot and ground crew are highly paid and well trained. Then have backup plan to include sleezy charter pilot operating out of obscure small airfield. Opposition leader Temir Sariyev said on Kyrgyz radio that Prime Minister Daniyar Usenov had signed a letter of resignation and Otunbayeva vowed that the new leadership in the country would move quickly to normalize the situation. "Power is now in the hands of the people's government," Otunbayeva said in an address on state radio. "Responsible people have been appointed and are already working to normalize the situation." "Who's been appointed?" "Responsible people. Now shaddup."
The riots were the culmination of spiralling protests in the Central Asian nation with the opposition demanding Bakiyev's resignation and accusing his government of rights violations, authoritarianism and economic mismanagement. Despite briefly arresting three leading opposition figures and declaring a state of emergency, the authorities failed to prevent the rebels from rapidly taking control of some of the main levers of power. A health ministry official said 47 people had died, many from gunshot wounds, and more than 400 were injured. Officials said that the toll could be expected to rise. Opposition leader Omurbek Tekebayev said separately that more than 100 people had been killed in the violence. The United States, which maintains an air base in Kyrgyzstan used in the Nato campaign in nearby Afghanistan, voiced "deep concern", while Russia also appealed for calm in the former Soviet republic. Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said Moscow had no involvement in unrest in ex-Soviet Kyrgyzstan. If you can't believe Vlad on a matter like this, who can you believe? "Neither Russia nor your humble servant (Putin) have any links" to the events in Kyrgyzstan, Putin told reporters during a joint press conference with his Polish counterpart Donald Tusk in Smolensk, western Russia. "At the same time, when (Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek) Bakiyev came to power a few years ago, he severely criticised (former president Askar) Akayev for nepotism, that only his family held power. I have the impression that Mr.Bakiyev is now stepping on the same rake," Putin said. Prior to seizing the presidential offices, opposition protesters laid siege to both the national parliament and the offices of the government, demanding that Bakiyev quit. An AFP journalist meanwhile saw flames coming from the ground floor of the four-storey prosecutors' office. Riot police fired tear gas and stun grenades in repeated bids to disperse the demonstrators and Usenov declared a state of emergency, but all to little effect. A police source and a witness said Interior Minister Moldomus Kongantiyev had been killed in the northwest hub of Talas where the first protests erupted. Kongantiyev was attacked by protestors who had also taken deputy prime minister Akylbek Zhaparov captive, the Kabar Kyrgyz state news agency reported. An interior ministry spokesman, Rakhmatullo Akhmedov, later said Kongantiyev was alive but admitted the government had little information on the situation in Talas, saying it was "checking" reports the minister was taken hostage. In Bishkek, explosions from stun grenades reverberated across the city and the crackle of automatic weapons fire filled the air as protesters in the main square gasped for breath in a fog of tear gas. Witnesses said security forces had fired live bullets into the air as between 3,000 and 5,000 protestors overturned cars and set them on fire in Bishkek. Protestors appeared to have seized several heavily armoured police vehicles and were standing on them waving red Kyrgyz flags and the blue flag of the opposition movement. Looters also ransacked the home of Bakiyev's family, Russia's Interfax news agency reported. The violence came a day after more than 1,000 opposition protesters burst through police lines and took control of government offices in Talas. And in the central city of Naryn, hundreds of opposition protesters on Wednesday stormed the regional government headquarters after the local governor refused to negotiate. | |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #5 In the news: Speaking in Prague hours after Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and U.S. President Barack Obama signed a treaty there cutting their nuclear arsenals, a senior Russian official indicated the U.S. base at Manas should close. "In Kyrgyzstan there should be only one base -- Russian," the official told reporters in Prague on condition of anonymity, |
| Posted by: Willy 2010-04-08 13:35 |
| #4 I have the impression that Mr.Bakiyev is now stepping on the same rake And Speaker Nancy droned on about how 'corrupt' the Trunks were before taking power too. |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2010-04-08 13:21 |
| #3 Jamestown has the lead up to the current coup. It was on the radar for some time. |
| Posted by: newc 2010-04-08 10:29 |
| #2 60-year-old Bakiyev had fled the capital aboard a small plane as his opponents consolidated their grip on key national institutions. Most of the successfully exercised E&E plans involve some type of small, dependable aircraft. Obviously not wishing to repeat Chauchesku's mistake, the key to the benefit program is not getting KILLED. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2010-04-08 05:44 |
| #1 ION YAHOO NEWS > KYRGYZSTAN UPRISING: DID MOSCOW SUBVERT A US ALLY? AFAIK the Muslim former SSRS are heavily dependent on $$$ remittances, etc. from Moscow = Russia for their economic hence national survival. RUSS ECON TRUBLES = NO BORSCH = NO $$$ = NO HONEY FOR THE -STANS. The alternative is for the Stans to give and expand US BASE + LOGISTICS ROUTING RIGHTS which Russ doesn't want in its backyard. |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2010-04-08 01:39 |