Simple directory > Regional > Kyrgyzstan

Country : Kyrgyzstan Official name: Kyrgyz Respublikasy (Kyrgyz Republic) Head of State: President Kurmanbek Bakiyev (elected 10 Jul 2005) Head of government: President Minister Kurmanbek Bakiyev (from 28 Mar 2005) Ruling party: Government formed 25 Mar 2005. Area: 198,500 square km Population: 5.32 million (2004) Capital: Bishkek (formerly Frunze) Official language: Kyrgyz, Russian Currency: Som (S) = 100 tyin Exchange rate: S41.50 per US$ (Nov 2004) GDP per capita: US$350 (2003) GDP real growth: 5.20% (2003) Unemployment: 7.20% (2003) Inflation: 3.30% (2003) Oil production: 2,000 bpd (2003) Balance of trade: -US$127.00 million (2003) Foreign debt: US$1.50 billion (2003)

Historical profile

The Kyrgyz are a Turkic people, thought to be descended from tribes on the Yenisey River on the Siberian steppe, whose different clans fought over pastoral land in the Tian Shan mountains to secure grazing for their livestock.

1700s After being invaded by the Arabs, Mongols and the Chinese, Kyrgyzstan was ruled by the Khanate of Kokand (part of modern-day Uzbekistan).

1800s Tsarist troops conquered Kyrgyzstan.

1916 The population joined the other Central Asian republics in a violent uprising against Russian rule.

1917 Central Asian peoples were granted the right of self-determination by the Russians after the Bolshevik revolution.

1918 Parts of Kyrgyzstan were absorbed into Russian-controlled Turkestan.

1920s Soviet nationalities policy, under the direction of the general secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU), Josef Stalin, enforced rule by Red Army troops who crushed indigenous revolts throughout Central Asia after the Russian civil war.

1924 Kyrgyzstan was designated the Kara-Kyrgyz autonomous region and absorbed into the Russian Socialist Federated Soviet Republic (RSFSR).

1936 Kyrgyzstan was given Union Republic status upon the creation of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR).

1940–1980s Kyrgyzstan became an important source of raw materials to the Soviet Union.

1990 The Kyrgyz and Uzbek population rioted in ethnically-divided Osh in southern Kyrgyzstan. Askar Akayev, a member of the CPSU, was appointed chairman of the Kyrgyz Socialist Republic.

1991 Kyrgyzstan was the first Central Asian republic to declare independence. Akayev stood alone in the country's presidential elections. Kyrgyzstan joined the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).

1993 Kyrgyzstan adopted its first post-Soviet constitution allowing for a parliamentary system of government.

1994 Akayev won a resounding referendum victory, giving him the mandate to make the legislature a bicameral body.

1995 Akayev was re-elected for a second five-year term.

1996 A referendum to give the president the authority to appoint all top officials was approved by 94.5 per cent of voters; parliamentary approval is only required for prime ministerial candidates.

1998 A referendum on a package of constitutional changes was overwhelmingly approved. The changes included the introduction of private land ownership – a first by a Central Asian state. Kyrgyzstan became a member of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), the first country in the former Soviet Union to join.

2000 President Akayev was elected for a third term, contrary to the constitution and amid allegations of electoral irregularities. The elections were followed by the harassment and imprisonment of opposition leaders and the closure of opposition newspapers. The presidents of Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Tajikistan (formerly the Customs Five) established the Eurasian Economic Community (EEC).

2001 Akayev announced that he would not stand for re-election in the 2005 presidential election.

2002 For the first time, people openly expressed their opposition to the government. Prime Minister Kurmanbek Bakiyev resigned; First Deputy Prime Minister Nikolai Tanayev was named prime minister and formed a government.

2003 A constitutional referendum was held, in which 80 per cent of voters backed President Akayev's proposed changes, which the opposition said restricted civil liberties; the referendum extended the president's term of office. A bill was passed which granted President Akayev and two other Soviet era Communist leaders lifelong immunity from prosecution.

2004 In January, opposition parties joined in a coalition to fight the next elections.

2005 Numerous independent and opposition candidates were barred from standing in the February/March parliamentary elections. President Askar Akayev, who had led the country since independence, was ousted from power when widespread allegations of government interference in the parliamentary elections, fuelled by poverty and corruption, sparked a revolt, which became known as the `Tulip Revolution'. Opposition demonstrators seized the presidential headquarters on 24 March and President Askar Akayev fled to Moscow. The Supreme Court cancelled the results of the parliamentary elections. Prime Minister Nikolay Tanayev tendered his resignation and on 28 March, Kurmanbek Bakiyev was confirmed as prime minister by the new parliament, and acting president until presidential elections. Askar Akayev, still in Moscow, formally resigned in April. Acting President Kurmanbek Bakiyev won the 10 July presidential elections.

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