The Kyrgyzstani persons are well-known for their” city democracy”
Citizens in the Central Asian state have taken it upon themselves to ouster leaders who attempt to overstay their pleasant or participate in corruption since emerging from the Soviet Union in the early 1990s.
In fact, the country went through five national moves between 2005 and 2020, three of which occurred as a result of widespread protests and two through a peaceful democratic transition.
However, Bishkek, the country’s capital, seems to be experiencing a new pattern. Russian President Vladimir Putin is well-liked among Kyrgyz, and his bodybuilder leadership seems to be having an impact on the country’s leaders, in contrast to how he is perceived in some other former Communist nations. Recent legislation has been introduced to strengthen their power and combat protest.
I’ve been studying the unique trajectory of Kyrgyzstan for a long time and have always been interested in how this people’s power struggles with current trends toward authoritarianism. More was learned during a trip to the area in the slide.
locations for protests
The Ala-To Square and the opposite White House, which were generally the standard presidential office building, are Bishkek’s core of Kyrgyz road politics.
Askar Akayev, the country’s earliest post-Soviet president, tried to circumvent term limits and increase his strength in a protest protested that in 2005. Akayev was driven into exile in Moscow by their Tulip Revolution.
Five years later, people gathered at the same time for Kurmanbek Bakiyev, who had been charged with corruption, for the Women’s April Revolution.
Before being toppled, Bakiyev authorized lethal force against protesters. A dramatic monument stands on Ala-Tou Square to commemorate the 90 protesters who were killed to this day.
When anti-government demonstrations resurrected what some people saw as a stolen vote and removed President Sooronbai Jeenbekov from office, the square became the center of discontent once more in 2020.
A fresh political philosophy
Sadyr Japarov, Kyrgyzstan’s recent leader, is well-versed in this past because he lived it.
He helped organize mass rallies against newly elected President Almazbek Atambayev in 2012 after serving in Bakiyev’s government.
Japarov fled the country after participating in an military attack that attempted to overthrow Parliament. He was imprisoned when he returned to Kyrgyzstan in 2017 but he established a new political party after being released from prison.
Japarov ran for president in January 2021 with about 80 % of the vote, supporting a populist agenda that included calls to break down on corrupt elites and international corporations.
Japarov even emphasized the significance of Russia’s unique partnership with Kyrgyzstan. Additionally, Putin’s handbook is starting to appear in his leadership style. A vote that boosted the power of the office and diminished the significance of Parliament was accompanied by the presidential election in 2021.
Japarov is putting that move into practice by building a new national building just five kilometers south of the city center, which will lessen the chance that city politics will play a significant role in the country’s future.
Other indications of Japarov’s desire to reform Kyrgyz politics were evident during my October visit. Leading crime supervisor Kolya Kolbaev was shot and killed by security forces in a Bishkek restaurant he owned on October 4, 2023.
According to the state media, this was a crackdown on arranged violence, in line with Japarov’s vote promises. However, it was more of a acquisition of Kolbaev’s attractive criminal activities by the Kyrgyz state, according to many Bishkek residents.
Another possible example of Kyrgyzstan’s detachment from its people’s power was revealed a week later. On October 12 and 13, Bombek’s nurseries, universities, and colleges were immediately ordered to shut or simply operate online.
Putin, making his first foreign trip since the International Criminal Court issued a warrant for his arrest, was scheduled to attend the Commonwealth of Independent States ‘ yearly conference in Bishkek.
Actually, the closures were merely to alleviate traffic. However, I’ve heard locals speculate that authorities prevented any youth-led protests against the nation’s dominant and potentially contentious visitor. Similar measures were introduced by the government on October 25 and 26, during Premier Li Qiang’s attend.
Additionally, in October, Parliament and the Senate discussed proposed legislation that resemble the ones that Putin introduced in Russia. The costs would restrict the right to free speech and give the government the authority to sue or shut down any business it considers to be a “foreign representative.”
The United Nations and the United States, which expressed their concerns in a text, prompting Japarov to criticise Washington of involvement, continue to advance the regulations despite opposition from Kyrgyz and foreign media freedom organizations. In a contentious Parliament voting in late February 2024, the 50 people existing, some of whom cast votes for their absent coworkers, received 62 vote to expand the law.
The memory’s endurance
Japarov is using some of Putin’s tactics to intimidate Parliament, eliminate powerful adversaries, and riggedly restrict completely media, all with a determined bet against the country’s new history of democratic activism.
On the surface, the president’s chances appear to be favorable. In Kyrgyzstan, Putin also enjoys high approval ratings in comparison to other post-Soviet nations. After a decade and a half of social turmoil, as well as common corruption and organized crime, Japarov’s” strongman” image is appealing to many.
However, accepting Russian ties is a big deal for many other Kyrgyz people.
Georgia and Ukraine were subsequently founding members of the Commonwealth of Independent States. Both have since been attacked by Putin’s Russia.
In 1850, the king conquered a number of Central Asian city-states and wandering tribes under the pretense of a” pacifying goal.” Bishkek, then known as Pishpek, came under Soviet rule.
The nomadic people of Kyrgyzstan fought on throughout their peculiar way of life. However, brutal force was used to confront blatant opposition to Russian rule. When roman Russia began violently enlisting Kyrgyz soldiers in World War I in 1916, Kyrgyz rebelled.
Over 100, 000 Kyrgyz were killed in the assault that followed. Numerous women and children perished in China as a result of crossing the Tian Shan mountains to seek shelter from Russian oppression.
Russian concept allegedly sounded the door to better relations with Moscow. And finally achieving total nation standing in 1936, the Kyrgyz gained independence in 1926.
The massacres of Stalin were a symptom of the Soviet Union, as were many other Kyrgyz people. 138 Kyrgyz scholars were killed and buried in a large tomb outside Bishkek in 1938, where Stalin’s patients are remembered alongside other Kyrgyz republicans, at the Ata-Beyit monument close to Bishkek.
Kyrgyz citizens are supported by this commitment to memory preservation and a strong distaste for authoritarian excess. However, it contradicts where the nation is right now, in a dangerous position amid shifting politics.
China, Turkey, and the Persian Gulf state are also investing heavily in the region, while the US and Russia are competing for dominance in the region.
They must make difficult choices as Kyrgyzstan’s leaders attempt to maintain its sovereignty, expand and extend its economy, and strengthen its position internationally. They currently appear to be following Putin’s lead.
At Arizona State University, Keith Brown is an expert on international politics and world studies.
This content was republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Study the article’s introduction.