Archive: April, 2010
After the Batken Incidents of 1999 and 2000, the extreme South-Western corner of the Kyrgyzstan settled into a period of peace and calm. The Kyrgyz government created a new regional administration – the Batken oblast – hiving off the region and separating it from Osh in order to strengthen the local administration, help combat poverty in the [...]
Kyrgyz society (both Civil and Political) was rocked in March 2002 by an incident in the Southern Djalal Abad oblast that led to several politicians (including the serving Prime Minister – Karmanbek Bakiev) being dismissed and continuing tensions which eventual resulted in the Tulip Revolution of 2005. The incident has been referred to as “watershed” [...]
The extreme south western corner of the country, the mountain slopes forming the southern flanks of the fertile Ferghana valley, used to be part of the Osh oblast. It is a beautiful and remote location, but also one where the population tends to be poor and often feels neglected by the central government in Bishkek. [...]
Despite the general impression that the Soviet Union was a highly organized and tightly controlled society, it experienced several inter ethnic conflicts, of which the events known as “Osh 1990” was only one. There were, for example, four large scale violent conflicts which erupted in the Caucuses at about the same time.
Under the Soviet regime, content of the “News” was strictly controlled – and almost anything that could be considered to be negative was duly censored. As a result there was little known about episodes of social unrest and disorder within the Union, yet alone in the wider world beyond the country’s borders.
The events in Bishkek of April 7th, 2010, had a number of unfortunate consequences. Of course, the chief of these was the untimely deaths of over eighty people … most seem to have been in the thirties, but some were noticeably older, and not necessarily the typical image of “rent-a-mob” … and the injuries suffered [...]
As I look at site history log, it seems as if I had nothing else to do all month … and I wouldn’t blame you for coming to that conclusion based on that evidence. The month is not half way through and there over thirty pages have already been added – more than in any [...]
Yesterday Sultan, one of our staff, wished me “Happy Holiday”, which took me a little bit by surprise, because it wasn’t a public holiday and I couldn’t think what he was talking about. I shouldn’t have been that surprised, because it happens quite a lot and I should be getting used to it. The locals [...]
This is an email that I sent out to family and friends, colleagues and clients following the events of April 7th, 2010, when Kyrgyzstan found itself in the headlines once again as the result of what one newspaper called the “Easter Revolution” Let me start this “postcard” with some thanks, an apology and an explanation: [...]
April 7th, 2010, and once again Kyrgyzstan hits the headlines in the world’s media. Disorder, violence and bloodshed provide good material for journalists.
