Postcard from Bishkek

I am not sure which country was the first to establish diplomatic relations with the newly independent state of the Kyrgyz Republic after it declared independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, but the first foreign government to establish an embassy here in Bishkek was the United States.  That was on 2nd February, 1992.

The history of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on their website starts by making reference to Kyrgyz diplomatic missions as early as in the eighth century but, interestingly seems to stop in 1991 and so never actually addresses that question.

Even as a constituent republic of the Soviet Union, the Kyrgyz Soviet Socialist Republic had been given the right to establish relationships with foreign states in 1944.  One of their tasks seems to have been concerned with the professional education and training potential staff for service in the Soviet corps of the USSR.  The staff of the Ministry seems to have had correspondence with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Moscow and with some Soviet Consular offices abroad, (particularly in Gulja in China), but although  they had some responsibility for foreign visitors, (connected with the issuance of work and residence permits and the like), they had little to do with “protocol” … because foreign guests “rarely visited the republic”.

At one point it seems that there apart from a “part time Minister” there were only two other officials in the Ministry.

As time passed, however, the work expanded and covered requests for entry and exit permissions, (visas), and the proximity with China meant that there applications to travel over the border, especially in order to visit relatives. There were also the question of the supervision and control of stateless persons, (who represented different nationalities having arrived from China in the early 1950s), and foreigners, (mainly Uighurs from China, Greeks both in the USSR, Poles and Koreans) arriving to and/or, living in the republic and the question of legalization of official documents.

It seems as if the first official foreign diplomatic delegations arrived in the late 1960’s.  From Finland and Mongolia in 1968, Iraq and and Yugoslavia in 1969, Poland in 1970 – in all representing some 23 diplomatic missions by 1991.

Turkey claims to have been the first country to have recognized the independence of Kyrgyzstan on December 19th, 1991, (just days after Russia, Belorussia and the Ukraine signed a treaty dissolving the Soviet Union), with diplomatic relations being formerly established on 29th January the following year.

By early 1993, Kyrgyzstan’s independence had been recognized by over 120 countries around the world and diplomatic relations established with half of them, (61).  Although most of the ambassadors accredited to the Kyrgyz Republic were based abroad, (in Kazakhstan, the Russian Federation, Uzbekistan and places as far apart as Pakistan, Iran, Azaerbaijan and even Sweden), America decided early on to open its own diplomatic mission in the country.

That first embassy was in a small house on Prospect Erkindik.  Ironically, it was within sight of the marble clad headquarters of the Committee for State Security – the KGB.  Despite the fact that everyone claimed this presented no problems, (“now, we are all friends”), the KGB actually moved the main entrance to the other side of the building – out of sight of the embassy.  Later the embassy moved to a special, purpose built building on the southern outskirts of the city, incorporating many security measures.

It may have been the first foreign embassy, but it was soon to be joined by others.  The most recent additions to the list are those of the United Kingdom, (which opened its doors in December 2011), and Saudi Arabia, although the Ministry of Foreign Affairs website and the latest list of foreign embassies in Bishkek, (updated on 10th January, 2012), still list the Astana addresses for both.

In fact, the British ambassador has yet to take up her post, (she arrives later this month), but her deputy and a small staff are in place and the former ambassador, (who was based in Astana, Kazakhstan), has already said his farewells and handed over his responsibilities.  Some people here are wondering just what the embassy will do as there is no consular office, (visas and so forth being handled by an agency in Almaty), such a small British ex-pat community representing a relatively modest level of investment and the aid programmes run by DFID, (the Department for International Development – the aid agency run by the British government), is going to run by a regional office based in Dushanbe in Tajikistan.

Having said that, there is a British presence here here in Kyrgyzstan, (and not just me), which has the Honorary Consul relatively busy over the years; representatives of the British embassy were making regular, almost monthly, visits from Astana and Almaty to Kyrgyzstan; there have long been plans to open an embassy here which were only shelved for financial considerations; the aid programmes are continuing, it is simply a fact that the administration of them is being transferred to a different office; the revolution of April 7th, 2011, represented the first major foreign policy crisis to be faced by the new coalition government in London and the situation is constantly changing.  Who is to say that there won’t be a greater British involvement in Kyrgyzstan in the future and the opening of the embassy signifies the recognition by the British government of the importance of both Kyrgyzstan and the region as a whole; and a commitment by to a continued diplomatic presence here and a desire to maintain good relations with the government of Kyrgyzstan.

 

For the record: The following countries have embassies in Bishkek: Afghanistan; Azerbaijan; Belarus, China; European Union; France; Germany; India; Iran; Japan; Kazakhstan; Pakistan; Russian; Saudi Arabia;  South Korea; Tajikistan; Turkey; Ukraine; United Kingdom; United States of America and Uzbekistan

The following countries have Honourary Consuls in Kyrgyzstan: Armenia; Canada; Cyprus, Czech Republic; (Hungary); Italy; Latvia; Moldova; Netherlands; Slovakia and Sweden

Kyrgyzstan has embassies in the following countries: Austria; Belarus; Belgium; China; Germany; India; Iran; Japan;  Kazakhstan; Malaysia; Pakistan; Russia, Saudi Arabia; Switzerland; Tajikistan; Turkey; Turkmenistan; Ukraine, United Kingdom; United States of America and Uzbekistan

Kyrgyzstan also has Consular posts in the following countries: South Korea and United Arab Emirates

Tags: Embassies, Expat, For_the_Record, Kyrgyzstan