Tulip Revolution
Encyclopedia
The Tulip Revolution or First Kyrgyz Revolution refers to the overthrow of President Askar Akayev
and his government in the Central Asian republic of Kyrgyzstan
after the parliamentary elections
of February 27 and of March 13, 2005. The revolution sought the end of rule by Akayev and by his family and associates, who in popular opinion had become increasingly corrupt and authoritarian. Following the revolution, Akayev fled to Kazakhstan
and then Russia
. On April 4 he signed his resignation statement in the presence of a Kyrgyz parliamentary delegation in his country's embassy in Moscow
, and on April 11 the Kyrgyz Parliament ratified his resignation.
In the early stages of the revolution, the media variously referred to the unrest as the "Pink," "Lemon", "Silk", or "Daffodil" Revolution. But it was "Tulip
Revolution," a term that Akayev himself used in a speech warning that no such Color Revolution should happen in Kyrgyzstan. Such terms evoked similarities with the non-violent Rose Revolution
in Georgia
and the Orange Revolution
in Ukraine
in 2004, whose names owe a debt to the 1989 Czechoslovak Velvet Revolution
and the 1974 Portuguese Carnation Revolution
.
Givi Targamadze
, a former member of Liberty Institute
and the chair of Georgian
Parliamentary Committee on Defense and Security, consulted Ukrainian opposition leaders on the technique of nonviolent struggle
, and later he advised leaders of Kyrgyz opposition during the Tulip Revolution.
The Tulip Revolution, despite being concurrent with other non-violent color revolutions, saw some violence in its initial days, most notably in the southern city of Jalal-Abad
, where the first major signs of violence were noted, and at least three people died during widespread looting in the capital in the first 24 hours after the fall of the Kyrgyz government.
began in many western and southern areas, and became more assertive as time passed. The OSCE said the first round of voting fell short of international standards in many areas.
On March 18, hundreds of demonstrators occupied the governor's office in the southern city of Jalal-Abad
and another government building in Osh
. Protesters in the southern town of Toktogul
took a district governor and chief district prosecutor captive, both of them having been accused of colluding with Akayev's government in electoral fraud.
In the early hours of March 20, 2005 police attempted to recapture the buildings by force. Injuries to several demonstrators and a police officer were reported, as authorities temporarily detained hundreds of civilians in these areas. In the following hours, crowds surged to re-take the building in Jalal-Abad. The nearby police station quickly became a focal point for confrontations. Stone-throwing protesters stormed the station, causing some officers to take to the roof and fire warning shots in the air. The crowds forced open the doors of the building and witnesses observed people throwing Molotov cocktail
s into the windows.
By the following day, March 21, around 1,000 demonstrators in Osh occupied the regional administration building, a police station and a television station, as well as the Osh Airport
. Most security forces escaped unhurt, but rioters caught and assaulted two, before parading them on horseback through the city square.
On March 22 activists seized another administrative building, in the southern town of Pulgon
. A day later, the capital Bishkek
saw its first demonstrations. A few hundred people gathered in Ala-Too Square
, the city's main square, but police broke up the rally before it could begin. Officers hit some of the crowd with sticks and arrested a number of organizers. Those detained allegedly included members of opposition newspapers, students, NGO
leaders, writers and members of the KelKel
youth movement. Protestors also took over Kadamjai in the south and the northern towns of Talas
and Kochkor
.
Prior to the election, opposition to the Kyrgyz government suffered from internal division. In the Georgian and Ukrainian revolutions, opposition groups united in removing their respective governments, but this did not occur in Kyrgyzstan. Various forces had joined together to contest the election as a coalition, however several of these groups existed prior to the polls. The opposition lacked an obvious leader or a single candidate who could have inspired people to protest, thus leaving the field open for more spontaneous populist revolts. The more vocal critics of the alleged electoral fraud included Roza Otunbaeva, a former Kyrgyz foreign minister and ambassador to the UK and the US, and Kurmanbek Bakiyev
, a former Prime Minister who resigned his post after police shot and killed five peaceful demonstrators in the southern town of Aksy
in 2002.
Thousands of people attended a rally in Osh on March 19 as an opposition congress, called a kurultai
, set up a "people's council" in a challenge to the local administration and proclaimed it as a parallel government. One of its leaders, Anvar Artykov, announced: "We will keep this authority until all of our demands and problems will be resolved. We are an interim power. We can talk about the fulfillment of our tasks when the current government will be replaced by a government that is trusted by the nation."
Otunbaeva said on March 21 that police officers in Jalal-Abad had switched sides in massive numbers. "Policemen, including high-ranking officers, took off their uniforms, changed into civilian clothes and joined our ranks. So we have substantial support." Journalists could not independently verify these reports.
Following the violence on March 21, Akayev ordered the Central Election Commission and Supreme Court to investigate alleged violations. He ordered the commission and court "to pay particular attention to those districts where election results provoked extreme public reaction ... and tell people openly who is right and who is wrong".
On March 23, Akayev announced the dismissal of Interior Minister Bakirdin Subanbekov and of the General Prosecutor Myktybek Abdyldayev for "poor work" in dealing with the growing protests against his government.
and former Foreign Minister Roza Otunbaeva.
On Thursday, March 24, protests spread to Bishkek, where a large crowd of tens of thousands of people gathered in front of the main government building. When security forces and pro-government provocateurs began beating a number of youthful demonstrators in the front ranks, the main crowd behind them closed ranks and a large number of the young swept past the security forces and stormed into the government headquarters. They also occupied the building of the state television. A number of skirmishes took place between the opposition and police, before sheer force allowed a throng of protesters to overrun government offices—which crowds of young men then vandalized.
That same day, President Akayev fled with his family by helicopter to Kazakhstan
, from where he subsequently flew to Moscow. At that point, he refused to resign. Prime Minister Nikolai Tanayev
resigned as the opposition took control of key state organs including State Television, and the police melted away or joined the protesters. Imprisoned opposition leaders, including Felix Kulov
, were released and the Kyrgyz Supreme Court declared the election results invalid.
The newly-elected parliament named Kurmanbek Bakiyev
, a southerner, as acting Prime Minister and acting President. Felix Kulov, released a day earlier and at the time considered by many to be the one man capable of uniting the erstwhile opposition groupings, made a television appeal for calm. With the breakdown of law and order, mobs looted stores and ATMs in Bishkek during the night, and a number of buildings were set on fire. By March 25, reports emerged of many casualties, including three deaths, and some looting continued. Bakiyev appointed Kulov acting Interior Minister, with instructions to restore order in the capital. An interim cabinet was appointed, consisting of a varied collection of individuals representing different anti-Akayev groups and clan
s.
On March 26, armed supporters of former president Akayev reportedly tried to enter Bishkek in force, but turned back when it became apparent that they would not meet much support in the capital. They acted on the orders of Kenesh Dushebaev, former acting Interior Minister, and Temirbek Akmataliev, until then minister of emergency affairs and previously minister of the interior and responsible for the killing of five unarmed demonstrators in the southern town of Aksy
in 2002. Akmataliev, a very close associate of Akayev, later (on March 29) announced that he would run in the planned new presidential elections.
On April 2, Akayev agreed to resign as President. A Kyrgyz delegation traveled to Moscow to obtain his signature on the necessary document, and on April 3 Akayev announced on Russian television that he would resign with effect from April 5. He signed a declaration to this effect in the Kyrgyz embassy in Moscow on April 4. The Kyrgyz parliament debated for a week before finally accepting his resignation on April 11, but not without first stripping him and his family members of many privileges that the previous parliament had granted to them.
won a landslide victory and subsequently appointed Kulov Prime Minister.
Despite hopes the revolution would bring democratic change to Kyrgyzstan, subsequent years have seen the murder of several prominent politicians, prison riot
s, economic ills and battles for control of lucrative businesses. In 2006, Bakiyev faced a political crisis as thousands of people participated in a series of protests in Bishkek. He was accused of not following through with his promises to limit presidential power, give more authority to parliament and the prime minister, and eradicate corruption and crime. Bakiyev claimed that the opposition was plotting a coup against him.
In April 2007, the opposition held protests demanding Bakiyev's resignation, with a large protest beginning on April 11 in Bishkek. Bakiyev signed constitutional amendments to reduce his own power on April 10, but the protest went ahead, with protesters saying that they would remain until he resigned. Clashes broke out between protesters and police on April 19, after which the protests ended.
Bakiyev was re-elected in the 2009 Kyrgyzstani presidential election
, with 78% of the vote. On election day the main opposition candidate, Almazbek Atambayev
, withdrew from the contest, citing his belief that fraud was employed extensively and thus considers the election illegitimate. The OSCE stated that Bakiyev gained an "unfair advantage" and that the media bias "did not allow voters to make an informed choice." Additionally, they found that the election was "marred by many problems and irregularities", citing ballot stuffing
and problems with the vote counting.
had sent 60 observers to monitor the election runoffs. In its initial assessment the group said the second round of voting showed "some technical improvements over the first round", but stressed that there remained "significant shortcomings". (The OSCE had said the first round fell short of international standards in many areas.)
Election observers from the Commonwealth of Independent States
(CIS) disagreed. They hailed the runoff elections as well-organized, free, and fair. CIS observers also praised local authorities for showing restraint and competence in dealing with political unrest in several regions. This contradiction in the findings between OSCE and CIS observation teams formed the latest in a series of such contradictory findings (see CIS election observation missions). Russia supported the CIS reports and rebuked the OSCE for its findings.
Following the initial violent incidents, appeals quickly issued from the international community
for calm and for a peaceful settlement to the growing tensions. In Washington, a State Department
spokesman said US officials had contacted "both" sides to urge them to resolve their differences through dialogue. The United States, which operates Manas Air Base
, a strategic military installation at Bishkek
's Manas International Airport
, expressed mild criticism of the election abuses and rebuked the opposition for taking over government buildings. Various international news agencies, including the New York Times, have reported that American funding and support, from governmental and non-governmental sources, helped in part to pave the way for the pro-opposition demonstrations by providing means of printing materials and literature. US State Department statements have partly substantiated such claims.
The United Nations
, meanwhile, offered the following statement by Secretary-General Kofi Annan
on its website: "The secretary general is opposed to the use of violence and intimidation to resolve electoral and political disputes". Annan "calls on all parties to apply restraint".
The Russian Foreign Ministry on March 21 posted on its official website a statement about the recent unrest, in which it expressed concern about the actions of the opposition. The statement urged demonstrators to remain within the framework of the constitution and to maintain a "constructive dialogue" with the administration of President Akayev. The ministry also appealed to foreign observers in the country, including the OSCE, to exhibit responsibility
in their statements and not to give "destructive elements" justification for unlawful acts.
The Uzbek Foreign Ministry issued the following statement on March 23: "The people of Uzbekistan
, which is a close neighbour of Kyrgyzstan, are concerned about the events happening in Kyrgyzstan, especially in its southern regions". The state-controlled media in Uzbekistan had previously not mentioned the crisis, fearing it could spark unrest within the border town of Andijan
. Since 2004 the area has witnessed demonstrations by traders upset about new laws that restrict their commercial activity.
Askar Akayev
Askar Akayevich Akayev served as the President of Kyrgyzstan from 1990 until his overthrow in the March 2005 Tulip Revolution....
and his government in the Central Asian republic of Kyrgyzstan
Kyrgyzstan
Kyrgyzstan , officially the Kyrgyz Republic is one of the world's six independent Turkic states . Located in Central Asia, landlocked and mountainous, Kyrgyzstan is bordered by Kazakhstan to the north, Uzbekistan to the west, Tajikistan to the southwest and China to the east...
after the parliamentary elections
Kyrgyz parliamentary elections, 2005
The 2005 Kyrgyz parliamentary elections were held 27 February 2005 with run-offs held on 13 March 2005. Over 400 candidates ran for the new 75-member unicameral legislative assembly. According to media reports, only six seats were won by the opposition, although most candidates were officially...
of February 27 and of March 13, 2005. The revolution sought the end of rule by Akayev and by his family and associates, who in popular opinion had become increasingly corrupt and authoritarian. Following the revolution, Akayev fled to Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan , officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country in Central Asia and Eastern Europe. Ranked as the ninth largest country in the world, it is also the world's largest landlocked country; its territory of is greater than Western Europe...
and then Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
. On April 4 he signed his resignation statement in the presence of a Kyrgyz parliamentary delegation in his country's embassy in Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
, and on April 11 the Kyrgyz Parliament ratified his resignation.
In the early stages of the revolution, the media variously referred to the unrest as the "Pink," "Lemon", "Silk", or "Daffodil" Revolution. But it was "Tulip
Tulip
The tulip is a perennial, bulbous plant with showy flowers in the genus Tulipa, which comprises 109 species and belongs to the family Liliaceae. The genus's native range extends from as far west as Southern Europe, North Africa, Anatolia, and Iran to the Northwest of China. The tulip's centre of...
Revolution," a term that Akayev himself used in a speech warning that no such Color Revolution should happen in Kyrgyzstan. Such terms evoked similarities with the non-violent Rose Revolution
Rose Revolution
The "Revolution of Roses" was a change of power in Georgia in November 2003, which took place after having widespread protests over the disputed parliamentary elections...
in Georgia
Georgia (country)
Georgia is a sovereign state in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded to the west by the Black Sea, to the north by Russia, to the southwest by Turkey, to the south by Armenia, and to the southeast by Azerbaijan. The capital of...
and the Orange Revolution
Orange Revolution
The Orange Revolution was a series of protests and political events that took place in Ukraine from late November 2004 to January 2005, in the immediate aftermath of the run-off vote of the 2004 Ukrainian presidential election which was claimed to be marred by massive corruption, voter...
in Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
in 2004, whose names owe a debt to the 1989 Czechoslovak Velvet Revolution
Velvet Revolution
The Velvet Revolution or Gentle Revolution was a non-violent revolution in Czechoslovakia that took place from November 17 – December 29, 1989...
and the 1974 Portuguese Carnation Revolution
Carnation Revolution
The Carnation Revolution , also referred to as the 25 de Abril , was a military coup started on 25 April 1974, in Lisbon, Portugal, coupled with an unanticipated and extensive campaign of civil resistance...
.
Givi Targamadze
Givi Targamadze
Givi Targamadze is a Georgian politician . Targamadze is the chairman of Defense and Security Committee of Parliament of Georgia and one of the leaders of United National Movement....
, a former member of Liberty Institute
Liberty Institute (Georgia)
Liberty Institute is a Georgian research and advocacy organization affiliated with Ilia Chavchavadze State University.Liberty has always been the cornerstone of established Georgian values. It has been transformed into classical liberal tradition by Ilia Chavchavadze...
and the chair of Georgian
Georgia (country)
Georgia is a sovereign state in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded to the west by the Black Sea, to the north by Russia, to the southwest by Turkey, to the south by Armenia, and to the southeast by Azerbaijan. The capital of...
Parliamentary Committee on Defense and Security, consulted Ukrainian opposition leaders on the technique of nonviolent struggle
Nonviolent resistance
Nonviolent resistance is the practice of achieving goals through symbolic protests, civil disobedience, economic or political noncooperation, and other methods, without using violence. It is largely synonymous with civil resistance...
, and later he advised leaders of Kyrgyz opposition during the Tulip Revolution.
The Tulip Revolution, despite being concurrent with other non-violent color revolutions, saw some violence in its initial days, most notably in the southern city of Jalal-Abad
Jalal-Abad
Jalalabat is the administrative and economic centre of Jalal-Abad Province in southwestern Kyrgyzstan, with a population of about 150,000...
, where the first major signs of violence were noted, and at least three people died during widespread looting in the capital in the first 24 hours after the fall of the Kyrgyz government.
Post-election violence
Even before the announcement of results from the February 27 national parliamentary election, protests over alleged electoral fraudElectoral fraud
Electoral fraud is illegal interference with the process of an election. Acts of fraud affect vote counts to bring about an election result, whether by increasing the vote share of the favored candidate, depressing the vote share of the rival candidates or both...
began in many western and southern areas, and became more assertive as time passed. The OSCE said the first round of voting fell short of international standards in many areas.
On March 18, hundreds of demonstrators occupied the governor's office in the southern city of Jalal-Abad
Jalal-Abad
Jalalabat is the administrative and economic centre of Jalal-Abad Province in southwestern Kyrgyzstan, with a population of about 150,000...
and another government building in Osh
Osh
Osh is the second largest city in Kyrgyzstan, located in the Fergana Valley in the south of the country and often referred to as the "capital of the south". The city is at least 3,000 years old, and has served as the administrative center of Osh Province since 1939...
. Protesters in the southern town of Toktogul
Toktogul
Toktogul is an urban-type settlement in the Jalal-Abad Province of Kyrgyzstan. There are an estimated 15,943 inhabitants. It is named after its most famous son - the musician Toktogul Satilganov. It is located on the northern shore of the Toktogul reservoir. To the south, highway M41 curves around...
took a district governor and chief district prosecutor captive, both of them having been accused of colluding with Akayev's government in electoral fraud.
In the early hours of March 20, 2005 police attempted to recapture the buildings by force. Injuries to several demonstrators and a police officer were reported, as authorities temporarily detained hundreds of civilians in these areas. In the following hours, crowds surged to re-take the building in Jalal-Abad. The nearby police station quickly became a focal point for confrontations. Stone-throwing protesters stormed the station, causing some officers to take to the roof and fire warning shots in the air. The crowds forced open the doors of the building and witnesses observed people throwing Molotov cocktail
Molotov cocktail
The Molotov cocktail, also known as the petrol bomb, gasoline bomb, Molotov bomb, fire bottle, fire bomb, or simply Molotov, is a generic name used for a variety of improvised incendiary weapons...
s into the windows.
By the following day, March 21, around 1,000 demonstrators in Osh occupied the regional administration building, a police station and a television station, as well as the Osh Airport
Osh Airport
Osh Airport is an airport serving Osh, a city in the Osh province of Kyrgyzstan.International arrivals with questions concerning their entry into the country may call the border service's Southern Regional Administration at 7-25-25; 2-34-6 or border unit #2011 at 5-55-09; 3-89-38.- Airlines and...
. Most security forces escaped unhurt, but rioters caught and assaulted two, before parading them on horseback through the city square.
On March 22 activists seized another administrative building, in the southern town of Pulgon
Pulgon
Pulgon is a village in the Batken Province of Kyrgyzstan. It is the administrative center of the Kadamjay District of this province. In the Soviet era, the village was officially known as Frunzenskoye, and the district was known as the Frunzensky District of Osh Province.The village is located...
. A day later, the capital Bishkek
Bishkek
Bishkek , formerly Pishpek and Frunze, is the capital and the largest city of Kyrgyzstan.Bishkek is also the administrative centre of Chuy Province which surrounds the city, even though the city itself is not part of the province but rather a province-level unit of Kyrgyzstan.The name is thought to...
saw its first demonstrations. A few hundred people gathered in Ala-Too Square
Ala-Too Square
Ala-Too Square is the central square in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. The square was built in 1984 to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Kyrgyz SSR, at which time a massive statue of Lenin was placed in the square's center...
, the city's main square, but police broke up the rally before it could begin. Officers hit some of the crowd with sticks and arrested a number of organizers. Those detained allegedly included members of opposition newspapers, students, NGO
Non-governmental organization
A non-governmental organization is a legally constituted organization created by natural or legal persons that operates independently from any government. The term originated from the United Nations , and is normally used to refer to organizations that do not form part of the government and are...
leaders, writers and members of the KelKel
KelKel
KelKel is a youth movement in Kyrgyzstan that gained some prominence during the Tulip Revolution of March 2005 that culminated in the ousting of President Askar Akayev. Translated from the Kyrgyz language, KelKel means "renaissance and shining of the good"....
youth movement. Protestors also took over Kadamjai in the south and the northern towns of Talas
Talas, Kyrgyzstan
Talas is a small town in northwestern Kyrgyzstan, located in the Talas River valley between two imposing mountain ranges. Its geographical location is and its population is 32,538 . It is the administrative headquarters of Talas province. The town was founded by East Slavic settlers in 1877...
and Kochkor
Kochkor
Kochkor is a town in northern Naryn Province of Kyrgyzstan. It is the capital of Kochkor District. Former names were Stolypin and Kochkorka. Altitude 1,800m. Population 14,000. It is on the main A365 highway from Torugart Pass north to Bishkek. About 7 km west A361 branches west toward...
.
Opposition unity
Prior to the election, opposition to the Kyrgyz government suffered from internal division. In the Georgian and Ukrainian revolutions, opposition groups united in removing their respective governments, but this did not occur in Kyrgyzstan. Various forces had joined together to contest the election as a coalition, however several of these groups existed prior to the polls. The opposition lacked an obvious leader or a single candidate who could have inspired people to protest, thus leaving the field open for more spontaneous populist revolts. The more vocal critics of the alleged electoral fraud included Roza Otunbaeva, a former Kyrgyz foreign minister and ambassador to the UK and the US, and Kurmanbek Bakiyev
Kurmanbek Bakiyev
Kurmanbek Saliyevich Bakiyev is a politician who served as the second President of Kyrgyzstan, from 2005 to 2010...
, a former Prime Minister who resigned his post after police shot and killed five peaceful demonstrators in the southern town of Aksy
Aksy
Aksy is a small town in southern Kyrgyzstan which gained notoriety in 2002 when police and police fired into a crowd of unarmed demonstrators, killing six...
in 2002.
Thousands of people attended a rally in Osh on March 19 as an opposition congress, called a kurultai
Kurultai
Kurultai is a political and military council of ancient Mongol and Turkic chiefs and khans. The root of the word "Khural" means political "meeting" or "assembly" in the Mongolian language, it is also a verb for "to be established"...
, set up a "people's council" in a challenge to the local administration and proclaimed it as a parallel government. One of its leaders, Anvar Artykov, announced: "We will keep this authority until all of our demands and problems will be resolved. We are an interim power. We can talk about the fulfillment of our tasks when the current government will be replaced by a government that is trusted by the nation."
Otunbaeva said on March 21 that police officers in Jalal-Abad had switched sides in massive numbers. "Policemen, including high-ranking officers, took off their uniforms, changed into civilian clothes and joined our ranks. So we have substantial support." Journalists could not independently verify these reports.
Government reaction
Following the violence on March 21, Akayev ordered the Central Election Commission and Supreme Court to investigate alleged violations. He ordered the commission and court "to pay particular attention to those districts where election results provoked extreme public reaction ... and tell people openly who is right and who is wrong".
On March 23, Akayev announced the dismissal of Interior Minister Bakirdin Subanbekov and of the General Prosecutor Myktybek Abdyldayev for "poor work" in dealing with the growing protests against his government.
Regime change
By March 23, the protest movement had become widespread, particularly in some of the majority Uzbek southern towns, having gained momentum in the wake of allegations of massive fraud and manipulations during the elections. The opposition appeared to unify to some extent around two main opposition leaders: former Prime Minister Kurmanbek BakiyevKurmanbek Bakiyev
Kurmanbek Saliyevich Bakiyev is a politician who served as the second President of Kyrgyzstan, from 2005 to 2010...
and former Foreign Minister Roza Otunbaeva.
On Thursday, March 24, protests spread to Bishkek, where a large crowd of tens of thousands of people gathered in front of the main government building. When security forces and pro-government provocateurs began beating a number of youthful demonstrators in the front ranks, the main crowd behind them closed ranks and a large number of the young swept past the security forces and stormed into the government headquarters. They also occupied the building of the state television. A number of skirmishes took place between the opposition and police, before sheer force allowed a throng of protesters to overrun government offices—which crowds of young men then vandalized.
That same day, President Akayev fled with his family by helicopter to Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan , officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country in Central Asia and Eastern Europe. Ranked as the ninth largest country in the world, it is also the world's largest landlocked country; its territory of is greater than Western Europe...
, from where he subsequently flew to Moscow. At that point, he refused to resign. Prime Minister Nikolai Tanayev
Nikolai Tanayev
Nikolay Timofeyevich Tanayev served as the Prime Minister of Kyrgyzstan from 2002 to 2005, under President Askar Akayev. He is an ethnic Russian. He served as Deputy Prime Minister under Kurmanbek Bakiyev and was made acting PM on 22 May 2002 after Akayev fired Bakiyev...
resigned as the opposition took control of key state organs including State Television, and the police melted away or joined the protesters. Imprisoned opposition leaders, including Felix Kulov
Felix Kulov
Felix Sharshenbayevich Kulov served as Prime Minister of Kyrgyzstan following the Tulip Revolution. He first served from 1 September 2005 until he resigned on 19 December 2006...
, were released and the Kyrgyz Supreme Court declared the election results invalid.
The newly-elected parliament named Kurmanbek Bakiyev
Kurmanbek Bakiyev
Kurmanbek Saliyevich Bakiyev is a politician who served as the second President of Kyrgyzstan, from 2005 to 2010...
, a southerner, as acting Prime Minister and acting President. Felix Kulov, released a day earlier and at the time considered by many to be the one man capable of uniting the erstwhile opposition groupings, made a television appeal for calm. With the breakdown of law and order, mobs looted stores and ATMs in Bishkek during the night, and a number of buildings were set on fire. By March 25, reports emerged of many casualties, including three deaths, and some looting continued. Bakiyev appointed Kulov acting Interior Minister, with instructions to restore order in the capital. An interim cabinet was appointed, consisting of a varied collection of individuals representing different anti-Akayev groups and clan
Clan
A clan is a group of people united by actual or perceived kinship and descent. Even if lineage details are unknown, clan members may be organized around a founding member or apical ancestor. The kinship-based bonds may be symbolical, whereby the clan shares a "stipulated" common ancestor that is a...
s.
On March 26, armed supporters of former president Akayev reportedly tried to enter Bishkek in force, but turned back when it became apparent that they would not meet much support in the capital. They acted on the orders of Kenesh Dushebaev, former acting Interior Minister, and Temirbek Akmataliev, until then minister of emergency affairs and previously minister of the interior and responsible for the killing of five unarmed demonstrators in the southern town of Aksy
Aksy
Aksy is a small town in southern Kyrgyzstan which gained notoriety in 2002 when police and police fired into a crowd of unarmed demonstrators, killing six...
in 2002. Akmataliev, a very close associate of Akayev, later (on March 29) announced that he would run in the planned new presidential elections.
Consolidation
By March 28, gradual stabilization of the political situation appeared to have taken place. The "old" parliament dissolved itself, and the "new" parliament gained recognition as legitimate (although a number of individual seats remained in dispute and subject to review by courts). This drew some protests from people who argued that the street outpourings justified more radical reform, but the power brokers in the country seemed to consider it preferable to have the forces represented in the new parliament on the inside rather than the outside.On April 2, Akayev agreed to resign as President. A Kyrgyz delegation traveled to Moscow to obtain his signature on the necessary document, and on April 3 Akayev announced on Russian television that he would resign with effect from April 5. He signed a declaration to this effect in the Kyrgyz embassy in Moscow on April 4. The Kyrgyz parliament debated for a week before finally accepting his resignation on April 11, but not without first stripping him and his family members of many privileges that the previous parliament had granted to them.
Aftermath of revolution
New presidential elections were held in July 2005 and, after having made a political deal with Felix Kulov, Kurmanbek BakiyevKurmanbek Bakiyev
Kurmanbek Saliyevich Bakiyev is a politician who served as the second President of Kyrgyzstan, from 2005 to 2010...
won a landslide victory and subsequently appointed Kulov Prime Minister.
Despite hopes the revolution would bring democratic change to Kyrgyzstan, subsequent years have seen the murder of several prominent politicians, prison riot
Prison riot
A prison riot is an act of concerted defiance or disorder by a group of prisoners against the prison administrators, prison officers, or other groups of prisoners in attempt to force change or express a grievance....
s, economic ills and battles for control of lucrative businesses. In 2006, Bakiyev faced a political crisis as thousands of people participated in a series of protests in Bishkek. He was accused of not following through with his promises to limit presidential power, give more authority to parliament and the prime minister, and eradicate corruption and crime. Bakiyev claimed that the opposition was plotting a coup against him.
In April 2007, the opposition held protests demanding Bakiyev's resignation, with a large protest beginning on April 11 in Bishkek. Bakiyev signed constitutional amendments to reduce his own power on April 10, but the protest went ahead, with protesters saying that they would remain until he resigned. Clashes broke out between protesters and police on April 19, after which the protests ended.
Bakiyev was re-elected in the 2009 Kyrgyzstani presidential election
Kyrgyzstani presidential election, 2009
A presidential election was held in Kyrgyzstan on 23 July 2009. The date was set after the constitutional court ruled that the extension of the presidential term from four to five years did not apply until the next presidential election, calling for elections by 25 October 2009; in response, a...
, with 78% of the vote. On election day the main opposition candidate, Almazbek Atambayev
Almazbek Atambayev
Almazbek Sharshenovich Atambayev is the President of Kyrgyzstan since 1 December 2011. He previously was Prime Minister of Kyrgyzstan from 17 December 2010 to 1 December 2011, having also been Prime Minister from 29 March 2007 until 28 November 2007...
, withdrew from the contest, citing his belief that fraud was employed extensively and thus considers the election illegitimate. The OSCE stated that Bakiyev gained an "unfair advantage" and that the media bias "did not allow voters to make an informed choice." Additionally, they found that the election was "marred by many problems and irregularities", citing ballot stuffing
Ballot stuffing
Ballot stuffing is the illegal act of one person submitting multiple ballots during a vote in which only one ballot per person is permitted. The name originates from the earliest days of this practice in which people literally did stuff more than one ballot in a ballot box at the same time...
and problems with the vote counting.
Revolution unraveling
Protesters discontent over the lack of jobs and state censorship of the media, took to the streets to demand change threatening to unravel the Tulip Revolution. On April 6, 2010 protesters in Talas stormed a government office, however the government eventually restored order. Opposition groups promised to step up their protests and spread it to more cities including the capital. On April 7 riots in the capital and other cities became increasingly violent. Police, without military support, fired upon crowds as protesters took up arms, heaved rocks, and used strong weapons against police forces. The violence lead to the deaths of 76 protesters, with over 1500 injuries reported. By the end of the day, the Interior Minister was incorrectly reported as dead, while the President, Kurmanbek Bakiyev, was said to have fled the capital to Osh. Reports suggested the opposition has already taken control of the government.http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia/2010/04/201047164717764440.html On April 15, after threats from the interim government and despite support in the south Bakiyev left the country for Kazakhstan.International reactions
The Organization for Security and Co-operation in EuropeOrganization for Security and Co-operation in Europe
The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe is the world's largest security-oriented intergovernmental organization. Its mandate includes issues such as arms control, human rights, freedom of the press and fair elections...
had sent 60 observers to monitor the election runoffs. In its initial assessment the group said the second round of voting showed "some technical improvements over the first round", but stressed that there remained "significant shortcomings". (The OSCE had said the first round fell short of international standards in many areas.)
Election observers from the Commonwealth of Independent States
Commonwealth of Independent States
The Commonwealth of Independent States is a regional organization whose participating countries are former Soviet Republics, formed during the breakup of the Soviet Union....
(CIS) disagreed. They hailed the runoff elections as well-organized, free, and fair. CIS observers also praised local authorities for showing restraint and competence in dealing with political unrest in several regions. This contradiction in the findings between OSCE and CIS observation teams formed the latest in a series of such contradictory findings (see CIS election observation missions). Russia supported the CIS reports and rebuked the OSCE for its findings.
Following the initial violent incidents, appeals quickly issued from the international community
International community
The international community is a term used in international relations to refer to all peoples, cultures and governments of the world or to a group of them. The term is used to imply the existence of common duties and obligations between them...
for calm and for a peaceful settlement to the growing tensions. In Washington, a State Department
United States Department of State
The United States Department of State , is the United States federal executive department responsible for international relations of the United States, equivalent to the foreign ministries of other countries...
spokesman said US officials had contacted "both" sides to urge them to resolve their differences through dialogue. The United States, which operates Manas Air Base
Manas Air Base
Transit Center at Manas is a United States military installation at Manas International Airport, near Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan, primarily operated by the U.S. Air Force....
, a strategic military installation at Bishkek
Bishkek
Bishkek , formerly Pishpek and Frunze, is the capital and the largest city of Kyrgyzstan.Bishkek is also the administrative centre of Chuy Province which surrounds the city, even though the city itself is not part of the province but rather a province-level unit of Kyrgyzstan.The name is thought to...
's Manas International Airport
Manas International Airport
Manas International Airport is the main international airport in Kyrgyzstan located 25 km north-northwest of the capital Bishkek.The airport is operational 24 hours and its ILS system is ICAO CAT 2...
, expressed mild criticism of the election abuses and rebuked the opposition for taking over government buildings. Various international news agencies, including the New York Times, have reported that American funding and support, from governmental and non-governmental sources, helped in part to pave the way for the pro-opposition demonstrations by providing means of printing materials and literature. US State Department statements have partly substantiated such claims.
The United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
, meanwhile, offered the following statement by Secretary-General Kofi Annan
Kofi Annan
Kofi Atta Annan is a Ghanaian diplomat who served as the seventh Secretary-General of the UN from 1 January 1997 to 31 December 2006...
on its website: "The secretary general is opposed to the use of violence and intimidation to resolve electoral and political disputes". Annan "calls on all parties to apply restraint".
The Russian Foreign Ministry on March 21 posted on its official website a statement about the recent unrest, in which it expressed concern about the actions of the opposition. The statement urged demonstrators to remain within the framework of the constitution and to maintain a "constructive dialogue" with the administration of President Akayev. The ministry also appealed to foreign observers in the country, including the OSCE, to exhibit responsibility
Moral responsibility
Moral responsibility usually refers to the idea that a person has moral obligations in certain situations. Disobeying moral obligations, then, becomes grounds for justified punishment. Deciding what justifies punishment, if anything, is a principle concern of ethics.People who have moral...
in their statements and not to give "destructive elements" justification for unlawful acts.
The Uzbek Foreign Ministry issued the following statement on March 23: "The people of Uzbekistan
Uzbekistan
Uzbekistan , officially the Republic of Uzbekistan is a doubly landlocked country in Central Asia and one of the six independent Turkic states. It shares borders with Kazakhstan to the west and to the north, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan to the east, and Afghanistan and Turkmenistan to the south....
, which is a close neighbour of Kyrgyzstan, are concerned about the events happening in Kyrgyzstan, especially in its southern regions". The state-controlled media in Uzbekistan had previously not mentioned the crisis, fearing it could spark unrest within the border town of Andijan
Andijan
Andijan or Andizhan is the fourth-largest city in Uzbekistan, and the capital of the Andijan Province. It is located in the east of the country, at , in the Fergana Valley, near the border with Kyrgyzstan on the Andijan-Say River...
. Since 2004 the area has witnessed demonstrations by traders upset about new laws that restrict their commercial activity.
See also
- Kyrgyzstani presidential election, 2005
- Kyrgyzstani parliamentary election, 2005
- Politics of KyrgyzstanPolitics of KyrgyzstanThe Politics of Kyrgyzstan takes place in the framework of a parliamentary representative democratic republic, whereby the President is head of state and the Prime Minister of Kyrgyzstan is head of government. Executive power is exercised by the government...
- Colour revolution
External links
- Kyrgyzstan: Revolution Revisited - a look back on what has happened over the last eighteen months since the Tulip Revolution
- http://www.livejournal.com/users/morrire/48723.html#cutid1Photos from Elena SkochiloElena SkochiloElena Skochilo , known in the web under the nickname morrire, is an editor, photographer and blogger from Kyrgyzstan...
, blogger and photojournalist] - CONSTITUTION of the Kyrgyz Republic
- http://www.eurasianet.org/departments/insight/articles/eav032205.shtml
- http://www.eurasianet.org/departments/insight/articles/eav032105.shtml
- Q&A: Kyrgyzstan’s Rebellion from the Council on Foreign RelationsCouncil on Foreign RelationsThe Council on Foreign Relations is an American nonprofit nonpartisan membership organization, publisher, and think tank specializing in U.S. foreign policy and international affairs...
- Revolution Headlines Blog
- Audio Slideshow about the Tulip Revolution from The Common Language Project
- Kyrgyzstan's Tulip Revolution wilts - Dilip Hiro, The Guardian