01.09.2007
 Michael Coffey graduated with an M.A. in European and Eurasian Studies from George Washington University. He studied in an RSL program through SRAS at American University – Central Asia during the 2006-7 school year, where he followed the complex political developments in Kyrgyzstan closely. We asked him to write the following resource for other students to give a quick but thorough overview of the political atmosphere and machinations in Kyrgyzstan. Michael Coffey also contributed many of the photographs included here. This resource discusses many place names in Kyrgyzstan. Geography is important to Kyrgyz politics, which are marked by a distinct north-south split (Russian culture and language dominates the north, local cultures and languages dominate the south) and marked by clan ties. The best political map we've found online of Kyrgyzstan (shown in thumbnail above) is located on the University of Texas servers. We also recommend browsing Wikipedia's entry on Kygyzstan for info on geography and political regions of the country.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Who's Who In Kyrgyz Politics
11 Names to Know as of August, 2007
by Michael Coffey Kurmanbek Salievich Bakiev is the current president of Kyrgyzstan, having come to power during the March 2005 "Tulip Revolution" that ousted former leader Askar Akaev. His presidency has been complicated by the continued north-south divide that helped spark the 2005 turnover, competing demands from Russia and the U.S., as well as internal corruption, slow economic development, and a large (and growing) foreign debt, which currently stands at about $2.1 billion.
Bakiev was born on Aug. 1, 1949 in Masadan, Jalal-Abad. After studying at a polytechnic institute, he worked as an electrical engineer. He entered local politics in 1990, elected first secretary of the town council of Kok-Yangak, a small coal mining town in the province of Jalal-Abad. Governorships of Jalal-Abad and Issyk-Kul followed. He moved on to the post of prime minister in 2000, a position he resigned in May 2002 following a riot that saw five anti-government protesters shot in the southern town of Aksy. In October 2002, Bakiev was elected to the Zhogorku Kenesh (parliament) to fill a vacancy. Two years later he created a People's Movement of Kyrgyzstan (NDK) opposition party and announced his intention to run for the presidency. Early 2005 saw Bakiev's NDK form a coalition along with several other groups, including: Ata-Jurt "Fatherland," Jany-Bagyt "New Course," the People's Congress of Kyrgyzstan (that at the time included Almaz Atambaev and Felix Kulov - also on this list) and a citizens’ union called "For Honest Elections." With a united opposition pressuring him, in March of 2005 President Askar Akaev was ousted from power in what has become known as the "Tulip Revolution." Bakiev, as an opposition leader, became the interim president until July elections saw the southerner receive 88 percent of the popular vote. Bakiev dissolved the parliament in October 2007 and called for party-list parliamentary elections to be held December 16, 2007. He formed the party called "Ak Jol," or "Genial Path," which won 71 out of 90 available seats in the new parliament. In the 2009 presidential elections, Bakiev won re-election in a vote critized by the Krygyz opposition parties and the OSCE. His rule has been rocky, with regular demonstrations taking place in the capital of Bishkek. According to some political analysts in Kyrgyzstan, the administration's nepotism, corruption and recent crackdown on the political opposition shows some signs of similarity to the later years of the Akaev regime.  Askar Akaevich Akaev rapidly ascended the rungs of political power in Kyrgyzstan. He joined the Kyrgyz Communist party and entered politics in 1986. Four years later he was president of the newly independent republic. Born Nov. 10, 1944 in Kyzyl-Bayrak, a small town in central-north Kyrgyzstan not far from the capital of Bishkek. He attended school in St. Petersburg, received a Ph.D., and acquired some distinction as a scientist and intellectual.
He became president of Kyrgyzstan in 1990, when the country was still part of the Soviet Union. Direct elections made him the first president of an independent Kyrgyzstan in 1991, and returned him to office again in 1995 and 2000. However, the last election was seen as less than open and honest, and most importantly, was seen in this light by the people who had cast the ballots. In February 2003, Akaev moved to expand his presidential powers, provoking more popular criticism. Parliamentary elections in February and March of 2005 were marred by gross violations and sparked protests in major cities like Osh, Jalal-Abad and elsewhere. Protests turned to riots in Bishkek, forcing Akaev to flee to Russia and allowing Bakiev to assume the interim presidency. Akaev remains in exile, but his daughter, Bermet Akaeva, has returned to Kyrgyzstan and is attempting to regain her position as a deputy in the Zhogorku Kenesh, representing the Keminsky district where her father was born.  Felix Sharshenbayevich Kulov is a former Soviet-era security services colonel who took a leading role in the formation of an independent Kyrgyzstan following the breakup of the Soviet Union. From 1990-1999, Felix Kulov served variously as minister of internal affairs, vice-president, governor of the Chui Oblast (located in the north and which contains the capital, Bishkek), minister of the national security service (SNB), and finally as mayor of Bishkek.
Kulov moved into political activism with the creation of the political party Ar-Namys "Dignity" in July of 1999. In February of 2000, Kulov declared his intention to run for president, but was arrested by SNB officers on March 22, 2000, for alleged abuses of his position while serving as minister of the SNB. On Jan. 22, 2001, Kulov was found guilty of various crimes connected to his service as SNB chief from 1997 to 1998. He received a seven year sentence, but this seemed to only increase his standing with the opposition, and in November of 2001 Kulov was elected chair of the People's Congress of Kyrgyzstan, a political bloc that included Ar-Namys, Ata-Meken "Homeland," the People's Party and Erkindik "Freedom" political parties. He initially served in this position from prison. When protesters ousted Akaev in 2005, one of their first acts was to release Kulov. The Supreme Court of Kyrgyzstan overturned the convictions against Kulov on April 11, 2005, legally undoing what the U.S. government had called a "politically motivated" prosecution. Kulov then joined with Bakiev in 2005 to form the "tandem" that united northern and southern Kyrgyzstan in a unity government that had Bakiev as president and Kulov as prime minister. This alliance lasted until January 2007, when Kulov failed to secure a parliamentary vote to maintain his post as prime minister. Kulov then rejoined the opposition under the United Front movement. Kulov may not have the popularity he possessed during his opposition to Askar Akaev, in part because of his long association with the current president, but he remains an important leader for northern Kyrgyzstan.  Almaz Sharshenovich Atambaev was born Sept. 17, 1956, in the village of Arashan, in the Chui Oblast of north Kyrgyzstan. He was educated at the Moscow Institute of Management in Moscow, after which he went into business, which including directing a manufacturing company called "Forum" and a stint as general director of Kyrgyzavtomash, Kyrgyzstan’s main auto manufacturer.
Atambaev has chaired the Social Democratic party of Kyrgyzstan since he helped to found the organization in 1993. By 1995 he was elected to parliament and had joined the Reform bloc. In 2000, Atambaev ran for the presidency and got six percent of the vote, enough to secure third place behind Omurbek Tekebaev (listed below) and the incumbent Askar Akaev (listed above). For several months in 2005 and 2006, Atambaev headed the Ministry for Industry, Trade, and Tourism. He resigned his post, accusing Bakiev of blocking political reforms and supporting criminal elements and corruption. His Social Democratic party participated in political opposition rallies against Bakiev in April and November of 2006. This made him an ideal compromise candidate for the post of prime minister in March of 2007, when Bakiev was looking to replace the short-lived Azim Isabekov, who lasted just two months in office. Atambaev's appointment was seen both as a concession to the opposition (which, however, began demonstrating just two weeks after Atambaev's March 30 appointment) and as a chance to co-opt some of the northern-led opposition groups considered more open to negotiation. Also a member of the Writers' Union, Atambaev shocked national audiences in late April 2007 by using foul street language on national television to describe the opposition demonstrators that had been dispersed from central Bishkek days earlier.  Kubatbek Baibolov is a retired KGB colonel turned business man, opposition politician, and parliamentary deputy. He heads the Union of Democratic Forces, which is aligned with the For Reforms movement. He may not be quite a Kyrgyz Jefferson, but if there's a constitution to amend or draft, look for Baibolov's handwriting.
In November 2006, opposition leaders lead a demonstration in central Bishkek calling for constitutional reform and other changes by the Bakiev administration. On Nov. 7, a constituent assembly was formed in parliament to draft a new constitution. Kubatbek Baibolov was elected the group's chairman. However, deputies loyal to Bakiev undid the constitutional compromise that ended the November demonstrations just a few weeks after they had been approved. In April 2007, Bakiev's administration received a proposed draft constitution approved by the United Front and written by Baibolov. He argued that his draft created a hybrid system that better balanced power between the prime minister and president. However, most agree that, especially after the breakup of the "unending" demonstration in April, the likelihood of these reforms being adopted is minimal. Baibolov has said that there are grounds to impeach Bakiev for "stalling systemic reforms as well as constitutional changes for two years." According to the opposition deputy, Bakiev is holding the country back, as he is more concerned with maintaining his grip on power than improving governance.  Omurbek Tekebaev hails from the southern Ichkilik clan grouping and was born in Jalal-Abad in 1958. Clans play an important role in Kyrgyz politics, so it is not surprising that the long-time opposition leader hails from this powerful group. He spent his early working years in academia, rather than in business or politics.
After graduating from Kyrgyz State University, specializing in physics and the instruction of physics, he went on to teach for several years at a school in Akman Bazar-Korgonskyj, a village in Jalal-Abad in western Kyrgyzstan. In 1994, Tekebaev graduated from the law faculty at Kyrgyz State National University (KGNU). Tekebaev's first significant stride into politics came in February 1991 when he formed the Erkin Kyrgyzstan party (Free Kyrgyzstan). A year later, Tekebaev entered parliament and the Erkin party split. Tekebaev's wing was renamed Ata-Meken. In 2000, he was picked to be the vice-speaker of the Zhogorku Kenesh. That year also saw him explore a potential tandem that would have pre-dated the highly effective Bakiev-Kulov duo by five years. Tekebaev united Ata-Meken with Kulov's Ar-Namys to run for the presidency and observers suggested that Kulov (then imprisoned) would have received the post of prime minister. However, in his run against the powerful incumbent President Akaev, the opposition leader garnered only 14 percent of the vote. Following the 2005 overthrow of Akaev, Tekebaev was elected speaker of the new parliament which he held until a conflict with President Bakiev in February 2006 spurred his resignation. Tekebaev resumed his role as opposition leader by creating the For Reforms movement that has since held multiple rallies in the center of Bishkek. Tekebaev recently made international headlines when he was arrested in Warsaw on Sept. 6, 2006, en route to an international economic conference. Polish customs officials found 595 grams of heroin in a matroshka in Tekebaev's luggage. However, a Polish court acquitted Tekebaev within days, citing probable political intrigue. A Kyrgyz parliamentary commission later confirmed this intrigue, finding that SNB Deputy Chairman Janysh Bakiev, the president's brother, had ordered the deputy chief of security at Manas airport to execute a "special operation," involving Tekebaev's luggage. Videotape evidence showed that Tekebaev's suitcase disappeared for 15 minutes into the security official's office. In April of 2007, Tekebaev’s For Reforms movement joined with Kulov's United Front to oppose the president, but the duo has proved no more successful than they did in 2000. April's "unending" meeting was dispersed by security forces on April 19, following a riot said by many to be the work of hired provocateurs.  Temir Sariev is the co-chair of the For Reforms opposition movement that has advocated constitutional reform, intensified measures to counter corruption and increased powers for the Zhogorku Kenesh as a balance to presidential authority.
After two years in the Soviet army, Sariev went to work in a fur factory located in Alamedin (not far from Bishkek) as an economist and logistical expert. He went on to open several cafes and discos and, from 1995-2000, helmed the financial-industrial firm Toton as general director. 2000 saw Sariev take his first significant step into politics, with his election to parliament. He was reelected in 2005 as representative for the Shopokovskyj Okrug. In parliament, he sided with the Jibek Joly bloc. On April, 4, 2005, Sariev joined a parliamentary delegation that traveled to Moscow to convince the exiled Askar Akaev to resign. The delegation was successful. In 2006, Sariev made a run for Tekebaev’s speakership, but after a first round of voting in which he received 19 out of 62 votes, his vote tally subsequently declined. Several rounds of voting passed before Marat Sultanov was finally elected speaker, with 45 of 75 deputies' support. Sultanov, however, is a compromise candidate in every sense of the word and is not expected to be a major force for Kyrgyz politics in the near future. Sariev made headlines in January 2007, when customs officials stopped the deputy at Manas airport, allegedly attempting to leave the country for Istanbul with $100,000 in cash. For Reforms officials called the allegation politically motivated. On March 26, 2007, Sariev was selected as one of nine co-chairs in the For Reforms movement. On April 10, 2007, Sariev announced his exit from the Social Democratic party of Kyrgyzstan. Simultaneously, he announced his support for the creation of a Union of Democratic Forces party and his support for parliamentary elections by list. When government security forces broke up April's "unending" meeting on the 19th, Sariev was one of the few opposition leaders to be seen that evening in Bishkek. However, his presence in the city center on Ala-Too square failed to calm demonstrators or the police. He, along with thousands of other protesters, fled tear-gas canisters and noise grenades.  Melis Eshimkanov is a key player among opposition politicians. He is a Zhogorku Kenesh member of the For Reforms movement and was the chief editor of the opposition newspapers Agym and Asaba, before the papers were closed by government actions.
His pro-democracy bonafides date back to the mid-1980s, when he founded the Kyrgyz pro-democracy movement after returning from the Baltics, where he learned firsthand about other anti-communist campaigns. The KGB persecuted Eshimkanov for his actions and eventually he lost his job as a news anchor. Eshimkanov ran in the 2000 presidential elections, representing the People's party, but he collected a scant two percent of the popular vote. In December 2004, Eshimkanov announced the dissolution of the People's Party and its unification with the Social Democratic Party and his assumption of the deputy chairman post for the social democrats. Despite his active role in opposition politics, Eshimkanov failed to gain a position with the new Bakiev government in 2005. Sensing a desire to rejoin an opposition movement, reports emerged that Eshimkanmov was prepared to initiate a vote of no confidence against the president. This came after voting irregularities were found in six precincts, including Eshimkanov's own Asanbaevskij Okrug No. 6, resulting in the president ordering a commission to investigate. Eshimkanov continued to clash with Bakiev in 2006, calling for an account of some $25 million that Bakiev's son Maksim had invested. The opposition leader accused the president's children of illegally privatizing government assets and claimed that Bakiev was surrounded by "Akaev's team." On Feb. 18, 2007, Eshimkanov joined with Kulov to support the United Front opposition umbrella group which aimed to secure Bakiev's resignation, early elections, and constitutional reform. The United Front began what was to be an "unending" demonstration in Bishkek in April 2007, but the government dispersed the protesters on the 19th of that month. That same night, security forces seized printing equipment from the Center for Media Support, effectively closing Eshimkanov's Agym newspaper, as well as three other newspapers. Eshimkanov’s other paper, Asaba, had be previously shut down in April, 2001.  Bolotbek Berdibekovich Nogoibaev is not a leading politician of Kyrgyzstan, but the recent dispersal of demonstrators on April 19, 2007, has thrust this career security officer into the limelight of the stage of Kyrgyz politics. Nogoibaev was born Nov. 10, 1955, in the Panfilov region of Chui Oblast in north Kyrgyzstan.
Following military service (1973-1975), he began working with the Internal Security Forces and the police in posts that included detective department commander and deputy commander. By 1987 he was heading up the Pishkek Internal Affairs Station. He continued to climb the ranks in the 1990s, and by 1999 he was the deputy minister of internal affairs for Kyrgyzstan. In February of 2005 he spent time as chief inspector for Kyrgyzstan's security council and later that year he took over as chief of the Kyrgyz Counter-Narcotics Agency – an organization almost wholly funded and supported by the U.S. government. On Feb. 6, 2007, Bakiyev appointed Nogoibaev to head the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Just weeks later, an "unending" demonstration was initiated by opposition groups in the center of Bishkek in April. At first, opposition groups and Nogoibaev's security forces, numbering some 3,000, coexisted peacefully. However, on April 19, violent demonstrators attacked Nogoibaev and other security forces protecting the White House. In a matter of hours, thousands of demonstrators were cleared from the city center. After this dispersal, government authorities began seeking prosecutions against opposition leaders and security forces shut down several opposition newspapers.  Omurbek Isaakovich Suvanaliev aka “Comissar Cattani” was born July 31, 1960 in the city of Talas, in the Talas Oblast of north-western Kyrgyzstan. In 1995, he was elected to the Zhogorku Kenesh to represent Talas' 28th region. While in parliament he headed up a commission to battle corruption and organized crime. He holds the rank of police major general and is known affectionately as Comissar Cattani – after the police inspector that fights the Italian mafia in the movie "La Piovra" – for his consistent efforts to battle organized crime in Kyrgyzstan.
In 1997, Suvanaliev headed up the Osh Oblast branch of the Ministry of National Security during which he helped seize a 700-ton shipment of weapons sent from Iran and destined for Afghanistan and arrested the murderer of a vice mayor of St. Petersburg. However, after a year in the post, he resigned after the government pulled the rug out from under an investigation concerning smuggled weapons and ammunition. Suvanaliev continued his anticorruption campaign in 2003, when he was appointed director of the Ombudsman's Department for Kyrgyzstan. After the March 2005 overthrow of Akaev, the Commissar was appointed to the Ministry of Internal Affairs' top position in Bishkek while he served as deputy minister of internal affairs. In July of 2005, Suvanaliev handed in his resignation, but he returned to his post in October. Since that time, his security forces have arrested some 30 leading members of organized crime. One special operations group even netted Aibek Narmatov, a contract killer responsible for at least seven contract killings according to police. Unfortunately, Roman Shin – a deputy known for his multiple casino operations in Bishkek – initiated a parliamentary committee campaign against Suvanaliev’s reappointment. Some say Shin is linked to organize crime and his efforts are related to these links. Commissar Suvanaliev was ousted from his post in early 2007. Following the April 2007 demonstrations in Bishkek, the General Prosecutor's Office announced it intended to arrest Suvanaliev for his fledged role in the For Reforms opposition movement demonstrations that ultimately turned violent on April 19.  Edil Baisalov is the president of the Coalition for Democracy and Civil Society in Kyrgyzstan, a coalition of Kyrgyz non-governmental organizations. He is perhaps the best-known advocate for Kyrgyzstan's civil society inside the country. Baisalov was born in 1977 in Bishkek, where he attended the American University of Central Asia, an institution founded with the assistance of the American government.
In February 2003, Baisalov was scheduled to attend a Freedom House-sponsored roundtable, but government authorities hospitalized the rights activist, forcing him to undergo a bizarre three-day eye examination. On April 12, 2006, Baisalov survived an assassination attempt outside his organization's office early in the evening. He suffered a blow to the back of his head from a metal bar, but was immediately rushed to the hospital by his driver. This came just days after Baisalov had led protests in Bishkek calling for stepped up government action against organized crime. It was suggested that Baisalov's specific opposition to Ryspek Akmatbayev, a crime boss who was running for parliament, had served to earn the activist a warning. In recent weeks, Baisalov has noted the disappointment with which reformers have come to view the Bakiev administration. "Two years after March 2005, we have to say that many if not most of the slogans of the Tulip Revolution have not been realized," he said, as reported by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. Summing up the years since the overthrow of Akaev, only "a few nameplates on some of the highest floors" of the White House have changed. Find Out More!
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