Kurmanbek Bakiyev Курманбек Бакиев
President of Kyrgyzstan
In office 25 March 2005 – 15 April 2010 Acting until 14 August 2005
Prime Minister	Medetbek Kerimkulov Felix Kulov Azim Isabekov Almazbek Atambayev Iskenderbek Aidaraliyev Igor Chudinov Daniar Usenov
Preceded by	Ishenbai Kadyrbekov (Acting)
Succeeded by	Roza Otunbayeva
Prime Minister of Kyrgyzstan
In office 10 July 2005 – 15 August 2005
President	Askar Akayev Ishenbai Kadyrbekov (Acting)
Preceded by	Medetbek Kerimkulov (Acting)
Succeeded by	Felix Kulov
In office 25 March 2005 – 20 June 2005 Acting until 28 March 2005
President	Askar Akayev
Preceded by	Nikolai Tanayev
Succeeded by	Medetbek Kerimkulov (Acting)
In office 21 December 2000 – 22 May 2002
President	Askar Akayev
Preceded by	Amangeldy Muraliyev
Succeeded by	Nikolai Tanayev
Personal details
Born	(1949-08-01) 1 August 1949 (age 62) Masadan, Soviet Union (now Kyrgyzstan)
Political party	Ak Jol
Spouse(s)	Tatyana Bakiyeva
Alma mater	Kuybyshev Polytechnic Institute
Religion	Sunni Islam

Kurmanbek Saliyevich Bakiyev (Kyrgyz: Курманбек Сали уулу Бакиев (Kurmanbek Sali Uulu Bakiev), Russian: Курманбек Салиевич Бакиев; born 1 August 1949) is a politician who served as the second President of Kyrgyzstan, from 2005 to 2010. Large opposition protests in April 2010 led to the takeover of government offices, forcing Bakiyev to flee the country.

Bakiyev was the leader of the People's Movement of Kyrgyzstan before his ascendance to the presidency. He received most of his popular support from the south of the country.

The Legislative Assembly of Kyrgyzstan of the Supreme Council of Kyrgyzstan appointed him acting President on March 25, 2005, following the ousting, during the Tulip Revolution, of President Askar Akayev. In October 2007, Bakiyev initiated the creation of Ak Jol party, but could not lead it due to his presidency.^[1]

Tulip Revolution[link]

Following the events of the 2005 Tulip Revolution, Bakiyev won the 10 July ballot for the Presidential election with 89% of the vote with a 53% turnout.^[2]

President[link]

Despite initial hopes, Bakiyev's term in office was marred by the murder of several prominent politicians, prison riots, economic ills and battles for control of lucrative businesses.^[3][4][5][6] 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.^[7][8]

In April 2007, the opposition held protests demanding Bakiyev's resignation,^[9] 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.^[10] Clashes broke out between protesters and police on April 19, after which the protests ended.^[11]

Over the years, the relationship between China and Kyrgyzstan has grown. The number of Chinese students in Kyrgyzstan has risen.^[12] There is even a plan for a high-speed rail to connect the two countries.^[13]

In February 2009, while in Moscow, Bakiyev announced the eviction of the US Air Base from Kyrgyzstan, right after a meeting with Russian President Dmitri Medvedev, during which Russia promised a $2 billion investment.^[14]

Bakiyev was re-elected in the 2009 presidential election.^{[citation needed]}

After the re-election in 2009, some people in Kyrgyzstan said that he would now deal with political and economic reform.^[15] Others were skeptical. The Eurasian Daily Monitor wrote on September 10 that his style resembled other leaders such as Vladimir Putin and Nursultan Nazarbayev. However, he lacked resources and Kyrgyz people were anxious about the risk of renewed power shortages and blackouts like in the winter 2008–2009.^[15]

During the winter of 2010 Kyrgyzstan has suffered from rolling blackouts and cutoffs occurring regularly while energy prices have risen.^[16]

In January 2010 Kyrgyzstan sent a delegation to China to discuss improved economic relations.^[17] Kyrgyzstan national electric company Natsionalnaya electricheskaya syet and the Chinese Tebian Electric signed a $342 million contract to build the Datka-Kemin 500 kv power transmission lines. This would have reduced Kyrgyzstan's dependence on the Central Asian power system. The delegation was led by Bakiyev's son.^[17]

In February 2010 Kyrgyzstan had to raise energy tariffs. Heating costs were reportedly going to rise 400 percent and electricity by 170 percent.^[18]

Russia backed his government until March 2010. The Eurasian Daily Monitor reported on April 1 that, for two weeks, the Kremlin had used the Russian mass media to run a negative campaign against Bakiyev.^[19] Russia controls much of the media in Kyrgyzstan.^[19] The sudden campaign coincided with Bakiyev's failure to carry out Russia's various demands related to things such as military bases.^[19] On April 1 Russia also imposed duties on energy exports to Kyrgyzstan. It influenced fuel and transport prices immediately, and reportedly led to a massive protest in Talas on April 6.^[20]

2010 coup[link]

In April 2010, after bloody riots in the capital overturned the government, Bakiyev reportedly fled to the southern city of Osh.^[21] The head of the new provisional government, Roza Otunbayeva, declared that Bakiyev had not resigned and was trying to rally support.^[22] On April 13, 2010, Bakiyev said he was willing to resign the presidency if his security was guaranteed.^[23] On April 15, 2010, at 19:00, Bakiyev left Kyrgyzstan for Kazakhstan, having signed a resignation letter.^[24][25] Otunbayeva stated that she would press ahead to bring Bakiyev to trial.^[26]

On April 20, the Belarussian president, Alexander Lukashenko told his parliament that "Bakiyev and his family, four people in all, have been in Minsk since Monday evening, as guests...Today they are here under the protection of our state, and personally of the president."^[27]

On April 21, Kurmanbek Bakiyev held a press conference in Minsk and stated "I, Kurmanbek Bakiyev, am the legally elected president of Kyrgyzstan and recognised by the international community. I do not recognise my resignation. Nine months ago the people of Kyrgyzstan elected me their president and there is no power that can stop me. Only death can stop me," and called Otunbayeva's administration an "illegitimate gang".^[28]

In February 2012 it has been reported that Bakiyev was granted citizenship of Belarus in 2010^[29].

Parliamentary elections of 2010[link]

Ata-Zhurt, a party campaigning for bringing Kurmanbek Bakiyev back to power, won 28 out of 120 seats in Kyrgyzstan's parliamentary elections of 2010, securing a narrow plurality over the other parties.

Family[link]

During his time as president, several Bakiyev family members had prominent positions in the government, with at least five close relatives working in the upper echelons of power. His brother Janysh Bakiyev was head of the presidential guard, brother Marat Bakiyev was Kyrgyzstan's ambassador to Germany, and another brother Adyl Bakiyev was an adviser to Kyrgyzstan's ambassador to China.^[30]

Since the overthrow, Maksim Bakiyev, the younger son of Kurmanbek Bakiyev, has been charged with embezzlement and abuse of power by the interim government. It is suspected that he transferred about $35 million of a $300 million loan from Russia into his private bank accounts.^[31] When the revolt took place, Bakiyev was headed to the US for a series of meetings in Washington.^[32] On June 14, 2010, Maksim was arrested in the UK when he landed at Farnborough Airport in Hampshire in a privately hired jet.^[33] The interim Kyrgyz government is demanding his extradition.

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Kurmanbek Bakiyev

• Official Website of Kurmanbek Bakiyev
• Presidential biography
• Previous Constitution of Kyrgyzstan
• Xinhua profile
• "Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan Sign Economic Cooperation Treaty"
• Kyrgyzstan on the Edge
• Kyrgyz President Replaces Renegade Regional Governor

v t e Leaders of Kyrgyzstan Kyrgyz SSR Maksim Ammosov Aleksey Vagov Nikolay Bogolyubov Iskhak Razzakov Turdakun Usubaliyev Absamat Masaliyev Jumgalbek Amanbayev Kyrgyzstan Askar Akayev Kurmanbek Bakiyev Roza Otunbayeva Almazbek Atambayev

v t e Prime Ministers of Kyrgyzstan Kara-Kyrgyz AO Yusup Abdrakhmanov • Bayaly Isakeyev Kyrgyz SSR Bayaly Isakeyev • Murat Salikhov • Ismail Abuzyarov* • Ivan Rebrov* • Turabay Kulatov • Iskhak Razzakov • Abdy Suyerkulov • Kazy Dikambayev • Bolot Mambetov • Akhmatbek Suyumbayev • Sultan Ibraimov • Pyotr Khodos* • Arstanbek Duysheyev • Apas Jumagulov Kyrgyz Republic Nasirdin Isanov • Andrei Iordan* • Tursunbek Chyngyshev • Almanbet Matubraimov* • Apas Jumagulov • Kubanychbek Jumaliyev* • Boris Silayev* • Jumabek Ibraimov • Boris Silayev* • Amangeldy Muraliyev • Kurmanbek Bakiyev • Nikolai Tanayev • Kurmanbek Bakiyev • Felix Kulov • Azim Isabekov • Almazbek Atambayev • Iskenderbek Aidaraliyev* • Igor Chudinov • Daniar Usenov • Almazbek Atambayev • Omurbek Babanov* • Almazbek Atambayev • Omurbek Babanov denotes acting

v t e Candidates in the 2005 Kyrgyzstani presidential election Kurmanbek Bakiyev Tursunbai Bakir uulu Akbaraly Aitikeev Zhapar Dzheksheyev Toktayym Ümötalieva Keneshbek Dushebaev

Roza Otunbayeva Роза Отунбаева
President of Kyrgyzstan
In office 7 April 2010 – 1 December 2011 Acting: 7 April 2010 – 3 July 2010
Prime Minister	Almazbek Atambayev Omurbek Babanov(Acting) Almazbek Atambayev
Preceded by	Kurmanbek Bakiyev
Succeeded by	Almazbek Atambayev
Minister of Foreign Affairs
In office 26 February 1992 – 10 October 1992
Prime Minister	Tursunbek Chyngyshev
Preceded by	Muratbek Imanaliyev
Succeeded by	Ednan Karabayev
Personal details
Born	(1950-08-23) 23 August 1950 (age 61) Frunze, Soviet Union (now Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan)
Political party	Social Democratic Party
Spouse(s)	BK Sadybakasov (1963–2006)
Alma mater	Moscow State University

Roza Isakovna Otunbayeva (Kyrgyz and Russian: Роза Исаковна Отунбаева; born August 23, 1950) is a Kyrgyz diplomat and politician who served as the President of Kyrgyzstan from 7 April 2010 until 1 December 2011. She was sworn in on July 3, 2010, after acting as interim leader following the 2010 April revolution which led to the ousting of then President Kurmanbek Bakiyev. She is a former foreign minister and head of the parliamentary caucus for the Social Democratic Party of Kyrgyzstan.

Early life[link]

Otunbayeva was born in Frunze (now Bishkek), Kyrgyz SSR, USSR into the family of Isaac Otunbayev, a member of the Supreme Court of Kirgiz SSR. She graduated from the Philosophy Faculty of Moscow State University in 1972 and went on to teach as senior professor and head of the philosophy department at Kyrgyz State National University for six years. In 1975 she became Candidate of Sciences after defending dissertation named "Critique of falsification of Marxist-Leninist dialectic by the philosophers of Frankfurt school".^[1] Otunbayeva is a divorced mother of two children. She is fluent in Russian and can speak English, German and French in addition to Kyrgyz.^[2][3]

Political career[link]

In 1981, she began her political career as the Communist Party's second secretary of the Lenin raion council (raikom) of Frunze (now Bishkek). In the late 1980s, she served as head of Soviet delegation to UNESCO in Paris, and later as the Soviet Ambassador to Malaysia. By 1992, the now independent Kyrgyzstan was led by Askar Akayev, who chose her to be both Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister, positions she held until later that year when she became her country's first ambassador to the USA and Canada. She returned to her original post in 1994, remaining there for three years. Following the arrest of the journalist Zamira Sydykova and her deputy, Tamara Slashcheva, she voiced against Human Rights organisations who accused the Akaev government of restricting freedom of speech in the Kyrgyz republic. The journalist redactor of the parliamentary newspaper Svobodnye Gory (Free Mountains) was sentenced under article 128, part 2, of the criminal code—slander with the use of mass media—to one and a half years in prison for articles criticising President Akaev. From 1998 to 2001, she served as the first Kyrgyz ambassador to the United Kingdom. From 2002 to 2004, she was deputy head of the United Nations Observing Mission in Georgia. As UN official, she publicly contested the existence of human rights concerns in the Eastern territory of Abkhazia, traditionally populated by the Georgian population. She voiced that the restriction of the use of the Georgian language in the Gali district had less major impact than the neglecting practice of the Abkhaz language in the Abkhaz collective memory. This dissident opinion broke confidence she had with the Head of the UN Mission (Heidi Tagliavini).

Upon her return to Kyrgyzstan in late 2004, Otunbayeva became politically active. In December 2004, she and three other opposition parliamentarians founded the Ata-Jurt (Fatherland) party in preparation for the February 2005 parliamentary elections.^[4]

She was barred from standing for the 2005 legislative election due to an enacted law requiring prospective MPs to have resided in the country for five uninterrupted years prior to the elections. Her time as ambassador to the United Kingdom prevented her from meeting this criterion. She met this requirement in 2010, so she was eligible to run for the post.

"Tulip Revolution"[link]

Otunbayeva was one of the key leaders of the Tulip Revolution in Kyrgyzstan which led to the overthrow of President Akayev.^[5] Subsequently she served for a few months as Acting Foreign Minister in the interim government of then prime minister (and acting president) Kurmanbek Bakiyev. After Bakiyev was elected President and Feliks Kulov became Prime Minister, Otunbayeva failed to receive the required parliamentary support to become Foreign Minister.^[4] She then ran unsuccessfully in a parliamentary by-election a few months later. Otunbayeva played a key role in November 2006 protests that pressed successfully for a new democratic constitution.

She was the co-chairwoman of the country's Asaba (Flag) National Revival Party for a short term. In December 2007, Otunbayeva was elected to Jogorku Kenesh - the parliament of Kyrgyzstan - on the candidate list of the Social Democratic Party of Kyrgyzstan. She served as the head of the parliamentary group of the opposition SDP beginning in October 2009.

2010 uprising and presidency[link]

On April 7, 2010, Otunbayeva was selected by opposition leaders as head of a Kyrgyz interim government, following widespread rioting in Bishkek and the ousting of President Kurmanbek Bakiyev.^[6]

Otunbayeva in EurAsEC Summit in 2010

Bakiyev fled the Jalal-Abad area as the riots became more violent. Unable to rally support, he signed a resignation as president on April 10, 2010 and left the country for Kazakhstan. Nine days later he went to Minsk, Belarus, where he was given protected-exile status. On April 21 he recanted his resignation and declared that he was still president of Kyrgyzstan. Otunbayeva vowed to bring him to trial.^[7]

As interim president, Otunbayeva had four male deputies. Otunbayeva is considered to be unusual as there are few women in politics in Kyrgyzstan. Her first conversation after she came to power was with Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. Otunbayeva declared that new elections would be called in six months and that she would act as president until then.^[8]

With violent protests in support of ousted President Kurmanbek Bakiyev continuing in Jalalabad, the home city of the former President, it was announced on May 19, 2010, by the interim government that elections would be delayed until 2011 and Otunbayeva was named as President. Following a referendum of the new Kyrgyz constitution, she was officially sworn in on July 3, 2010. Otunbayeva however, was prohibited from running in the 2011 presidential election and her term ended on December 31, 2011.^[9][10] The referendum was supported by over 90% and changes the government from a Presidential republic to a Parliamentary republic. Parliamentary elections were held in October and that parliament appointed the Prime Minister and Cabinet.^[11][12]

Views[link]

In 2010, while congratulating her people with the approach of the month of Ramadan, Otunbayeva stated that the month would bring unity to her country. Otunbayeva stated:

“The holy Koran appeals to people, living during difficult tests, to general tolerance and forgiveness of the past offences of each other. These days even those who were earlier at enmity must forgive each other in the name of further peaceful coexistence, get rid of all harmful habits and generously respect all people. These holy notions are one of the highest tops of humanistic ideals of Islam."^[12]

In her interviews Otunbayeva stated that she does not believe in God,^[13] indicating her appreciation for the Koran's ideals without necessarily having any religious ties to it.

See also[link]

• 2010 Kyrgyzstani uprising

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Roza Otunbayeva

• Kyrgyzstan: The Bittersweet Fruits Of The Revolution
• Roza Otunbayeva interviews on Echo of Moscow (Russian)