Revolution in Kyrgyzstan - Episode II

So what's really happening in Kyrgyzstan?

Just after 5 years, another revolution. Kurmanbek Bakiev who became the president after the first "revolution" (I don't want to call it revolution anymore) were kicked out in the same way. Massive protests, violent clashes between police and protesters, followed by the attack and takeover of the White House. Like then. But this time it was on much different scale. Last time no single shot was made at the crowd, on the other hand, this time snipers and police were shooting at people that ended with 75 dead and hundreds of injured. No tulips, no banners, no organized protesting this time, it happened very unexpectedly and fast. Although Bakiev's government tried to prevent mass protests by arresting opposition leaders in all regions, the crowd without leaders turned out to be disastrous and uncontrollable. And it provoked them even more when the police and snipers started firing at them. Not only tear gas and rubber bullets were used, but they were using actual lethal bullets. Some protesters seized the guns (Kalashnikov automatic guns, RPGs, grenades, sniper rifles, etc.) from the police (some say they were supplied elsewhere) and were firing back. And the snipers were shooting at them from the roof of the White House... And the looting that happened on the next 2 nights as it happened 5 years ago.

Lots of wrong information has been passed around, and even some of the most well-known western mass media institutions published these rumors as news. Like the death of the minister of internal affairs, or that the country is about to get into a civil war between northern and southern population. In Kyrgyzstan itself, people are continuously updating about the events in their blogs, web forums, Twitter channels, Facebook discussions, and it'd been hard to guess which updates are right or wrong. More or less reliable source of information for many people has been Azattyk (Radio Free Europe Kyrgyz Branch) and, maybe, Ferghana.ru. Also, short and fresh updates were provided by many bloggers from Bishkek itself, and it is possible to find these short updates from Skochilo's blog, popular blogger whose blog provided lots of updates during previous "revolution" in 2005. I spent past 3 days in front of the monitor refreshing the pages every minute and getting updates. It was hard to digest all these, but impossible to ignore as well. I will not get into them too much. Above sources provide enough materials to understand a bit what's really been happening there.

About Bakiev. Now you could write a book about this dude. I was pretty much optimistic and full of hope about him after the government changed in 2005. But the summary would be that he's incompetent almost in everything needed to be a president. Now I wonder how he managed to become a president in the first hand.
Not that he became, and was re-elected, by legitimate ways. But the result of his 5-year work was as follows (I will try not to add my comments);
- unrealized promises of building democratic and economically developing nation (check any indicator about Kyrgyzstan);
- falsified presidential and parliament elections, his party (Ak Jol Party) members forming the majority of the parliament;
- bringing his family and clan to key positions;
- his son, Maksim Bakiev, becoming the head of the newly invented agency responsible for investment, innovation and development of Kyrgyzstan, i.e. responsible for deciding on how to use the investment capital of the country;
- his brother, Janysh Bakiev, becoming head of Government Security Service. This department became much powerful by taking over the ownership of elite army group (National Guard Troops). This agency had a large budget and purchased lots of weapons and equipment to listen to phone conversations from abroad. Majority of people in Kyrgyzstan believe that this agency is behind several killings of politicians and journalists in past few years. Janysh Bakiev was also managing the protesters in the south of the country during Tulip revolution in 2005;
- his brother, Marat Bakiev, is an ambassodor of Kyrgyzstan in Germany. Other brothers also took different role in some ministries and regional government offices;

Here's a long article about Bakiev by Russian Lenta.Ru.

Over the years we witnessed Bakiev's incompetence in dealing with matters and his greed. Instead of building a competitive nation, he focused on strengthening and securing his power. People led by opposition leaders (some of them are revolution partners of Bakiev in 2005) were continuously reminding him of the wrong path he took, there were continuous protests and small attempts to end his regime. His greed continued as he "legalized" his son to become a "prince" of the country who was already taking over the businesses in the country. Together they privatized country's major companies on their behalf with the help of the consulting firm MGN (whose CEO, American-Jewish Eugene Gourevitch, turned out to be an Italian mafia partner in the mass fraud in Italy). He managed to spoil his reputation in front of US and Russia leaders in army base related issues while trying to keep multi-vectoral political approach. His credibility was long lost in the eyes of his people. Judging from his post-revolution phone interview with Radio Echo Of Moscow, he sounds like he still believes in the illusions he built himself.

Although he still hasn't resigned, he's over for us. I hope he will resign and officially hand over his responsibilities. He won't be accepted back anyway, and it will just lead to more violence and blood and further damage for the country in all its sense. I hope he and his family/clan will be judged by the law and get the punishment they deserve. I hope his mistakes and current situation will be a good lesson for the future leaders, as they clearly understand that they will always face the danger of the angry crowd once they try to cheat them (unfortunately this is turning into a habit for Kyrgyzstan people to overthrow the regime). They should realize that this anger of the crowd comes from major problems of the country and its people, and should be resolved permanently with proper changes and deeper solutions. They shouldn't think that getting some positive figures and numerical indicators will not convince the citizens, it never did, what matters is the basic survival needs that should be provided, especially for those in rural areas who seem to be usually ignored.

More photos from past days are here, here, and here.

Now things are getting stable. But what really matters is that what will happen now? There's a very difficult task in front of this transitional and then new governments. No guarantees for success. Even they will be honest and do their best, there's no guarantee that things will go smooth and well. No guarantee that people will be patient and in solidarity with them. No guarantee that the feeling of greed and love for power will not overthrow their current revolutionary motivations. But it's hard to tell without trying, it's hard to judge without giving them a chance.

p.s. I am preparing for a long-term return back to Kyrgyzstan by the end of the month. Some friends ask if I really want to do this and take a risk after the last events. And now I am even more willing to return. Why? How would I add my own share of value into the future of the country? Can I really contribute something? Or will I be given that chance at all?.. I think no need to worry over such questions, no need to put stress or unreal expectations over myself now. Once there, these questions will come on the right time, and I will have to work over the answers. Well, again, it's hard to tell something without trying.

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