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| Abdigul Chotbaev |
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One of the main headlines in Kyrgyzstan in these days concerns the suspension of General – Colonel Abdigul Chotbaev from the post of the National Guard Commander. AIA reported about a possible dismissal of the Chief of one of the main security agencies in the republic, as early as the 16th of August. The local mass media published the relevant information only a week later. On August 24, the Security Council of Kyrgyzstan recommended to the President to fire Chotbaev. Disturbances that had taken place in the capital on June 17, were used as a pretext for this decision.
Defeat of the General
That day, the crowd took over the building, where the Government apparatus, and the President's Administration are situated. According to different evaluations, the number of the participants of this action varied from one to five thousand people. Initiators of the picket, which started the riots, were the supporters of a prominent businessman and politician from the North of the country, whose declaration of candidacy for the presidential election was rejected. The participants not only stood for the support of their leader, but also protested "against the dominance of the Southern clans after the March overturn".
In order to clean the governmental building, special forces of the Ministry of Interior, and the National Guard were used. Over a dozen of the MOI servicemen were wounded in the course of these riots. And it was this Ministry, which played the major role in pacification of the situation in the capital.
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| Kurmanbek Bakiev |
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On August 25, Abdigul Chotbaev stated that the forces of the National Guard were insufficient for releasing the governmental building. Moreover, he blamed the Ministry of Interior in intentional waiting "for my men to be crushed by the crowd, and only then did it give the command to act".
On August 26, the President Kurmanbek Bakiev signed a decree about the dismissal of the Chief of the National Guard. However, this decree did not gain any publicity the same day. The official sources though announced that the Head of the Republic gave an order "to exploit Abdigul Chotbaev for country's maximal benefit at another position". According to existing law, the President could fire the Chief of the National Guard only in case this decision was approved by the City Parliament (the disgraced general is the member of the latter). However, Bakiev made this decision on his own, letting the parliamentarians know about it only the next day. Members of the Parliament are now aiming at revocation of this decree. Otherwise, they plan to lodge an appeal against the President's decision to the Constitutional Court. Nevertheless, the belated attempts of parliamentarians to protect Chotbaev
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Tashtemir Aitbayev |
will hardly be fruitful. In the course of the last weeks, he was defended by a number of prominent Russian political and public figures. Regardless of this, the President signed the decree for his removal from office.
Big purge
Dismissal of the National Guard Chief became a part of the last stage in a large-scale purge on the administration of the Kyrgyz security agencies. This process was initiated by the new leadership, straight after the overturn in the republic on March 24. Everything started from changes in the administration of the National Security Service (SNB). Such choice can be explained not only by a special role this body plays in
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| Felix Kulov |
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guaranteeing security of the State and the ruling regime, but also by the new President's personal motives. His elder son, Marat Bakiev, at the moment of the overturn was the Deputy Head of the SNB Counterterrorism Department. On the 30th of March he already had a new boss, Tashtemir Aitbayev. There are some facts suggesting that he is affined to the President. In the Soviet period he was on of the major functionaries of the republican Communist Party, and actively supported the attempt to overthrow Mikhail Gorbachev in August 1991. During the reign of the former president, Aitbayev headed the persecution of the opposition activists and the independent journalists. Moreover, new SNB Chief is the sworn enemy of the Active Prime Minister, Felix Kulov. After the latter was dismissed from the office of Minister of National Security, in spring 1998, this post was occupied by Aitbayev. Two years later, when Kulov was arrested on a faked charge, Tashtemir Aitbayev had played th
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Askar Akayev |
e main role in fabrication of his case.
Following the relief of the SNB directorship, the personnel purges touched all the other security agencies of the republic. As a result, not only many of henchmen of the former president Askar Akayev were deprived of their posts, but so were also several close comrades of Felix Kulov. Their places were occupied by the favorites of the new Head of State. Most of them are his confidants and the protégés of the mighty southern clans.
Inviolability of traditions
Although, two months prior to the July presidential elections, Felix Kulov gave Kurmanbek Bakiev his support, the two men continue to be irreconcilable adversaries. This can be explained less by their personal features and motives, than by the fact that they represent totally opposite forces in the Kyrgyz society (the North – South conflict). Besides that, Bakiev and Kulov are resting upon different external forces, which are competing with each other for influence in Central Asia (Russia - USA). It is planned that on the 1st of September, Felix Kulov will be nominated the Prime Minister, in the framework of pre-election agreements. The President and his entourage strive to constrict the authority of the Prime Minister, so that he won't be able to influence the situation. To achieve this goal, Bakiev places his confidants at the key positions in the major economic and administrative bodies. Adhering to the traditions of the Asian politics, the President pays special attention to security agencies, in order to secure his regime. Most of these agencies are already headed by Bakiev's henchmen. In a newly built security system of Kyrgyzstan, there was no place for Abdigul Chotbaev. First of all, because he is the creature of the former President Askar Akayev, under whom he served for almost 13 years. Secondly, the fact that after the March overturn Chotbaev continued to occupy his post, provoked the discontent not only of political associates of the new President, but also of the high-ranking officers of Security Agencies. And the most important thing is that Bakiev prefers to see his own creature as the head of this office...
Relief of one Asian kinglet, who was superficially aggregated to a civilization by the Soviet nomenclature, to another one, cannot ruin the ancient tradition of a state administration. After the government building was seized by enraged crowd, the centuries-long mentality of the savage nomads' descendants did not vanish. Intertribal antagonism between North and South, predominance of the clan interests over the interest of the nation, protectionism and corruption at all levels of power: all these existed, continue to exist, and will persist to be the characteristic features of the Kyrgyz society. Actions of the new "democratic" leadership of Kyrgyzstan vividly confirm this thesis.
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Assassination of the Future Kyrgyz Prime Minister is Being Planned (25.07.05)
America Has Lost Kyrgyzstan (11.07.05)
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