Kirguistán (Continuación)

Le Kirghizistan est à nouveau au cœur de l'actualité internationale. L'instabilité politique que traverse le pays depuis la "révolution des tulipes" de mars 2005 semble avoir pris une tournure d'une rare violence : des milliers de morts et de blessés, 400 000 déplacés. Les journalistes et analystes politiques ne cessent de mentionner le caractère ethnique de ces troubles, mais il ne s'agit là que de la forme d'un conflit dont le fond est tout sauf ethnique.

L'ethnicité a bon dos ! Si la société kirghize est divisée en divers groupes ethniques, il est bon de rappeler qu'il s'agit d'un héritage de la politique soviétique des nationalités.…  Seguir leyendo »

Politically driven ethnic violence in Kyrgyzstan has already claimed more than 100 lives and threatens to erase the country’s progress toward self-government following the April ouster of President Kurmanbek Bakiyev.

It is an ominous sign that a society which had undertaken impressive reforms aimed at creating the region's first parliamentary democracy is now teetering on the brink of outright civil war and state failure.

With the violence around Osh continuing and a very real possibility that the conflict could expand to engulf parts of neighboring Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, NATO and the United States must immediately engage with regional partners to help restore security.…  Seguir leyendo »

There are basically two schools of thought when it comes to explaining what happened in Kyrgyzstan in April. Proponents of the democracy school will argue that what we witnessed was a legitimate uprising against an unjust and oppressive regime set up by President Kurmanbek Bakiyev. The other school, the realists, will explain the April events as a coup against the government organized by a power-hungry opposition supported and financed from the outside.

I was in Kyrgyzstan a few weeks ago, and there met with the new interim leader, Roza Otunbayeva. Nothing I saw convinced me that we have witnessed a democratic change.…  Seguir leyendo »

Kirguistán, Kirguizistán o Kirguisia, de esas formas puede denominarse al remoto país centroasiático. ¿Qué ha sucedido allí? Tras un par de días de violentas manifestaciones, el presidente Kurmanbek Bakiyev abandonó el poder y se refugió en el sur del país, entre los suyos. A partir de ahí se inició un proceso de negociación y el resultado fue que el 15 de abril el depuesto mandatario dejó el país como resultado de las efectivas gestiones de intermediación internacional de los representantes de la OSCE, Kazajistán, Rusia y Estados Unidos. Los medios de comunicación han dado la noticia por cerrada. Pero, ¿es así?…  Seguir leyendo »

Call it a Tulip Revolution in reverse. On April 7, widespread anti-government protests broke out in the former Soviet republic of Kyrgyzstan. Within two days, protesters had stormed government buildings and overrun state security forces, the country's president had fled the capital for his stronghold in the south, and a new interim government had been formed.

The scene was eerily reminiscent of events five years earlier, when a wave of pro-democracy protests swept Soviet-era strongman Askar Akayev from power in a transformation that became known as the Tulip Revolution. Back then, Mr. Akayev's successor, Kurmanbek Bakiyev, pledged to abandon the previous regime's near-unfettered presidential fiat, corruption and cronyism.…  Seguir leyendo »

Last week Roza Otunbayeva led a group in Kyrgyzstan that ousted President Kurmanbek Bakiyev from power after protesters stormed the president's offices; at least 84 people were killed. Newsweek-Washington Post's Lally Weymouth reached Otunbayeva by phone to discuss the current situation. Excerpts:

What actually caused the outbreak of violence last week?

A number of reasons. There was a lot of corruption, and then in terms of transparency, Kyrgyzstan is 166th out of 180 countries. We are a country with such a low quality of life. But since January 1, President Bakiyev and his government started to raise the price for utilities -- for electricity, for hot water, for mobile companies, for water for agricultural needs, [and his government also increased] taxes on real estate.…  Seguir leyendo »

Civil unrest is not something new in Kyrgyzstan, a former Soviet republic in Central Asia, a country of outstanding natural beauty and much political strife. What appears to have been spontaneous demonstrations in the capital, Bishkek, last Wednesday quickly spread to other parts of the country, leading to the ouster of the president, the resignation of the prime minister, the dissolving of the Parliament and a change of regime by the end of the day. About 70 people are feared to have lost their lives in the day's violent clashes between demonstrators and security forces. Among the dead is thought to be the country's minister of the interior, who ultimately was responsible for security, an authority he has been accused of abusing.…  Seguir leyendo »

Whenever I am in Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan, I wake early and run in the central stadium. I enjoy it for two reasons: first, it’s one of the few places where I can exercise without Bishkek’s feral dogs attacking my ankles, and, second, that I actually run on the track provides endless amusement for the gaggle of Kyrgyz politicians I lap as they amble and shoot the breeze.

Some of my stadium acquaintances hold positions of power. Others do not. This week, those on the in and those on the out swapped places. I’m certain, though, that it will be the same gaggle at the track next week, negotiating ever-changing alliances while the rest of Bishkek sleeps.…  Seguir leyendo »

Events in Kyrgyzstan have once again seized headlines. Five years ago, in March 2005, the Tulip Revolution blossomed: Crowds upset by a falsified election stormed the main government building in Bishkek, the capital, and chased out then-President Askar Akayev. This week, after widespread riots in which security forces opened fire on opposition protesters, President Kurmanbek Bakiyev escaped the capital in a plane. A temporary people's government announced that it has taken power, with former foreign minister Roza Otunbayeva in charge.

For Kyrgyzstan, a mountainous nation that prided itself on being an "island of democracy" in Central Asia after the collapse of the Soviet Union, events represent a second chance to get back on track.…  Seguir leyendo »

De allí partieron en su último viaje. El último pedazo de tierra que pisaron estaba muy lejos de su país. Subieron a un avión del que algunos ya habían expresado a sus familiares sus temores, a pesar de sus abundantes horas de vuelo y su capacidad de sacrificio. Quienes hemos viajado con frecuencia a esos lugares evitábamos siempre esos aviones de fabricación soviética, los yakovlev, tupovlev, etcétera. Ellos no podían elegir. Eran militares. El Yak-42 despegaría para siempre de Bhisket hace ya seis años, hasta llegar a nunca jamás.

Kirguistán es uno de los cinco países ex soviéticos que integran Asia Central.…  Seguir leyendo »

For two weeks, the U.S. struggle to hold on to its last air base in Central Asia has made headlines, and the vote in Kyrgyzstan's parliament yesterday to close Manas Air Base will spark still more coverage. Analysts have rushed to portray this as a new chess match between a resurgent Russian Federation and a recalibrating United States; just as a new American president seeks to bolster the U.S. presence in Afghanistan, the principal land corridor from Pakistan is severed through a bridge bombing and the likely air base closure threatens the Obama administration's plan. The oversimplified but oft-repeated explanation is that Kremlin pressure is the source of Washington's predicament.…  Seguir leyendo »

Por K. S. Karol, periodista francés especializado en cuestiones del Este (EL PAIS, 30/03/05):

La política en el espacio postsoviético no se parece a la nuestra. La "revolución" en Kirguizistán acaba de confirmarlo tras las de Georgia y Ucrania. Los hombres que las encabezan son ex primeros ministros o embajadores del régimen derrocado. Sus partidos carecen de historia, no son conocidos por sus ideas de izquierdas o de derechas. Fue el caso de Saakashvili en Tiflis, antiguo ministro protegido de Shevardnadze; también fue el caso de Yúshenko en Kiev, ex primer ministro de Leonid Kuchma; y ahora es el caso de Kurmanbek Bakíyev, en Bishkek, el nuevo líder de Kirguizistán, hace apenas dos años primer ministro de Askar Akáyev.…  Seguir leyendo »