Dispatch from Kyrgyzstan
By Kumar Bekbolotov
In the evening of April 9, Kyrgyzstan was gripped with uncertainty. It was just hours after an interim government was established and it was trying to consolidate control over the Central Asian country. Some 75 people were killed and hundreds wounded two days earlier when riot police fired on antigovernment demonstrators in the capital Bishkek. The killings sparked angry protests, with demonstrators storming government buildings and forcing the President Kurmanbek Bakiev to flee the capital.
Speaking by telephone from Bishkek, Kumar Bekbolotov, executive director of the Soros Foundation–Kyrgyzstan, described the events of April 7—the swelling crowds, the looted businesses and the popular grief following the killings. He spoke to the fragility of the situation as the events of April 7 plunged his country into unknown terrain.
Established in 1993, the Soros Foundation–Kyrgyzstan works to ensure the development of an open society through the reform of public institutions and democratic debate. Priority areas include local governance, media freedom, higher education, women’s rights, and public health. The foundation has been a leader in promoting good governance and civic participation efforts in Kyrgyzstan, working to ensure that elections meet international standards, helping to establish civilian oversight of police, and seeking to guarantee fair and transparent regulation of the Kyrgyz media.
Until 2012, Kumar Bekbolotov was executive director of the Soros Foundation–Kyrgyzstan.