Kyrgyz uprisings mark the end of the post-Soviet empire

Those in Bishkek added to the protests and violence in Nagorno Karabakh and Belarus. If the other conflicts in Ukraine, Georgia, Moldova could be attributed to the influence of America and the West, we are now facing a collapse of the former empire itself. Putin's own popularity in Russia at risk.

Moscow (AsiaNews) - The events of recent days in Kyrgyzstan are of particular concern to Russia. The revolts in Bishkek are added to those of the ex-Soviet countries particularly acute in the territories of the Soviet empire which disappeared in the 1990s, in a year full of protests that swept from East to West.

Yesterday, Russian senator Anatolij Shevchenko, one of the members of the Inter-Parliamentary Assembly of the Union of Independent States, (SNG a post-Soviet remnant) observer mission defined the Kyrgyz protests as "unacceptable", because in the elections "equal conditions were guaranteed to all parties”. October 6, another senator and observer, Farit Mukhametshyn, said that the elections had taken place "in a fair and competitive manner".

Kyrgyzstan is the most unstable country in the Central Asian area, and in the last 15 years it has clocked up three revolutions, again due to incurable conflicts between the various ruling elites and different social groups. None of the previous revolutions had taken on an "anti-Russian" character, because every group that came to power always reached an agreement with Moscow, but it is clear that now the Russians are particularly concerned.

This added to the umpteenth resumption of the conflict between Armenians and Azerbaijanis for Nagorno Karabakh, reveals the weakening of Russia’s mediation capacity despite having attempted to remain equidistant from the parties in conflict, by "freezing" hostilities with diplomatic initiatives. Not to mention Belarus, where the loss of faith in Lukashenko by the Belarusian people is also reflected in Putin's popularity among the Russians, as there is a strong bond between the two nations and their inhabitants. If the other conflicts in Ukraine, Georgia, Moldova could be attributed to the influence of America and the West, we are now facing a collapse of the former empire itself.

The Kyrgyz people expect real change. They have rejected the electoral result and lost all trust in the class that has ruled in recent years. In imitation of the Belarusians, the leaders of the protest have formed a Opposition Coordination Committee with representatives of 8 of the 16 electoral lists participate (photo 3). Adakhan Madumarov, leader of the Butun Kyrgyzstan party, was elected head of the Committee, but it is absolutely clear that at the moment no one is able to control the situation.

In the photos released by the Opposition Committee on social media, only middle-aged men are seen, many of whom were involved in previous revolutions and various power games of the past 15 years, including former president Almazbek Atambaev, protagonist of the 2005 "tulip revolution" (photo 4), recently released from the prison where he was detained. It therefore appears that one of the previous groups in power is returning.

Faced with this prospect, informal groups of young opponents held meetings to push towards a total scrapping of the political class. The Bishkek women posted their views on Twitter, pointing out that more than half of the Kyrgyz population is made up of women, and therefore they have the right to be represented.

• kyrgyzstan
• economy
• bishkek
• almazbek atambayev
• elections
• rigging
• protests
• repression
• tulip revolution
• russia
• vladimir putin
• belarus
• alexandr lukashenko