Does anybody know what’s going on in Kyrgyzstan? Massive riots there in the past few days, as showcased in the video below:
The riots stem from growing anger against the government of President Kurmanbek Bakiyev and the sluggish economy, and follow the government’s closure of several media outlets. Protesters took control of a government office in Talas on April 6, and on April 7 clashes between protesters and police in the capital Bishkek turned violent. At least 65 deaths and 400 injuries have been confirmed.[2] Overnight it was reported that President Bakiyev had fled the capital in his private jet south to Osh, and that opposition leaders were forming a new government led by former foreign minister Roza Otunbayeva.[3][4]
The 2005 Tulip Revolution doesn’t seem to have brought the desired results then: the government brought down now is the same as was swept to power then. The Tulip Revolution was the result of a genuine frustration and anger swept up into a manufactured revolution and as the sadly defunct blog Apostate Windbag pointed out at the time, this was likely to dissappoint and lead to a desire for a new and better revolution. Judging by what’s being reported as happening this time, the new revolts have not been co-opted (yet), aren’t stage managed and p.r. friendly.
On a more general note, I have the feeling that what’s happening in Kyrgyzstan will be repeated elsewhere soon and we’re in for a rough decade. The media might make optimistic noises about the end to the economic crisis, but for countries like Kyrgyzstan where in the past two decades things have only gotten worse it’s far from over. We’re seeing the end result of several decades of unrestricted capitalism and it’s no wonder it’s the more vulnerable countries that bubble over: they have nothign left to lose.
