{"id":20266,"date":"2010-06-29T23:15:16","date_gmt":"2010-06-29T21:15:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.turkishforum.com.tr\/en\/content\/?p=20266"},"modified":"2023-07-26T11:00:59","modified_gmt":"2023-07-26T08:00:59","slug":"why-russias-medvedev-is-blasting-ally-kyrgyzstan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/2010\/06\/29\/why-russias-medvedev-is-blasting-ally-kyrgyzstan\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Russia&#8217;s Medvedev is blasting ally Kyrgyzstan"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><!-- change class for type of page...entry (homepage), section or story --><\/p>\n<div id=\"pageBounds\">\n<div id=\"contentBounds\"><script type=\"text\/javascript\">\/\/ <![CDATA[\nvar md_headline = \"Why Russia\\047s Medvedev is blasting ally Kyrgyzstan\";\nvar md_byline = \"Fred Weir\";var md_base_path = location.pathname;\nvar md_date_parsed = \"June 28, 2010\";var md_staffline = \"Correspondent\";\n\/\/ ]]><\/script><\/p>\n<div id=\"mainColumn\">\n<div><\/div>\n<h1><\/h1>\n<h2>Russian President Dmitry Medvedev unexpectedly criticized a  government reform vote in Kyrgyzstan that passed Sunday with 91 percent  support.<\/h2>\n<p><!-- pgallerycarousel --> <script type=\"text\/javascript\">\/\/ <![CDATA[\n\tvar pgallerycarousel_itemList = [\n\t\t\t\t{\"url_sm\":\"\\\/var\\\/ezflow_site\\\/storage\\\/images\\\/media\\\/images\\\/0628-kyrgyzstan-otunbayeva\\\/8225194-1-eng-US\\\/0628-KYRGYZSTAN-Otunbayeva_full_380.jpg\",\"url_lg\":\"\\\/var\\\/ezflow_site\\\/storage\\\/images\\\/media\\\/images\\\/0628-kyrgyzstan-otunbayeva\\\/8225194-1-eng-US\\\/0628-KYRGYZSTAN-Otunbayeva_full_600.jpg\",\"caption\":\"Kyrgyzstan's interim leader Roza Otunbayeva (front l.) greets a group of ethnic Kyrgyz citizens at a polling station on the day of a referendum in the city of Osh Sunday.\",\"credit\":\"Sagyn Alchiyev\\\/Kyrgyz Presidential Press\\\/Reuters\",\"related\":\"\"}\n\n\t\t\t\t];\n\n\t\/\/ remove quote html entities\n\tfor (i=0;i\n<pgallerycarousel_itemList.length;i++) {\t\tpgallerycarousel_itemList[i].caption = pgallerycarousel_itemList[i].caption.replace( new RegExp( \"&quot;\", \"gi\" ), '\"' );\n\t}\n\/\/ ]]><\/script><\/p>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<ul id=\"pgallerycarousel\">\n<li> <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><!-- \/thePhoto --><\/p>\n<div>\n<div>\n<p id=\"pgallerycarousel_caption\" title=\"Photo  Caption\">Kyrgyzstan&#8217;s interim leader Roza Otunbayeva (front l.) greets a  group of ethnic Kyrgyz citizens at a polling station on the day of a  referendum in the city of Osh Sunday.<\/p>\n<p id=\"pgallerycarousel_credit\" title=\"Photo Credit\">Sagyn  Alchiyev\/Kyrgyz Presidential Press\/Reuters<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><!-- \/pod --> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>MoscowTurbulent Kyrgyzstan&#8217;s weekend referendum on reforming its  political system has won overwhelming support from the population. But  Russia, Kyrgyzstan&#8217;s closest ally, has unexpectedly criticized the  effort.<\/p>\n<p>Skip  to next paragraph<\/p>\n<div><!-- pgalleryvertcarousel --> <script type=\"text\/javascript\">\/\/ <![CDATA[\n\tvar pgalleryvertcarousel_itemList = [\n\t\t\t\t{\"url_sm\":\"\\\/var\\\/ezflow_site\\\/storage\\\/images\\\/media\\\/images\\\/0628-world-summit-medvedev-vert\\\/8225212-1-eng-US\\\/0628-World-Summit-Medvedev-VERT_full_380.jpg\",\"url_lg\":\"\\\/var\\\/ezflow_site\\\/storage\\\/images\\\/media\\\/images\\\/0628-world-summit-medvedev-vert\\\/8225212-1-eng-US\\\/0628-World-Summit-Medvedev-VERT_full_600.jpg\",\"caption\":\"Russian President Dmitry Medvedev arrive in advance of the G8 and G20 Summit at Pearson International Airport in Toronto, Thursday.\",\"credit\":\"Gerry Broome\\\/AP\"}\n\n\t\t\t\t];\n\/\/ ]]><\/script><\/p>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<ul id=\"pgalleryvertcarousel\">\n<li> <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><!-- \/thePhoto --><\/p>\n<div>\n<p id=\"pgalleryvertcarousel_caption\" title=\"Photo  Caption\">Russian President Dmitry Medvedev arrive in advance of the G8  and G20 Summit at Pearson International Airport in Toronto, Thursday.<\/p>\n<p id=\"pgalleryvertcarousel_credit\" title=\"Photo  Credit\">Gerry Broome\/AP<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><!-- \/pod --><\/p>\n<div>Enlarge<\/div>\n<p><!-- \/cfx --><\/div>\n<p><!--\/podBrdr--> <script type=\"text\/javascript\">\/\/ <![CDATA[\n\n\tjQuery('#pgalleryvertcarousel').jcarousel({\n\t\twrap: 'last',\n\t\tscroll: 1,\n\t\tinitCallback: pgalleryvertcarousel_initCallback,\n\t\titemVisibleInCallback: {\t\t\tonBeforeAnimation: pgalleryvertcarousel_itemVisibleInCallbackBeforeAnimation,\n\t\t\tonAfterAnimation: pgalleryvertcarousel_itemVisibleInCallbackAfterAnimation\n\t\t},\n\t\tbuttonNextHTML: null,\n\t\tbuttonPrevHTML: null\n\t});\n\/\/ ]]><\/script><!-- \/pgalleryvertcarousel --><\/p>\n<h3>Related Stories<\/h3>\n<div>\n<div>\n<ul>\n<li>To make progress on Afghanistan and Russia, Obama must  get Kyrgyzstan right<\/li>\n<li>Kyrgyzstan riots led to ethnic cleansing; government blames  Bakiyev<\/li>\n<li><span class=\"removed_link\" title=\"http:\/\/www.csmonitor.com\/World\/topics\/russia\">All Russia news coverage<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<p><!-- \/pod --><\/div>\n<p><!-- \/podBrder --><\/div>\n<p><!-- \/podStoryRel --> <a name=\"nextParagraph\"><\/a> <!-- Anchor skipper link. Should be placed at the end of the Related Items pod and before the next paragraph -->Speaking to journalists at the G-20 meeting in Toronto,  President Dmitry Medvedev poured cold water on the referendum&#8217;s goal of  changing Kyrgyzstan&#8217;s Constitution from a president-dominated system  into one in which a popularly-elected parliament holds the lion&#8217;s share  of power. He also warned that the tiny central Asian country faced the  &#8220;threat of breaking up&#8221; and being overrun by &#8220;extremists.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The  referendum passed Sunday with 91 percent of voters backing the  government&#8217;s reform plan. International observers, led by the  Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, praised the  polling. Others in the international community have expressed hope that  the referendum, to be followed by parliamentary elections in October,  would help Kyrgyzstan recover and rebuild after devastating ethnic riots  killed around 2,000 people and displaced hundreds of thousands in the country&#8217;s  volatile south earlier this month.<\/p>\n<p>Experts say the vote marks a  major step toward legitimizing the fractious interim government in  Bishkek, which came to power in a Moscow-backed coup d&#8217;etat that was  thinly disguised as a popular revolt in April. Now Moscow is expressing  disenchantment with the government&#8217;s big win.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Taking into account  the fact that even now the authorities are unable to impose order, that  the legitimacy of the authorities is low and its support creates a host  of questions, I do not really understand how a parliamentary republic  would look and work in Kyrgyzstan,&#8221; Mr. Medvedev said.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Will this  not lead to a chain of eternal problems \u2013 to reshuffles in parliament,  to the rise to power of this or that political group, to authority being  passed constantly from one hand to another, and, finally, will this not  help those with extremist views to power?&#8221; he said. &#8220;This concerns me.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><a id=\"eztoc8223876_1\" name=\"eztoc8223876_1\"><\/a><\/p>\n<h2>Analysts  confused by Russian move<\/h2>\n<p>Analysts say they are unsure what  Medvedev might have been hoping to achieve by trashing the plan, since  Russia&#8217;s only hope of restoring stability in the region appears to ride  with interim government head Roza Otunbayeva, whom it  has supported since she came to power in April.<\/p>\n<p>But Russia  dithered while riots shook Kyrgyzstan this month, and then decided  against intervening in the turmoil, despite Kremlin assertions that the  former Soviet Union constitutes a Russian &#8220;sphere of influence.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Some  analysts say Medvedev was voicing his frustration with what Moscow sees  as a deteriorating situation in central Asia, which it seems  increasingly incapable of dealing with.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;In Moscow they are  deeply disappointed with the interim government in Bishkek, which they  had hoped would be stronger,&#8221; says Alexei Malshenko, an expert with the  Carnegie Center in Moscow. &#8220;But Russia&#8217;s inaction reveals it as impotent  to affect events in the region. It&#8217;s a tragedy for Russian foreign  policy, and this appearance of helplessness will encourage all of  Moscow&#8217;s enemies to be more active.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Others argue that, while Medvedev&#8217;s remarks may have been unhelpful,  they merely expressed the traditional Russian skepticism about  parliaments, which have always been seen as too fractious and divisive  to impose decisive rule. Russia&#8217;s own Kremlin-centered Constitution \u2013  which leaves parliament with mostly ornamental functions \u2013 was authored  by former president Boris Yeltsin, after he dispersed his freely-elected  but disobedient legislature with gunfire in 1993<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;In Russia there is mistrust toward the very idea of a parliamentary  republic,&#8221; says Leonid Gusev, an expert with the official Institute of  World Economy and International relations, which trains Russian  diplomats. &#8220;Medvedev just said what he was thinking.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><a id=\"eztoc8223876_2\" name=\"eztoc8223876_2\"><\/a><\/p>\n<h2>Reforms aimed at  stability<\/h2>\n<p>Ms. Otunbayeva has championed the constitutional reform  as a means of breaking Kyrgyzstan&#8217;s repetitive cycle of corrupt  all-powerful presidents, whose excesses have triggered two street  revolts in barely five years.<\/p>\n<p>On Monday Otunbayeva said that  popular support for the measures means that Kyrgyzstan is now on the  path to &#8220;a true government of the people&#8230; this is a very important,  historic day for the country. The people have put a stop to the epoch of  authoritarian and nepotistic government,&#8221; she said.<\/p>\n<p>But many  analysts fear that Kyrgyzstan may face more disruptions, including  attempts by supporters of former president Kurmanbek Bakiyev, who went  into exile in Belarus after being deposed in April.<\/p>\n<p>Mr. Bakiyev is  accused of stirring up the ethnic animosities that led to the deadly  upheavals in southern Kyrgyzstan this month, a charge that he denies.<\/p>\n<p>But  in <span class=\"removed_link\" title=\"http:\/\/www.spiegel.de\/international\/world\/0,1518,703304,00.htm\">an interview<\/span> with the German magazine Der Spiegel  today, Bakiyev pours scorn on Otunbayeva&#8217;s democracy plans, saying they  are &#8220;leading the country into a dead end&#8221;, and warns that Kyrgyzstan&#8217;s  powerful political clans may soon turn against the interim president.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The  referendum may be the beginning of a process of legitimizing the new  authorities, and if we get to the parliamentary elections it will be  strengthened,&#8221; says Alexander Knyazev, a Bishkek-based analyst.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The  crisis does appear to be over for the moment, but we don&#8217;t know what  Bakiyev and his supporters may be up to,&#8221; he says. &#8220;Another crisis looks  fully possible.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><strong>RELATED STORIES<\/strong>:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>To make progress on Afghanistan and  Russia, Obama must get Kyrgyzstan right<\/li>\n<li>Kyrgyzstan riots led to ethnic cleansing;  government blames Bakiyev<\/li>\n<li>All Russia news coverage<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><!-- \/footer --> <!-- Begin Omniture --> <!-- Omniture Code --> <script type=\"text\/javascript\">\/\/ <![CDATA[\n\n\t\t\tvar dev_env = false;\n\/\/ ]]><\/script> <script src=\"http:\/\/www.csmonitor.com\/extension\/csm_base\/design\/csm_design\/javascript\/omniture\/s_code.js\" type=\"text\/javascript\"><\/script> <script type=\"text\/javascript\">\/\/ <![CDATA[\n\ts.prop1=\"\";\n\ts.prop2=\"\";\n\ts.prop3=\"why russia\\047s medvedev is blasting ally kyrgyzstan\";\n\ts.prop4=\"18ab3eb11d75115a331a92d5e41e0f20;284702;311132\";\n\ts.prop5=\"csm_article\";\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\ts.prop6=\"world\"; \/\/ Site Section\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\ts.prop7=\"world:europe\";\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\/\/s.pageName=\"why russia\\047s medvedev is blasting ally kyrgyzstan\";\n\ts.pageName=\"world:europe:csm_article\"\n\/\/ ]]><\/script> <script type=\"text\/javascript\">\/\/ <![CDATA[\n\n\tvar s_code=s.t();if(s_code)document.write(s_code);\n\/\/ ]]><\/script> <!-- End Omniture --> <!-- Begin Google Analytics --> <script src=\"https:\/\/ssl.google-analytics.com\/urchin.js\" type=\"text\/javascript\"><\/script> <script type=\"text\/javascript\">\/\/ <![CDATA[\n\t_uacct = \"UA-69821-1\";\n    urchinTracker();\n\/\/ ]]><\/script> <!-- End Google Analytics --> <!-- Begin Compete.com --> <script type=\"text\/javascript\">\/\/ <![CDATA[\n    __compete_code = '2320918049cea893c79b85cbd79dfe4e';\n    (function () {        var s = document.createElement('script'),\n            d = document.getElementsByTagName('head')[0] ||\n                document.getElementsByTagName('body')[0],\n            t = 'https:' == document.location.protocol ?\n                'https:\/\/c.compete.com\/bootstrap\/' :\n                'http:\/\/c.compete.com\/bootstrap\/';\n        s.src = t + __compete_code + '\/bootstrap.js';\n        s.type = 'text\/javascript';\n        s.async = 'async';\n        if (d) { d.appendChild(s); }    }());\n\/\/ ]]><\/script> <!-- End Compete.com --> <!-- Start Quantcast tag --> <script type=\"text\/javascript\">\/\/ <![CDATA[\n_qoptions={qacct:\"p-44NYiIzL-i6wg\"};\n\/\/ ]]><\/script> <script src=\"http:\/\/edge.quantserve.com\/quant.js\" type=\"text\/javascript\"><\/script> <noscript><\/p>\n<p><\/noscript> <!-- End Quantcast Tag --> <!-- Begin comScore Tag --> <script type=\"text\/javascript\">\/\/ <![CDATA[\ndocument.write(unescape(\"%3Cscript src='\" + (document.location.protocol == \"https:\" ? \"https:\/\/sb\" : \"http:\/\/b\")\n+ \".scorecardresearch.com\/beacon.js' %3E%3C\/script%3E\"));\n\/\/ ]]><\/script><script src=\"http:\/\/b.scorecardresearch.com\/beacon.js\"><\/script> <script type=\"text\/javascript\">\/\/ <![CDATA[\nCOMSCORE.beacon({c1:2,\nc2:\"6035073\",\nc3:\"\",\nc4:\"\",\nc5:\"\",\nc6:\"\",\nc15:\"\"});\n\/\/ ]]><\/script> <noscript><\/p>\n<p><\/noscript> <!-- End comScore Tag --><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><!-- \/pageBounds --> <!-- web34a --><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Russian President Dmitry Medvedev unexpectedly criticized a government reform vote in Kyrgyzstan that passed Sunday with 91 percent support. Kyrgyzstan&#8217;s interim leader Roza Otunbayeva (front l.) greets a group of ethnic Kyrgyz citizens at a polling station on the day of a referendum in the city of Osh Sunday. Sagyn Alchiyev\/Kyrgyz Presidential Press\/Reuters MoscowTurbulent Kyrgyzstan&#8217;s [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":83,"featured_media":783523,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[213,764],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20266","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-kyrgyzstan","category-uzbekistan"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20266","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/83"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20266"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20266\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/783523"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20266"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20266"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20266"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}