Deposed Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev agreed Thursday to step down and then fled the country to neighboring Kazakhstan, said Kanat Saudabayev, the Kazak chairman in the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE).
The OSCE official said in a statement that Bakiyev’s departure was the result of joint efforts of the presidents of Kazakhstan, the United States, and Russia to have him leave Kyrgyzstan, as the new, self-proclaimed government insisted.
The political uncertainty in the impoverished Central Asia country of 5 million people appears to be resolved, following bloody clashes that erupted last week when President Bakiyev was overthrown in a coup. Russia, the first country to de facto recognize the Kyrgyz interim government, has been accused of being behind the coup, a claim the Kremlin denies.
Earlier Bakiyev, whose impunity was canceled by the country’s new leaders, had agreed to resign if his opposition agreed to put an end to the “armed lawlessness” across the country and would guarantee him personal safety.
The self-declared authorities in Kyrgyzstan were not willing to negotiate with the deposed president accusing him of responsibility for the deaths of opposition supporters in clashes leading up to the coup.
The new authorities in Kyrgyzstan have initiated procedures to detain Kurmanbek Bakiyev’s younger brother Janysh Bakiyev, the former head of the nation security service, and former Defense Minister Bakyt Kakyev, who are accused of ordering security to fire on the protesters in last week’s clashes in the capital of Bishkek, radio Svoboda reported.
The OSCE official said in a statement that Bakiyev’s departure was the result of joint efforts of the presidents of Kazakhstan, the United States, and Russia to have him leave Kyrgyzstan, as the new, self-proclaimed government insisted.
The political uncertainty in the impoverished Central Asia country of 5 million people appears to be resolved, following bloody clashes that erupted last week when President Bakiyev was overthrown in a coup. Russia, the first country to de facto recognize the Kyrgyz interim government, has been accused of being behind the coup, a claim the Kremlin denies.
Earlier Bakiyev, whose impunity was canceled by the country’s new leaders, had agreed to resign if his opposition agreed to put an end to the “armed lawlessness” across the country and would guarantee him personal safety.
The self-declared authorities in Kyrgyzstan were not willing to negotiate with the deposed president accusing him of responsibility for the deaths of opposition supporters in clashes leading up to the coup.
The new authorities in Kyrgyzstan have initiated procedures to detain Kurmanbek Bakiyev’s younger brother Janysh Bakiyev, the former head of the nation security service, and former Defense Minister Bakyt Kakyev, who are accused of ordering security to fire on the protesters in last week’s clashes in the capital of Bishkek, radio Svoboda reported.
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