• Military Menu                       

• Introduction
• Systems
• Facilities
• Agencies
• Industry
• Operations
• Countries
• Hot Documents
• News
• Reports
• Policy
• Budget
• Congress
• Links

• WMD
• Intelligence
• Homeland Security
• Space

Kyrgyz opposition fears government may use force against civilians

RIA Novosti

06/04/201016:53

BISHKEK, April 6 (RIA Novosti) - The Kyrgyz opposition fears the country's government may use force against civilians, the country's opposition leader said.

The Kyrgyz opposition is currently holding a rally and has seized a governmental building in the city of Talas.

Ata-Meken opposition party leader Omurbek Tekebayev said that military and air bases have become more active. "Helicopters and planes are taking off and landing all the time," he said. "We do not rule out that the government may use military force against civilians," he continued.

The Kyrgyz government pledged to harshly suppress unconstitutional actions carried out by protesters.

Tekebayev said that the opposition planned to hold regional congresses in different cities of the country on April 7.

"However, unfortunately the republic's authorities perceived this initiative as hostile," he said adding that some representatives of the opposition had been arrested.

Tekebayev said that Ata-Meken deputy head Bolot Sherniyazov was arrested on Tuesday morning creating a wave of protests among citizens in the country. Protestors demanded Sherniyazov's release and soon authorities were forced to meet those demands.

However, the protesters have continued the rally and entered the local government building in Talas.

Kyrgyz police said that an "unruly crowd of people, many of whom were intoxicated, without inhibition entered the building of the regional administration and some time later left [the building]."

However, some sources said that the protesters are at the moment in front of the regional police building, which is surrounded by Special Forces armed with various equipment, including tear gas, to prevent the protesters from entering the building.

Kyrgyz Prime Minister Daniyar Usenov has confirmed that the protesters seized the Talas government building but refuted reports in Western media saying that they had also taken hostages.

The Kyrgyz prosecution office has opened a criminal case against the riot organizers.

Kyrgyzstan, where Russia and the United States both have military bases, has been in a state of constant instability since current President Kurmanbek Bakiyev came to power after the so-called tulip revolution, toppling his long-serving predecessor Askar Akayev in 2005.

The opposition has accused Bakiyev of tightening his grip on power while failing to bring stability and economic growth. His party won most seats in parliament in the early December 2007 election after two years of political upheaval.