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08 April 2010
U.S. Concerned by Unrest in Kyrgyzstan
Washington — The United States expressed deep concern about the loss of life in Kyrgyzstan following two days of bloody protests and unrest that started in northwestern Kyrgyzstan on April 6 and spread throughout the capital, Bishkek, on April 7.
“We have reached out to government and civil society leaders to urge calm, nonviolence and respect for the rights of citizens, especially under emergency situations,” U.S. Ambassador Ian Kelly said April 8 in Vienna at a meeting of the Permanent Council of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE).
White House press secretary Robert Gibbs told reporters April 8 that President Obama has been kept informed about the crisis in Kyrgyzstan. Gibbs is traveling with the president, who was in Prague for the signing of a new arms-reduction treaty with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.
“The president has been closely following the events in Kyrgyzstan, and continues to monitor the situation with his national security team,” Gibbs said. “We urge that calm be restored to Bishkek and other affected areas in a manner consistent with democratic principles and with respect for human rights.”
Gibbs added that the United States deplores the use of deadly force by some of the Kyrgyz security services against the demonstrators and by some of the demonstrators against the security forces, and continues to be concerned about looting and disorder.
“The United States looks forward to continuing our productive relationship with the people of Kyrgyzstan and the renewal of Kyrgyzstan’s democratic path,” Gibbs said.
Thousands of protesters, furious over corruption and rising energy costs, seized government buildings in Talas on April 6 and in Bishkek April 7 and clashed with police and security forces. Police and security forces opened fire in Bishkek, killing dozens and wounding hundreds more, according to news reports. In the aftermath of the clashes, Kyrgyzstan President Kurmanbek Bakiyev fled the capital after declaring a state of emergency, and an opposition group has formed a transitional government. News reports on April 8 said Bakiyev was in a southern Kyrgyzstan city.
At the OSCE, Kelly said the United States has endorsed an April 6 statement from U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon that calls for restraint and immediate talks aimed at lowering tensions. Ban dispatched Ján Kubiš, the executive secretary of the U.N. Economic Commission for Europe, as his special envoy to the Central Asian nation. Ban was in Bishkek April 2–3, and had urged leaders there to uphold human rights and guarantee freedom of speech.
OSCE Chairperson-in-Office Kanat Saudabayev, who is Kazakhstan’s secretary of state and foreign minister, announced April 8 that he was sending special envoy Zhanybek Karibzhanov to Kyrgyzstan. Karibzhanov is deputy speaker of the Majilis (the lower house of parliament) of Kazakhstan, chairman of the Kazakh-Kyrgyz inter-parliamentary group and a former Kazakh ambassador. Saudabayev also announced that Ambassador Herbert Salber, director of the OSCE Conflict Prevention Centre in Vienna, will travel to Bishkek to support Karibzhanov.
The United States maintains a military transit center at the Manas airport, near Bishkek, which it uses to support operations in Afghanistan. Russia also maintains an air base in the country. U.S. officials said the transit center at Manas was operating, but personnel were confined to the facility.
(This is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://www.america.gov)
