Cutting off the Kyrgyzstanis

Kerry Howley | February 28, 2005

When things got ugly at the Myanmar Times last November, a few of my colleagues jumped ship and found work at an opposition newspaper in vowel-challenged Kyrgyzstan. There, we reasoned, they'd be dealing with the kind of self-censorship that comes with knowing that printing the wrong thing will get your legs broken (the Indonesian system), but they'd be free of the systematic government-sponsored censorship dictators prefer. Well, we were wrong. In Bishkek (that's the capital; also, Kyrgyz for "churn of mare's milk") the Kyrgyz government stands accused of cutting off the power supply to a major printing press the week before elections. (Subtle, guys!) Radio broadcasts were also disrupted, prompting Kyrgyz protests. Parliamentary elections went ahead yesterday, and results are still coming in. President Askar Akayev's term is up this year, but if he gets enough of his supporters into power, he'll likely try to change the constitution and grant himself a longer stay. If he gracefully exits, he'll be the first post-Soviet Central Asian president to leave without being forced.

Comments

|2.28.05 @ 6:05PM|#

where the f**k is Kyrgystan?

|2.28.05 @ 6:07PM|#

Near the other 'Stans.

|2.28.05 @ 6:08PM|#

Of course, if Bush hadn't invade Iraq, this wouldn't have happened. :)

|2.28.05 @ 6:10PM|#

Then again, Gary, if Akayev loses and exits without trying to engineer a longer term it will all be a result of the invasion of Iraq. Everything that happens anywhere in the world can be attributed to something that a US President did or didn't do.

Me, I prefer to only attribute something to the actions of a US President if they happen in the US and don't involve the ordinary business cycle.

|2.28.05 @ 6:26PM|#

How do we know this isn't caused by the RCC's stance on homosexuality?

|2.28.05 @ 6:36PM|#

mr. curious,

the crackdown on the press in kyrgyzstan is the natural response of a government trying to protect a traditional society from rampant individualism. every bad thing that might happen in kyrgyzstan is nietzsche's fault.

|2.28.05 @ 8:00PM|#

badius:

That was great!

|2.28.05 @ 8:21PM|#

mr. ha, i didn't write it for your amusement. this decadent emphasis on individual enjoyment will destroy western society in the end. the deplorable state of art and entertainment in a society that worships at the altar of nietzsche is a loud proclamation that the inevitable fall has already begun. freedom only works when people understand that their actions must be subject to external constraint. akayev obviously understands this.