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Kyrgyz immigrants

Finds of stone tools prove that the area of ​​today’s Kyrgyzstan was already inhabited in the Paleolithic. Early cultures are from 2000 BC. Demonstrable. From the 8th century BC The Scythians lived here. The Kyrgyz people originally lived on the Yenisei River in Siberia. Groups of them immigrated to today’s settlement area in the 8th century.

In the 6th century, the Yenisei Kyrgyz came under the power of the Kök Turks who ruled this area. In the 8th century they were replaced by the Uighurs. In the 9th century, the Kyrgyz defeated the Uyghurs and became a major power. But already in the 10th century they were pushed back by other peoples such as the Kitan and the Tungus.

Under Mongol rule

In the 13th century, Genghis Khan conquered a vast area and established the Mongol Empire. Today’s Kyrgyzstan was one of them. After Genghis Khan’s death, the empire was divided among his sons and Kyrgyzstan was now part of the Chagatai Khanate.

In the 16th century this dissolved into individual khanates. Kyrgyzstan came under the rule of the Oirats, another Mongolian tribe. In the 17th century the area was under Chinese influence, part of which belonged to the Kokand Khanate.

Part of the Russian Empire

From the middle of the 19th century, Russia conquered large parts of Central Asia. In 1876 today’s Kyrgyzstan became part of the Russian Empire. In 1916, the Basmachi fought against Russian rule. They were insurgents who did not want to fight for the Russians in World War I. Their resistance to Russian rule lasted for several years, but eventually they had to give up.

Part of the Soviet Union

Kyrgyzstan became one of the Soviet republics, initially as part of the Turkestan Soviet Republic, in 1926 as the Kyrgyz Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (Kyrgyz ASSR) and then in 1936 as the Kyrgyz Soviet Socialist Republic (Kyrgyz SSR).

All developments in the Soviet Union have now also been implemented in Kyrgyzstan – from the collectivization of agriculture (the merger of previously private farms into large cooperatives) to the settlement of Russians and the introduction of Russian as the official language. When the Soviet Union fell apart, Kyrgyzstan also declared itself independent. That was on August 31, 1991.

History of Kyrgyzstan since independence in 1991

President Akayev (1991-2005)

Askar Akayev became the first president of independent Kyrgyzstan. In 1990 he was elected President of the Kyrgyz Soviet Republic. He now initiated the democratization of the country. The economy was transformed from the Soviet planned economy to a market economy. In 1993 there was a new constitution.

But Akayev ruled increasingly authoritarian. He began to strengthen his position. Political opponents were suppressed. But the people were also dissatisfied, because the poverty in the country increased more and more. Akayev was also accused of falsifying elections. Resistance arose against all of this: in 2005 Akayev was overthrown in the tulip revolution. It was named after the mountain tulip, the symbol of the resistance movement.

President Bakiev (2005-2010) and his overthrow

Kurmanbek Bakiyev was one of the leaders of the opposition. He was elected the new president. But the next elections were also criticized as undemocratic and he too strengthened the role of the president. In 2010 he was overthrown. He went into exile in Belarus. He was sentenced to life imprisonment in absentia for violently cracking down on protests, which resulted in 77 deaths.

The leader of the opposition was Rosa Otunbayeva. Your transitional government laid the foundation for a parliamentary republic in which the president has less power. A new constitution has been adopted.

President Atambayev (2011-2017)

In 2010 there were riots in the south of the country between the Kyrgyz and Uzbeks, who live here in large numbers. Around 2000 people were killed and many more fled.

Almasbek Atambayev was elected as the new president in 2011. He is a member of the Social Democratic Party of Kyrgyzstan, a country located in Asia according to homosociety.

Sooronbai Dscheenbekow (since 2017)

In 2017, Sooronbai replaced Dscheenbekow Atambayev.

Unemployment, corruption and poverty are still problems in Kyrgyzstan.