07 July 2005, 19:02 Politics

Akaev became a counter-revolutionary

Ilya Zhegulev Former President Askar Akayev was accused of attempting to overthrow those who overthrew him. The new authorities, who successfully dispersed the June riot with tear grenades, are now going to accuse Akaev of preparing a coup.

The Kyrgyz authorities made this conclusion by tapping the telephone conversations of the former Kyrgyz president. Former oppositionist, and now... O. Deputy Prime Minister of Kyrgyzstan Adakhan Madumarov said on Thursday that the country's Security Council has recordings of a telephone conversation between ex-President Askar Akayev, indicating his involvement in the attempt to seize the government building of the republic on June 17.

Let us recall that on this day the government building was once again seized by indignant Kyrgyz people over the past six months. This time they were supporters of one of the contenders for the presidential post, the leader of the Mekenen Kyrgyzstan party Urmatbek Baryktabasov. However, the former revolutionaries knew how to deal with their own kind. The rioters were quickly pushed back by internal troops using tear gas grenades. 40 people were injured in the clash, of which 13 were wounded and gassed and were taken to hospitals in Bishkek. Baryktabasov himself called the seizure of the Government House of the Republic “a provocation on the part of the authorities.”

However, from the very beginning, behind Baryktabasov, the Kyrgyz authorities began to see the ominous figure of Askar Akayev. And now they have decided to declare it publicly.

“There is some evidence of this (Akaev’s involvement in the seizure of the Government House. - Gazeta.Ru ),” Madumarov said at a press conference on Thursday. He did not comment on the details of the content of the ex-president’s conversation. He did not talk about how the Security Council came into possession of the recordings of this conversation. It is worth noting that Madumarov himself, when telephone bugs were found in his deputy office a year and a half ago, was very outraged by the interference in his private life and demanded a special investigation by the prosecutor’s office.

Now the prosecutor's office is busy with other cases. As Madumarov recalled, based on the facts of the events of June 17, a criminal case was opened in the republic for an attempted coup. In addition, according to him, on July 5, the state commission to investigate the mentioned events completed its work. The results of the investigation after the presidential elections will be presented at a meeting of the Security Council of Kyrgyzstan, where appropriate decisions must be made. As it became known earlier, six members of Baryktabasov’s party have already been arrested, and the ex-presidential candidate is awaiting his imminent physical elimination.

It is unknown how this telephone scandal will end. In the meantime, Akaev publicly denies his involvement in the events of June 17 in Bishkek.

“Neither I nor my children are familiar with Baryktabasov and have no relationship with him. By the way, he himself has repeatedly stated that during the years of Akaev’s rule he was persecuted and therefore was forced to do business in Kazakhstan. So, in principle, Baryktabasov cannot work for me. It’s just safe to blame absolutely everything on me now. I can’t defend myself!” - Akaev complains. The ex-president considers this a provocation of a certain “third force” that arose in the current government itself. “There are people there who are afraid of being left out of work if the Bakiyev-Kulov tandem (the current acting president and acting deputy prime minister) continues,” Akaev said.

Meanwhile, the former president is not against this tandem, and he even likes it. “This is a tandem of experienced politicians, leaders of the north and south. And if this tandem continues, then there is hope that there will be stability in Kyrgyzstan. But if it falls apart, then we must expect trouble,” Akaev noted.