KYRGYZSTAN The palaces of power in Central Asia

The presidential administration of Kyrgyzstan has officially moved into the new palace desired by Žaparov and built on the site of a former grand Soviet alley. But the new Khan Palace in Bishkek has to compete with other sumptuous palaces in neighbouring countries.

Bishkek () – On the occasion of Independence Day, which was won 33 years ago at the end of the USSR, the presidential administration of Kyrgyzstan officially moved into its new palace in Bishkek, with a solemn inauguration ceremony. This is the most impressive move by a president in the entire period of independence, and is not an isolated case in the practice of heads of state in the Central Asian region.

The presidential palaces of these countries compete with each other in terms of splendour and majesty on a world scale, with both office and residential parts. Until today, there were two buildings in Bishkek where the president, parliament and government worked, and both dated back to the Soviet era. In Kyrgyzstan, the expression “on the seventh floor” was used to refer to the centre from which all decisions affecting the fate of the nation came down, where the president’s office was located in the so-called “White House”.

The expression had lost its charismatic aura after the political clashes of 2020, when the president had to cede many powers to Žogorku Keneš and the Government, located on Old Town Square. Now, the new palace, built in two years, restores the verticality of presidential power. In October 2023, Sadyr Žaparov himself turned to the people, asking them to help him find a suitable name for the new power building, and just a week later, 108 proposals had already arrived. At the end of the big poll, the variant Yntymak – Manas Ordo was chosen, which with the word “horde” evokes the splendor of the Tatar kingdoms, in fact the “Khan’s Palace”.

The grand building was built on the site of the grand Issyk-Kul Hotel, a typical Soviet-era barracks that had been razed to the ground to make way for the new Kyrgyz glory, overcoming the controversy of those nostalgic for the history of the last century, of which the hotel was an obvious symbol. The fiercest opponent was the great architect Išenbaj Kadyrbekov, the last local minister for construction in 1990, who had described the destruction of the Issyk-Kul as “an act of vandalism. Even if you don’t like the hotel now, in 100 years it will be recognised as a historical architectural monument.” In fact, the hotel had been in disuse for years and was finally falling apart.

The other controversial argument in the planning phase concerned the economic expediency of the operation, with Žaparov urging the population to save money. When asked for explanations, the president replied in 2022 that “we need to build a building that will remain for the people and future generations, and this is the right time.” The transfer of the presidency and the subsequent redistribution of ministries and other places of power to the northern part of the city “would free the centre of Bishkek from the huge traffic jams, which make us look like Moscow.”

There are no official figures on the actual cost of the entire operation, although opposition MP Dastan Bekešev said that “if the figures spent on the palace were made public, we would all be at risk of having a heart attack.” After all, the Khan Palace in Bishkek has to compete with other sumptuous palaces in neighbouring countries. For example, the Akorda in Astana, built from 2001 onwards by then-President Nursultan Nazarbayev, the main satrap of all post-Soviet Central Asia, covers an area of ​​37,000 square metres and is 86 metres high, made of white Carrara marble and gilded ornaments, with precious green and blue stones and a sky-blue dome – the colour of the national flag of Kazakhstan.

In Uzbekistan, the first Aksaraj state residence was built in 1991, to glorify the power of the first president Islam Karimov, although his successor, Savkat Mirziyoyev, works more modestly in the Senate building. Tajik President Emomali Rakhmon, who has reigned undisturbed in Dushanbe for 30 years, opened the Kasri Millat, the “Palace of the Nation”, in 2008, which he uses as an office, living in the Soviet-era residence, albeit much renovated. Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov also built the stately Oguzkhan Palace in 2011, also a reminder of the glories of the Tatars, and only Kyrgyzstan was missing from the list of the works of the great powers of Central Asia.