They arrested 5 people, including the leader of the “Eldik Kenesh” party, Rosa Nurmatova, a well-known pro-Russian activist. The accusations denounce a “hybrid” action by the Kremlin, which fears Kyrgyzstan’s excessive openness to collaboration with the West. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov spoke of “worrying news that we are following closely.”
Bishkek () – The Bishkek court confirmed the arrest of five of the 30 people arrested on June 5, including the leader of the “Eldik Kenesh” party, Rosa Nurmatova, and the member of the civil association “Chek ara” ( “Border”) Gulzhigit Isakov, accused of “planning a violent seizure of power” and having made foreign financing agreements, as evidenced by the interceptions of the GKNB intelligence services.
In the photographs published by the services, one can also recognize a political scientist, Professor Cholponbek Sydykbaev at the Faculty of State and Municipal Services at the University of Bishkek. The dean of the Faculty, Kunduzgul Bazakeeva, declared that she had not noticed anything suspicious in her colleague, a statement that was also confirmed by the other professors. Nurmatova, on the other hand, is well known as a pro-Russian activist – although for a time she was a supporter of the current president Zhaparov when he was in opposition – and her participation in the “plot” even provoked the reaction of the Kremlin spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, who spoke of “worrying news”, which in Moscow “is closely followed”.
Nurmatova would be the organizer and “ideological inspirer” of the coup attempt, in which nearly 100 people from all regions of the country allegedly participated. Isakov was present in 2019 at a meeting in support of Zhaparov, when he was detained in the last period of political conflict -characteristic of the instability of Kyrgyzstan- together with Kamchibek Tashiev, current head of the GKNB. Isakov later severely criticized the Zhaparov regime, especially on the occasion of the transfer of the Kempir-Abad reservoir to Uzbekistan.
A member of the “Chek ara” association, Beknazar Akhtaliev, told reporters that Isakov’s arrest “is not understandable on the one hand, and suspicious on the other. It is true that Gulzhigit is very critical of power, but so far they have not been able to accuse him of anything, despite the fact that they have tried several times… he does not work in public bodies, he is not corrupt and does not violate any laws, perhaps they have only associated him with something in which he had nothing to do see.” According to the GKNB statement, Isakov was Nurmatova’s main “accomplice”.
The intelligence services also state that “with Nurmatova’s leadership, periodic secret meetings were held to formulate the ideological motivations of the people involved against the state structures, and to discuss plans for the seizure of power, even going as far as to distribute It requires functions and tasks.” The funding from abroad would have served to “solve organizational problems, and buy the officials that were needed from the institutions to attack.”
It was not made clear which countries the funding came from, but many details point precisely to Russia. Not long ago an article had appeared in the Russian newspaper Moskovsky Komsomolets with an interview with Nurmatova, in which she expressed herself very harshly against “the spread in Kyrgyzstan of Western values, derived from the Western concept of tolerance and overcoming of traditional values”, opinions that he reportedly reiterated in various public meetings over the past year.
According to several Kyrgyz commentators, the coup attempt would essentially be a “hybrid” move by the Kremlin, which fears Kyrgyzstan’s excessive openness to collaboration with the West, in the context of a broader plan to control Central Asian countries.
