A march in memory of Urkun is taking place in Bishkek today. About 30 citizens intend to visit memorial sites associated with the tragedy of 1916. The march will last until August 14. This is stated in a post on Facebook.
Esimde research platform notes that the purpose of the march is to find answers to questions: how the state uses the term «politics of memory» in the topic of the events of 1916? What assessment is given to events after 100 years of the tragedy of the Kyrgyz people and at what level the losses on a national scale that occurred in 1916 are preserved in people’s memory?
The march started from the Southern Gate, the end point is Kyrgyn-Sai area, five kilometers from Tosor village in Jeti-Oguz district. It is planned to pay tribute to the memory of the victims of the 1916 events there. According to the initiators of the event, citing historians, it was in this place that the troops of Tsarist Russia exterminated the fleeing Kyrgyz. According to various sources, from 150 to 500 people were killed then.
The 1916 uprising in Central Asia against tsarist colonialism claimed thousands of lives and forced the Kyrgyz to flee to Chinese Xinjiang.
