The first president of Kyrgyzstan, Askar Akayev, who was overthrown on March 24, 2005, celebrated his 80th birthday on November 10. In an interview with Rossiyskaya Gazeta, he spoke about those events again, answering the question about cost of the Tulip Revolution.
According to him, everyone knows that «color revolutions» are used by the US to replace leaders in various countries and on different continents that Washington does not like.
«And at that time I became undesirable to the US Department of State for two reasons: firstly, for the initiative to create a Russian air base in Kyrgyzstan in 2003, contrary to the opinion of the US; and secondly, for refusing to deploy the American AWACS reconnaissance aircraft at Manas International Airport in 2004,» Askar Akayev told.
He added that then «the US acted according to a well-known scenario, successfully tested earlier in Georgia (2003) and Ukraine (2004).»
«A large-scale, fierce information campaign to discredit me and my family members began in the independent media. The irreconcilable radical opposition received generous financial assistance from the US to fight the legitimate government of the republic. Moreover, the US Ambassador to Kyrgyzstan Stephen Young personally and openly supervised the preparation of the opposition forces for the so-called «Tulip Revolution,» Askar Akayev added.
According to him, «then, through third countries, the media received an intercepted report from Young, who urgently demanded $30 million from the Department of State to discredit Akayev’s family, to spread shocking rumors (and they worked!) that even his wife wanted to become president»...
Askar Akayev also stated that «when the opposition realized that it was unable to raise the broad masses of the people for a genuine revolution, it unhesitatingly resorted to the services of the drug mafia and criminal structures to carry out an ordinary coup d’etat.»
There was no revolution with the participation of the masses in Kyrgyzstan and there could not be.
Askar Akayev
«The economy of the republic in the 2000s was on the rise, the average rate of economic growth was 6 percent, and in 2004 it reached 7 percent. By March 2005, Kyrgyzstan was a stable and prosperous state, successfully reformed in political, economic and spiritual respects. Kyrgyzstan also had a high international reputation; our republic was called «an island of democracy in Central Asia» all over the world», the former president believes.
According to him, «even the UNDP office in Kyrgyzstan qualified these events as a coup d’etat, citing the fact that on that day, the irreconcilable opposition sent over ten thousand aggressive drug mafia thugs, high on vodka and drugs, to storm the Government House.»
He also added that his last decision that day was the order not to shoot under any circumstances.
On September 3, the Parliament of Kyrgyzstan received a letter from Askar Akayev about returning his status of ex-president. It was sent to the Committee on Constitutional Legislation, State Structure, Judicial, Legal Issues, and Regulations of the Parliament, and its members recommended the deputies to refuse to satisfy the request. Colleagues supported the committee’s proposal.
Askar Akayev ruled the country from 1990 to 2005. On March 24, 2005, as a result of the so-called Tulip Revolution against the family, authoritarian and corrupt power, he was overthrown. After that, Akayev left the Kyrgyz Republic and has been living in Russia since then.
