Kyrgyzstan's Democratic Revolution...

Well, Kyrgyzstan is a country in Central Asia, which is pretty much known for its fermented mare's milk, historical ruins, and totalitarian governments. Kyrgyzstan's an exception in that sense -- on April 6-7, a bloody popular uprising threw out the last President, and installed a temporary Provisional Government until elections can be held later this year.

The country has been in near-constant turmoil since then, with pro-government marches, anti-government attempted coups (the latest was this past Thursday-Friday, when supporters of the old President seized government buildings in three Southern cities), and a blockade by the country's neighbors all spilling over the front pages of the news.

What I am doing here? Am I not based in Pakistan? Well, yes - technically, I'm still based in Pakistan, but I was asked to come out to help build bridges between our embassy and the new Provisional Government. That's going pretty well.

Here are a photos and what not. First, signs of the April Revolution:


This is the Kyrgyz White House. Yes, it is, in fact, white. That is, it was until it became a battleground: on April 6-7, snipers hiding in the White House fired on protesters outside, killing 84 and wounded several hundred more.

Memorials, flowers, and pictures of the dead went up outside the White House gates, even before the smoke had settled down.

Kyrgyz "yurts" were set-up in front of the White House, for people to come by and pay respects, pray, and donate money for the families of those killed. The flowers on the ground in front of this yurt mark where three kids were killed by government snipers from a high-rise building across the street from the White House.














This is the central office of the General Prosecutor in Kyrgyzstan -- a particularly hated institution by alot of people.









Despite all of the political chaos of the past few weeks, life in Bishkek continues as normal...



There are, for example, very bizarre bus stops still dotted around the country (this one in the shape of a "kalpak," the Kyrgyz national hat).














And, of course, what would a former Soviet republic be without celebrating May 9th, Victory Day?





















There have also been alot of political protests in Kyrgyzstan this past month, with pro-government, anti-government, anti-anti-government, pro-islamist, pro-Communist etc., demonstrations happening downtown just about every day of the week. In fact, there have been so many protests, marches, demonstrates, and attempted counter-coups that I think I might just have to save that for another blogpost....