Sadyr Japarov - The Times Of Central Asia

Viewing results 1 - 6 of 36

U.S.-Kyrgyzstan Relations

President Japarov Pursues U.S. Partnerships in Utah and New York

Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov attended the opening of the United Nations General Assembly’s general debate in New York on Tuesday. His program in the city began with business meetings on Monday, following an earlier stop in Utah. Japarov was welcomed at UN headquarters by Secretary-General António Guterres and was scheduled to address delegates on the opening day. On Monday, Japarov met executives from Wabtec, an American locomotive manufacturer. During the meeting, a contract was signed for the purchase of 10 freight locomotives for Kyrgyzstan’s state railway company. Delivery is expected by the end of 2027. Japarov said the purchase would modernize about 30% of the company’s fleet and instructed officials to examine its full renewal within five years. He said additional locomotive capacity would be needed once the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway is completed. Later that day, Japarov visited StoneX Group for talks on precious-metals trading and international settlements. StoneX and Eldik Bank signed a memorandum. Japarov also met Citibank Managing Director Stephanie von Friedeburg. Their talks covered correspondent banking and access to international financial infrastructure. Citibank signed separate memoranda with the Finance Ministry and the two state lenders, Eldik Bank and ABank. The possibility of opening a branch in Kyrgyzstan was also discussed. Japarov began his visit to the United States in Utah, arriving in Salt Lake City on September 18. The following day, he met Governor Spencer Cox and toured the Utah State Capitol with state Senate President Stuart Adams. Adams had invited him during an April trade mission to Kyrgyzstan. The Utah program drew on the mountain geography shared by the two places. At Utah Olympic Park, Japarov examined venues from the 2002 Winter Olympics and preparations for Salt Lake City’s 2034 Games. He later visited Deer Valley to study its investment and year-round resort model, which Kyrgyz officials are considering for the Ala-Too Resort project. The Utah stop also brought Japarov together with Ladd Howell, captain of the U.S. kok-boru team at this month’s World Nomad Games in Kyrgyzstan. Howell was among those who welcomed him on the tarmac in Salt Lake City. During the visit, he presented Japarov with his Team USA jersey and cowboy hat. Japarov grinned and gave a thumbs-up as Howell settled the hat on his head, a warm exchange after a tournament in which the American captain had scored six of his team’s seven points in a 16-7 defeat to Kyrgyzstan.

Rule of law

Kyrgyz Court Upholds Ex-Security Chief Tashiyev’s Conviction but Changes Charge

On September 10, the Bishkek City Court upheld convictions against former security chief Kamchybek Tashiyev and seven others, but changed the offense from plotting to overthrow the government to interfering with electoral rights. All eight had been convicted in July of plotting the violent overthrow of the government. They received four-year prison sentences, replaced by three years of probation. The change has added to the confusion surrounding the alleged plot. On September 14, Tashiyev’s lawyer asked the Prosecutor General’s Office to investigate the appeal judges’ actions, saying the defense had received no warning of the new charge. The Letter of 75 The saga started in February, when a group of 75 prominent figures in Kyrgyzstan released an open letter calling on President Japarov to call for an early presidential election. The group argued that Japarov was elected in January 2021 under the terms of the previous constitution, which allowed a president one six-year term in office. Several months after Japarov was elected, the country approved a new constitution that gave an individual the right to be elected to two five-year terms as president. Within hours of the letter’s publication, the authorities started rounding up some of the authors of the letter, and President Japarov dismissed his long-time friend Tashiyev as security chief. Japarov said he dismissed Tashiyev to “prevent a split in society,” and for weeks after that, the Kyrgyz president was evasive about the exact reason for sacking a man Japarov continued to call his close friend. In an interview in late April, parliamentary deputy Elvira Surabaldiyeva was the first Kyrgyz official to clarify that Tashiyev was being charged with planning a coup. The trial opened on June 15. Tashiyev’s co-defendants were former Prosecutor General Kurmankul Zulushev, former Parliamentary Speaker Nurlanbek Turgunbek uulu, former Deputy Interior Minister Kursan Asanov, former Deputy Prime Minister Aaly Karashev, and politicians Emilbek Uzakbayev, Bekbolot Talgarbekov, and Kurmanbek Dyykanbayev. On July 2, all eight were found guilty of plotting the violent overthrow of the government. The court imposed four-year prison sentences and ordered confiscation of their property, but replaced imprisonment with three years of probation. Most of the defendants and the prosecution appealed the court decision, setting the stage for the court ruling on September 10. Still Guilty, but of Something Different The prosecution sought to have the sentences increased to nine years in prison for all the defendants. The defendants, of course, wanted to be exonerated. On September 10, the Bishkek City Court rendered its verdict. All eight defendants were declared guilty, but not of attempting to overthrow the government. They were guilty of “interfering with exercising voting rights.” The court retained the four-year prison terms but again allowed all eight defendants to serve probation instead. It reduced probation from three years to two and lifted the property confiscation order. Zulushev’s lawyer has said he will appeal to the Supreme Court. Tashiyev’s lawyer has separately asked prosecutors to investigate the appeal judges’ actions, arguing that his client was convicted on a charge the...

Sadyr Japarov

Japarov Says Tashiyev Was His Planned Successor as Prosecutors Seek Nine-Year Terms

Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov says he once planned to leave office in 2027 and support Kamchybek Tashiyev as his successor, before deciding that his longtime political partner was not ready for the presidency. The disclosure comes as prosecutors are asking an appeals court to impose nine-year prison terms on Tashiyev and seven other defendants in the “Letter of 75” case. Japarov set out the abandoned succession plan in an interview with journalist Ali Toktakunov released on August 13. He said he had expected to complete the six-year term he won in 2021, then leave politics if Tashiyev was ready to take over. “Kamchy would become president, and I would retire. I had such a plan,” Japarov said. The president said he had told Tashiyev about the plan roughly a year earlier and urged him to prepare for the presidency by imposing more discipline on the people around him. Japarov said he later concluded that Tashiyev was not ready. He cited the conduct of some of Tashiyev’s staff and associates, the appearance of the “Letter of 75,” and signs that parliament was being divided between supporters of the president and supporters of “the general,” a reference to Tashiyev. Japarov said he summoned Tashiyev and told him: “This won’t do. You cannot split people.” He said he informed Tashiyev that he would be removed from office, but claimed he was still prepared to allow him to contest the presidential election without obstruction. That account adds a succession dispute to the explanation Japarov gave when he dismissed Tashiyev on February 10 as chairman of the State Committee for National Security (GKNB) and deputy chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers. At the time, the presidency said the decision was needed to “prevent a split in society” and state institutions. Senior GKNB officials were removed soon afterward, the border service was taken out of the hands of the committee, and parliamentary speaker Nurlanbek Turgunbek uulu resigned. Japarov has now drawn a sharp distinction between his personal relationship with Tashiyev and their political future. In another part of the interview, he said the two had been friends since 2005, and their families had been close. “He will remain my friend, but I have no plans to appoint him to any position,” Japarov said. He credited Tashiyev with making a major contribution during his five years at the GKNB, but said he should rest and consider where he had made mistakes. Japarov also confirmed for the first time himself that he intends to seek another term. “I intend to run for another term and continue my work,” he said, according to Reuters. His spokesman had said in 2024 that Japarov planned to run again, but the president had not previously made a public declaration of his own. He said a second term was needed to complete reforms already under way. Japarov also promised that rivals would be free to challenge him. “The road is open. Whoever wants to run, let them run,” he said, adding that there...

Kamchybek Tashiyev

Kyrgyz Prosecutors Seek Nine-Year Prison Terms for Tashiyev and Seven Others

Kyrgyz prosecutors are asking an appeals court to send former security chief Kamchybek Tashiyev and seven other defendants to prison. A lower court convicted all eight in July of preparing to seize power by force, but allowed them to remain free on probation. The appeal is being heard by the Bishkek City Court, with the hearing taking place behind closed doors. Prosecutors are challenging the sentences handed down by the trial court. The “Letter of 75” case arose from an open letter signed on February 9 by 75 politicians, former officials, and public figures. The authors called for an early presidential election amid a dispute over when President Sadyr Japarov’s current term should end. Five of the signatories were among the eight people later charged with preparing to seize power by force. Before his dismissal, Tashiyev had been one of Kyrgyzstan’s most powerful officials and a central figure in Japarov’s government. Japarov appointed his longtime ally to lead the State Committee for National Security (GKNB) after coming to power in 2020, but dismissed him on February 10, 2026, saying the move was needed to “prevent a split in society” and state institutions. The dismissal ended a five-year governing partnership and was followed by personnel changes across the GKNB and other state bodies. Eight people eventually stood trial, including Tashiyev, former Prosecutor General Kurmankul Zulushev, and former parliamentary speaker Nurlanbek Turgunbek uulu. The trial court found all eight guilty and sentenced them to four years in prison with confiscation of property, but exempted them from serving the prison terms and placed them under supervised probation for three years. They were acquitted of the separate charge of abuse of office. The Times of Central Asia previously reported in detail on the verdict and the circumstances surrounding the case. Prosecutors had sought nine-year prison terms at the original trial. According to defense lawyers, they are now asking the appeals court to impose the same terms on all eight defendants. Some of the defendants have also appealed their convictions and are seeking acquittal. During the appeal, the defendants again raised one of the disputed issues in the case: why criminal proceedings targeted only some of the people involved when the open letter had 75 signatories. Five defendants who had signed the letter asked the court to give a legal assessment of the actions of the other 70 signatories. The appeals panel granted the request and agreed that the other signatories could be called for questioning, with the defense responsible for securing their attendance. If prosecutors prevail, the appeal would reverse the main practical outcome of the July trial: all eight defendants were convicted of preparing to seize power by force, but none was sent to prison.

Cremation Ban

Kyrgyzstan Reverses Cremation Policy as Japarov Signs Ban

In less than two and a half years, Kyrgyzstan has gone from recognizing cremation in law to banning it. On August 3, President Sadyr Japarov signed amendments prohibiting the cremation of human remains and removing the legal framework for the burial or storage of ashes. Law No. 139 will take effect on August 14. Under the new law, “cremation” no longer refers to the burning of a deceased person’s body. It is redefined as the sanitary burning of human organs or tissue resulting from medical activity, while a “crematorium” will mean the technical facility used for that purpose. Such facilities are expressly prohibited from being used for deceased people or aborted and stillborn fetuses. Unidentified and unclaimed bodies must instead be buried. Religious opposition was already part of the debate years before the 2024 law, with a 2018 AKIpress report quoting Baktiyar Toktogazy uulu, a fatwa specialist with the Spiritual Administration of Muslims of Kyrgyzstan, as saying that cremating a Muslim body contradicts Islamic canons. The report also quoted Askerbek Aliyev, then head of Bishkek’s funeral service, who said earlier attempts to introduce cremation legislation had faced opposition from religious groups. Despite those objections, implementation was still moving ahead in October 2025, when Kudaibergen Bazarbaev, then-director of the State Agency for Civil Service and Local Self-Government, said cremation would be voluntary and available to people of other faiths or those who chose it. He added that existing burial traditions would remain unchanged and acknowledged that the country had no crematoria or funding for them. An official draft published that month proposed approving rules for operating crematoria. In December 2025, a Cabinet resolution on funeral-service pricing still included cremation followed by the issuing of an urn among regulated services. By March 2026, however, the State Agency was proposing to suspend the 2024 law’s provision allowing crematoria until January 1, 2040, citing a lack of infrastructure and financing. The agency also said environmental requirements and socio-cultural questions remained unresolved. Religious concerns entered the parliamentary debate directly in June, when MP Nurzhamal Torobekova asked whether citizens’ views and religious customs had been taken into account. A State Agency official replied that cremation had been conceived as a service rather than a requirement, citing foreigners whose customs include the practice. The committee subsequently approved the proposed delay in its second reading. The version Japarov signed went substantially further, removing human cremation and provisions governing ashes from the law rather than postponing their implementation. The stated purpose is to distinguish funeral activity from the sanitary handling of biological material, but neither that explanation nor the law says why the proposed moratorium ultimately became a ban. The change also puts Kyrgyzstan on a different course from neighboring Kazakhstan. Almaty has opened the country’s first crematorium, where cremation is offered as a voluntary alternative to burial.

Border Demarcation

Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan Begin Installing Border Pillars After Completing Border Delimitation

Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan have begun installing border pillars along their shared frontier, marking the start of the final stage in implementing the landmark border agreement that ended one of Central Asia’s longest-running territorial disputes. On July 14, representatives of the two countries installed the first four border pillars on the section beginning at the tri-junction where the borders of Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan meet. The Kyrgyz-Tajik border stretches 1,008.14 kilometers, while the total perimeter of neutral territory amounts to 14.07 kilometers. The installation of border markers follows the completion of the border delimitation process, which began in December 2002 and is widely regarded as a historic breakthrough in relations between the two neighboring countries. On March 13, 2025, in Bishkek, Presidents Sadyr Japarov of Kyrgyzstan and Emomali Rahmon of Tajikistan signed the Treaty on the Kyrgyz-Tajik State Border, establishing the legal framework for long-term stability, confidence-building, and sustainable development in border regions. The joint Kyrgyz-Tajik demarcation commission has since carried out field surveys covering approximately 416 kilometers of the border between Kyrgyzstan’s Batken Region and Tajikistan’s Sughd Region. It has identified locations for 1,627 border signs, comprising 1,954 border pillars. Both governments describe the completion of legal border formalization and physical demarcation as a key step toward improving regional security, promoting socioeconomic development in border areas, expanding bilateral cooperation, and deepening relations between the two countries. For decades, the Kyrgyz-Tajik border was one of the most volatile in Central Asia. Disputes rooted in conflicting Soviet-era maps, competition over water resources and pastureland, and the complex geography of enclaves such as Vorukh repeatedly triggered clashes between local communities and security forces. The most serious confrontations occurred in April 2021 and September 2022, when fighting involving heavy artillery and armed drones resulted in military and civilian casualties and forced thousands of residents to flee their homes. The border settlement forms part of efforts by Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan to resolve territorial disputes inherited after the collapse of the Soviet Union. At a summit in Khujand on March 31, 2025, Presidents Japarov, Rahmon, and Shavkat Mirziyoyev signed an agreement defining the junction point of the three countries’ state borders, formally ending decades of territorial disagreements. The three leaders also inaugurated the Friendship Stele, erected at the point where the three national borders meet as a symbol of reconciliation and a new phase of regional cooperation. As previously reported by The Times of Central Asia, Kyrgyzstan has also proposed establishing the Dostuk, or Friendship, International Trade and Economic Park jointly with Tajikistan and Uzbekistan in the tri-border area. The initiative is expected to boost cross-border trade, attract investment, and create new economic opportunities throughout the Ferghana Valley.