Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev has declared a state of emergency in Kyrgyzstan following an April 7 clash between police and protesters outside the government headquarters in Bishkek that left four dead.
The tumult that engulfed Kyrgyzstan on April 6-7 represents a failure for US foreign policy. In particular, it illustrates the hazards of allowing security concerns to dictate diplomacy at the expense of democratization.
Roza Otunbayeva -- a former foreign minister who five years ago helped now-discredited president Kurmanbek Bakiyev gain power following the Tulip Revolution -- is leading a nascent coalition government in Bishkek. The full form of the new government was still taking shape during the early hours of April 8, amid political jockeying by various opposition figures.
At about 8:10 pm, central Bishkek was rocked by thundering explosions. Shortly before the blasts began, witnesses saw a tank taking aim at the Executive Office Building, known locally as the White House.
Kyrgyzstan, a Central Asian state that experienced the Tulip Revolution in 2005, is once again going through a bout of political instability, one with uncertain ramifications for President Kurmanbek Bakiyev's administration.
Eighty-two-year-old Usup Amarian's 200-head flock of sheep will not be heading up into the mountains outside Yerevan for grazing this spring. Like many Yezidi shepherds, Amarian's family exported their entire flock to Iran last year to cash in on high export prices. Now, with domestic prices for sheep running at 65,000 drams (about $165) per head, Amarian cannot afford to restock.
Eighty-two-year-old Usup Amarian's 200-head flock of sheep will not be heading up into the mountains outside Yerevan for grazing this spring. Like many Yezidi shepherds, Amarian's family exported their entire flock to Iran last year to cash in on high export prices. Now, with domestic prices for sheep running at 65,000 drams (about $165) per head, Amarian cannot afford to restock.
KHORUGH, Tajikistan -- Officers from Tajikistan's antidrug agency descend upon a village in a remote southeastern province, confiscate 15 kilograms of hashish and a kilo of heroin, detain a drug smuggler -- and let him go.
