Ousted Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev must be finding exile stressful -- so stressful, in fact, that he already needs a holiday.
On Monday, Bloomberg (via Interfax) reported that Bakiyev was en route to the Turkish seaside resort of Belek, on the Turkish Riviera.
The report only sources an unidentified Russian official.
Bakiyev is wanted back home for corruption and the killings of at least 86 protestors during the April 7 uprising that forced him from power. He has been hiding out as a guest of Belorussian strongman Alexander Lukashenko since mid-April. Kyrgyz officials sent an extradition request to Minsk on May 11.
Though it is unlikely the former Kyrgyz dictator is being forced out of Belarus (where he is a convenient toy in the Lukashenko-Putin love fest), moving about Kyrgyz-ally Turkey is bold. No doubt a few phones in Ankara are ringing.
David Trilling is Eurasianet’s managing editor.
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