Like most former Soviet republics, Kyrgyzstan spent its post-independence years hunting for a national identity separate from the one forced on it by Moscow, and that search included the resurgence of some very un-Slavic-sounding names. But today, with hundreds of thousands of Kyrgyz depending on ties with Russia as their key source of income, bread-and-butter worries are trumping ideology.
Alisher Suleimanov, an Uzbek, has been married to a Kyrgyz woman for 10 years. Together they have a 9-year-old son, but he hasn't seen either since southern Kyrgyzstan was rocked by interethnic violence in mid-June.
Foreign diplomats and international organizations are backing a Kyrgyz provisional government decision to proceed with a constitutional referendum in late June, despite the widespread violence in southern Kyrgyzstan.
Who's Who in Kyrgyzstan’s Interim Government Information garnered from local Russian-language media sources. List subject to rapid, unpredictable and confusing change.
Roza Otunbayeva – Head of Interim Government Born 1950 Social Democratic Party
Former vice prime minister in the first government of independent Kyrgyzstan, Roza Otunbayeva served as the country’s first ambassador to the United States. Later she was ambassador to the United Kingdom and also served as foreign minister under President Askar Akayev. She served as a UN special representative to regulate the Georgian-Abkhazian conflict during Akayev’s presidency.
In December 2004, she co-founded the Ata-Jurt (Father’s Nation) movement. For her leading role in the so-called Tulip Revolution, she became Kurmanbek Bakiyev’s first foreign minister, but the two soon fell out and she moved back into opposition politics. In 2007 she won a seat in parliament representing the Social Democratic Party and in 2009 became head of the party’s faction in parliament.
Almazbek Atambayev – Deputy for Economic Affairs Born 1956 Chairman, Social Democratic Party
A member of parliament between 1995 and 2007, Almazbek Atambayev ran for president unsuccessfully in 2000 and 2009. He took an active part in the 2005 protests that resulted in Akayev’s ouster and served as minister of economy, trade and tourism in Bakiyev’s new government. In April 2006, Atambayev resigned in protest at Bakiyev’s policies. Later, from March to November 2007, he was prime minister. Chairman of the Social Democratic Party, he ran for president in 2009.
Temir Sariev – Deputy for Finance Born 1963 Chairman, Ak-Shumkar (While Falcon) Party
