DUSHANBE, April 16, 2010, Asia-Plus – Deposed Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev has written a formal letter of resignation, Ms. Roza Otunbayeva, the head of the Kyrgyz interim government said, according to Vesti.ru.
According to RIA Novosti, Bakiyev submitted his resignation before leaving the country. Earlier on Thursday, the Kazakh Foreign Ministry confirmed that Bakiyev had arrived in Kazakhstan to hold talks with Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev.
Kyrgyzstan”s interim government said it had allowed the deposed president to leave the country for his own safety.
At least 80 people were killed and more than 1,500 injured during violent opposition protests, which broke out on April 7. Bakiyev fled the capital and an interim government was formed under the leadership of Roza Otunbayeva.
Otunbayeva said the former president, who had been hiding in his traditional stronghold in the country”s south, became “a destabilizing factor” in the society.
“Amid popular anger, the interim government had no opportunity to provide safety for the former president, as is required by law […] We also thought about the image of Kyrgyzstan, its people and its government; [an image] of a civilized country, which does not allow medieval-style punishment of a former president,” Roza Otunbayeva said.
She added that international organizations and world leaders had repeatedly asked that the interim government prevent the lynching of the former president.
“None of Bakiyev”s supporters and relatives, who stayed with him until the end, will be allowed to leave the country. Those who committed crimes will soon be detained and tried,” she said.
The Russian president”s press service said Russian troops ensured Bakiyev”s safety during his flight to Kazakhstan.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said on Friday he did not rule out the repetition of the Kyrgyz scenario in other former Soviet republics if their leaders conduct policies similar to ousted Kyrgyz president, RIA Novosti reports.
“In relation to the possibility of similar scenarios in ex-Soviet states or other countries – everything is possible in this world, if people are not happy with the authorities, if the authorities do not make efforts to support their people,” Medvedev said at a news conference after a BRIC summit in Brazil. “This scenario could repeat anywhere when the authorities lose their link with people,” he said.
