- Sputnik International
World
Get the latest news from around the world, live coverage, off-beat stories, features and analysis.

Kyrgyz police deny opposition leader entrance to capital

© RIA Novosti . Andrey Stenin / Go to the mediabankKyrgyz police deny opposition leader entrance to capital
Kyrgyz police deny opposition leader entrance to capital - Sputnik International
Subscribe
Kyrgyz police have refused to allow opposition leader and businessman Urmat Baryktabasov to enter the capital to join a protest, a rally organization committee representative said.

Kyrgyz police have refused to allow opposition leader and businessman Urmat Baryktabasov to enter the capital to join a protest, a rally organization committee representative said.

Thousands of supporters of Baryktabasov gathered on Thursday on the square in front of the country's parliament in Bishkek, which currently houses the interim government.

"The column [of protestors] was stopped at a check point in the city of Kant," Bakyt Namashamov said. "About 1,000 cars are there. Urmat Baryktobasov is also there," he continued. "We intend to go there to show support."

A Kyrgyz police spokesman said that police used tear gas and stun grenades near the city of Kant, approximately 20 kilometers outside of Bishkek, against the supporters of the opposition leader who were blocking the road leading into the capital.

Namashamov said that a group of protesters entered the parliament for talks but no one was inside the building with the exception of security guards.

"Our demand is talks with representatives of the [Kyrgyz] interim government," he said.

The Kyrgyz government, on the other hand, said it is ready for talks with the opposition supporters.

"Talks would be reasonable, however the rally participants are making nationalist demands," a spokesman for the Kyrgyz interim government, Farid Niyazov, said.

He added that talks are currently not underway.

About 400 supporters of the interim government have also gathered on the square near the parliament building.

Baryktabasov was put on the country's wanted list and charged with an attempt to overthrow the government after the 2005 Tulip Revolution.

The situation in the former Soviet Central Asian republic remains strained following several months of unrest and Kyrgyz media said on Thursday that a state of emergency had been introduced in Bishkek. The government denied the report.

Violent anti-government protests in April forced then-President Kurmanbek Bakiyev to leave the country with his immediate family and take refuge in Belarus.

Clashes between ethnic Kyrgyz and minority Uzbeks broke out in the southern city of Jalalabad in May, killing two people and injuring more than 70.

In mid-June, the country saw its worst interethnic clashes in two decades, with some 2,000 people believed killed. About 100,000 people fled to neighboring Uzbekistan and hundreds of houses were destroyed in the riot-hit Osh and Jalalabad regions.

 

BISHKEK, August 5 (RIA Novosti)

Newsfeed
0
To participate in the discussion
log in or register
loader
Chats
Заголовок открываемого материала