Kyrgyz Leadership and Ethnopolitics: Before and After the Tulip Revolution: the Changed Position of Ethnic Russians and Uzbeks

The Soviet Union¿s multi-ethnic legacy in the Central Asian region, particularly in Kyrgyzstan was a crucial factor that impacted its post-independence state consolidation and transition. More recently in 2005 there was the ¿Tulip Revolution¿, basically an overthrow of the northern president by the southern clan leader. Despite the fact that the system and character of the government and of any other governmental structures did not change following the so-called Kyrgyz ¿Tulip Revolution¿, there have been observations of the dramatic changes for the worse in the position of ethnic minorities, more specifically Russians and Uzbeks, and their relation with the titular nation. This work uses interviews and media material in order to demonstrate how the elite change has caused the changes analyzed in the thesis. The findings of the research demonstrate that the elite change, which was a result of 2005 events, is the main factor that has caused negative shifts in the political representation, ethnic organizations becoming more active and politicized, official policies taking more nationalistic tones, and in deteriorated inter-ethnic relations.