Kyrgyzstan since the Tulip Revolution
Kyrgyzstan since the Tulip Revolution
Opportunities and Challenges Await Kyrgyzstan’s Incoming President
Opportunities and Challenges Await Kyrgyzstan’s Incoming President
Interactive / Europe & Central Asia 1 minute

Kyrgyzstan since the Tulip Revolution

An interactive timeline of Kyrgyzstan's recent history.

In May 1990, inter-ethnic relations became increasingly hostile over a dispute about land distribution in the southern city of Osh and a newly adopted law making Kyrgyz the state language. Uzbek youth groups and elders appeal to the central government in Moscow to establish an Uzbek autonomy. On 4 June clases between Kyrgyz and Uzbeks erupt in the Lenin collective farm near Osh. The violence soon spreads to other predominantly Uzbek areas - Uzgen and Karasuu. Both sides engage in ethnic cleansing and rape. On 6 June the Soviet government dispatches over 2,000 troops to quell the distubance. The authorities claim 300 people died during the "Osh massacre". Real figures are believed to be much higher.

Learn more about Kyrgyzstan's recent history in this interactive timeline.

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