Kurmanbek Bakiyev
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Kurmanbek Saliyevich Bakiyev (Курманбек Салиевич Бакиев; born August 1, 1949, in Masadan, Jalalabad Province in Kyrgyzstan), is the president of the Kyrgyz Republic. He was appointed acting President by the upper house of the Kyrgyz Parliament on March 24, 2005, following the ouster, during the Kyrgyz revolution of 2005, of former president Askar Akayev.
Bakiyev is the leader of the People's Movement of Kyrgyzstan and gets most of his popular support from the south of the country. As a Soviet-trained professional with a quick grasp of economics, he is also popular among the ethnic Russians, who form the backbone of industry, and among intellectuals in the north.
In 1972 Bakiyev graduated from the Kuybyshev Polytechnic Institute as an electrical engineer; from 1974 to 1976 he served in the Soviet Red Army. By 1979 he was deputy chief engineer at a factory in Jalalabad, and by 1990 had risen to factory director, when he left to begin a political career. Initially first secretary of the Kok-Yangak city council, he later rose to chairman of the supreme soviet for that city, then deputy chairman for the Jalalabad region. In 1995 Bakiyev was appointed provincial governor of Jalalabad oblast. He later served as governor of Chui oblast from April 1997 to December 2000 and as Prime Minister from December 21, 2000, to May 22, 2002, but resigned that position in the aftermath of riot police having shot and killed five anti-Akayev protesters in the southern Kyrgyz town of Aksy.
He won the 10 July ballot for the Presidential election with 89% [1] of the vote (turnout 53%). This overwhelming electoral success can be attributed in part to the political alliance with Felix Kulov who was appointed prime minister soon after the election. Bakiyev was inaugurated on 14 August, in the capital, Bishkek.
Quotes
- "We respect [the] interests of other nations, but [the] interests of our own people and state, freedom and independence of Kyrgyzstan are predominant for us." Speaking at his inauguration, 13 August
External links
| Preceded by: Ishenbai Kadyrbekov |
President of Kyrgyzstan 2005–present |
Succeeded by: incumbent |
| Preceded by: Nikolai Tanayev |
Acting Prime Minister of Kyrgyzstan 2005 |
Succeeded by: Felix Kulov |
| Preceded by: Amangeldy Muraliev |
Prime Minister of Kyrgyzstan (first term) 2000–2002 |
Succeeded by: Nikolai Tanayev |
