Posted
on August 31, 2014
Another “-stan” nation that used to be part of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), Kyrgyzstan is landlocked and mountainous and politically unstable.
Like
most of the nations that became independent when the USSR broke
apart, Kyrgyzstan declared its independence in 1991. Since then there
have been ethnic and political party conflicts, two different
“colored revolutions,” and general unrest.
You
may be wondering, what's a ”colored revolution?”
These
are widespread movements that have used nonviolent resistance such as
demonstrations and strikes to protest authoritarian and corrupt
governments. Students tend to big in these protest movements. The
reason that they are called “colored” is because each revolution
adopted a flower or color as its symbol. From the Yellow Revolution
in the Philippines in 1986 to the Orange Revolution in Ukraine in
2004 Lotus Revolution in Egypt in 2011, there have been many of these
movements worldwide.
Kyrgyzstan's
colored revolution is called the Tulip Revolution, or sometimes the
Pink Revolution. It rose up in response to an unfair election in
2005, and unfortunately it was more violent than many colored
revolutions. It suffered from less communication and coordination,
with students in one area adopting the color pink as a symbol and
students in another area adopting yellow.
Still,
the movement did succeed in forcing the president to resign, and a
new government was formed. However, the capital was looted during the
demonstrations, and the new government fell prey to conflicts between
various factions and, probably, a connection to organized crime.
There
were more protests in 2010, and another president eventually left his
job (and the country). Unfortunately, the transitional government was
not able to control the violent clashes occurring around the country,
and the nation seems to be hanging onto its status as a parliamentary
republic by a thread.
Horses
Horse
riding is important in Kyrgyz culture. It is said that Zyrgyz people
are born on a horse, and an ancient proverb maintains that horses are
the “wings of the Kyrgyz.”
One
reason that the horse is so important is that the traditional Kyrgyz
life is nomadic, and people go from place to place with their herds
and their horses and their yurts.
The
national sports of Kyrgyzstan reflect the importance of horses in
that culture. In one sport, teams of horse riders wrestle for
possession of the headless carcass of a goat; in another, riders try
to shoot at and break a thread, dropping a metal jumby to the
ground, as they gallop by. In one sport a man chases a girl to win a
kiss, and in another riders try to pick up a coin on the ground while
at full gallop. |
| Tourists often take treks across the beautiful Kyrgyz landscapes on horseback. |
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