In a stunning culling of high safety figures within the nation, Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov dismissed his longtime ally, safety chief Kamchybek Tashiev, and a handful of deputies on February 10.
“The primary objective of this step was to strengthen the unity of the state and stop divisions in society, together with between authorities businesses,” Japarov reportedly stated of the choice, based on Kyrgyz media.
Tashiev, a longtime ally of Japarov, has served as the pinnacle of the State Committee for Nationwide Safety (GKNB), a robust intelligence company with widesweeping powers, since October 16, 2020.
Japarov and Tashiev rose in prominence and energy collectively. From their roots agitating for the nationalization of the Kumtor Gold Mine in the 2010s as opposition political figures, to Japarov’s breakout from jail in early October 2020 within the aftermath of the botched parliamentary election and subsequent leap to the highest of Kyrgyz politics, the 2 appeared as a package deal deal.
The Japarov-Tashiev tandem went to nice lengths to consolidate their energy. Tashiev was as outstanding a determine as Japarov, touring the nation, giving speeches, and showing usually within the media defending the administration. He led the crackdown on dissenters and journalists with as a lot fervor as he spared for prison components.
“There was no clear division of energy,” Dr. Aksana Ismailbekova, a analysis fellow at Leibniz-Zentrum Moderner Orient (ZMO) in Berlin, Germany, instructed The Diplomat. “Tashiev was accountable not just for safety points but additionally for different inside affairs, together with social tasks.”
“Collectively they created a local weather of worry,” Ismailbekova stated, citing conversations with native sources in Kyrgyzstan. “As my informants instructed me, Tashiev’s affect was pervasive.”
Analysts lengthy questioned how robust the tandem was, and the way lengthy a duopoly may final in Kyrgyzstan’s often-tumultuous political enviornment.
In early January 2026, Tashiev was quoted in a documentary about Japarov as saying, “On this life, solely dying can separate us.”
He went on to recommend that “many” had tried to “sow discord between us,” notably with allegations that Tashiev has his eyes on the presidency. “However this isn’t true,” Tashiev stated in January of rumors that he aimed to contest the presidency on the expense of his ally.
In latest weeks, there was dialogue in Kyrgyz political circles relating to the chance of early presidential elections. Kyrgyzstan is due for a presidential election in January 2027 and even moved up its parliamentary elections by a yr on the again of skinny arguments that working the 2 polls in fast succession in late 2026-early 2027 could be impractical.
“I don’t intend to overthrow Sadyr Nurgoyevich [Japarov],” Tashiev stated in January. “I can clearly say that our relationship is predicated on mutual understanding, and the plans of those that want to divide us is not going to come to fruition. On this life, solely dying can separate us. If well being and alternative are on our aspect, I wish to proceed working on this format till the top of my days.”
A month later, Tashiev is out.
On February 10, Tashiev was dismissed from not solely his GKNB publish but additionally his place as a deputy chairman within the Cupboard of Ministers. A number of different high GKNB deputies had been additionally dismissed: Daniel Rysaliev, deputy chairman of the GKNB and director of its Coordination Heart for Cybersecurity; Elizar Smanov, deputy chairman of the GKNB; and Kurvanbek Avazov, first deputy chairman of the GKNB.
Zhumgalbek Shabdanbekov, beforehand a deputy chairman, has been appointed appearing chairman of the GKNB and Rustam Mamasadykov has been shifted from secretary to first deputy chairman.
Tashiev has but to remark publicly on his dismissal. He’s reportedly in Germany for medical therapy and realized of his dismissal by way of the media. Which means Japarov fired Tashiev when he was away from Kyrgyzstan, probably a strategic selection given how deeply enmeshed Tashiev is within the safety forces of the nation.
In the meantime, debate round the potential of an early presidential election has intensified. Tashiev’s dismissal is both the opening transfer of a ruse within the making or proof of a real fracture.
“There are two primary views,” Ismailbekova instructed The Diplomat. “On the one hand, many imagine that Tashiev will run for president… Some additionally recommend that there could also be a situation just like the Putin-Medvedev association [in Russia], through which each figures stay in energy by rotating positions or alternating roles.”
Former Kyrgyz President Almazbek Atambayev, who left workplace in 2017 when his protege Sooronbay Jeenbekov was elected to succeed him, had been rumored to be angling for a Putin-Medvedev association, too. If that was Atambayev’s hope, that hope was properly and duly dashed when Jeenbekov had his precessor arrested in August 2019.
The opposite view Ismailbekova highlighted argues that “Tashiev has grow to be a risk to Japarov. The wrestle for energy may smash their relationship. Japarov determined to take away his rival rapidly, earlier than he gained an excessive amount of affect.”
Ismailbekova concluded: “This competitors between Tashiev and Japarov may result in political instability.”
