nickhindes - Kyrgyzstan

While I was in Israel in June, I had some down time to peruse through some news articles from some of my normal sources. I had been reading up on the tension between the Turkish and Israeli forces, when I stumbled across a smaller article dealing with the conflict in Kyrgyzstan.

To most, they wouldn't be able to tell you where it is, let alone how to pronounce it. So I feel that it would be necessary to explain a few things to the reader. Kyrgzstan is a small landlocked country in central Asia, know as one of the six Turkic States. Prior to the fall of the Soviet Union, they received their independence though organized crime has hinder economic and social progress. Ethnic conflicts have been few but very serious, usually with neighboring, Uzbekistan. Many Uzbeks live in southern Kyrgyzstan, making them the majority in the area.

As of now, riots have been taking place since April of this year. They usually revolve around government corruption and increased living expenses. In June, the riots went back to the roots of hostility between the Kyrgyz and Uzbeks. Out of fear, the government posed a state of emergency on the country and many feel that this will lead to a civil war. Government officials have looked to Russia for aid, though at the moment, very little support has been deployed.

As of yesterday, UN peacekeeping forces were asked to intervene by Uzbekistan due to 300, 000 people being internally displaced and that they do not trust the Kyrgyzstan army.

I felt the need to share because this was on my heart and I understand that many did not even know this conflict was going on, let alone, know that these two countries existed.