Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan’s Capital City

After independence in Kyrgyzstan, it was decided to keep some of the Soviet monuments in the parks. Not because people agree with the politics, but to preserve some of the history. A locally controversial monument we saw was inscribed: “Eternal glory to the Soviets”—where they kept the monument, but turned off the eternal flame as a symbolic gesture.

Statues of Stalin have all been destroyed, but some Lenin statues remain. Some people believe things would have been different if he hadn’t died and Stalin come to power. Under the Soviets, people had jobs (maybe not the ones they wanted), Islam women gained emancipation, most living expenses were covered: housing, healthcare, education, utilities; and food was plentiful up until near the end of the era. After the USSR collapsed, there were food shortages, people couldn’t get work, and radical Islamic gangs took over during a long transition period. So, there are many older people in the Central Asian countries who are nostalgic about the Soviet times.

Kyrgyzstan has had six presidents since gaining independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. Three of its leaders were ousted by public uprisings—one resulting in killings of protesters ordered by the president. The early leaders of the new country all came from the Communist party under the USSR, and democracy was truly a foreign concept. Nepotism, corruption and crime were out of control. The current president was released from prison by protesters, appointed Acting President, and officially elected president in a landslide in January 2021. He is expected to be reelected at the next election.

Many new, post-independence monuments have been added to Bishkek’s green, expansive parks. Abdu did an excellent job of getting us out walking when the weather was nice, and inside museums while it was raining:

1) Victory Square, dedicated to the memory of soldiers who died in WWII. The Soviets called it “The Great Patriotic War,” and the date didn’t start until they joined the conflict. Central Asian countries suffered great losses fighting the Germans during this war;

2) Oak Park, with its open air sculpture garden of founding leaders and intellectuals (post-Soviet, of course);

3) Ala Too Square, where the protesters died in 2010 under the second president. We watched the changing of the guard at the “Manas on a Horse” monument here (epic war hero);

4) The newly-opened State Museum of History, with colorful textiles and artifacts up through independence

5) State Museum of Fine Arts, with Soviet period art and an exhibition on Kyrgyz folk art.

After all that, we took an evening flight to Tashkent, Uzbekistan.Read more