Ousted Kyrgyz president ready to officially step down

Bakiyev will not go back to Kyrgyzstan as president, he claimed during a press-conference in Belarus on Friday.

He also confirmed that he actually resigned last week while in southern Kyrgyzstan.

In this document he claimed that “is ready to leave Kyrgyzstan and resign,” but on certain conditions. In particular, if there is no persecution of his family, friends and associates, the ousted president emphasized.

“It was promised to me,” Bakiyev underlined. “But now everything is the other way around.” He claimed that his associates and relatives are being blackmailed and kidnapped. “That’s why I don’t acknowledge my resignation, as the other side has not fulfilled its conditions,” he said. Bakiyev added that he considers his resignation illegitimate.

He also said he is ready to co-operate with the Kyrgyz interim government and Kyrgyzstan parliament to organize elections of a legitimate government in the country.

Political expert Aleksandr Pikayev, from the Institute of World Economy and International Relations, says Bakiyev’s intentions now may be to gain some security for himself and his family.

“Certainly president Bakiyev has already lost his presidency, that’s for sure, there is no reverse, because I think [the] major powers, maybe except President Lukashenko of Belarus, recognized the new interim government,” Pikayev told RT. “But I believe what Bakiyev wants is to secure his personal future because [the] interim government so far did not give any explicit guarantees for his own security. Part of his family remains in Kyrgyzstan and some of them are [facing] prosecution.”

“So I think what Bakiyev wants…he actually sends a signal to the interim government saying probably that me, Bakiyev, I have some influence in the south, particularly in strategic Dzhalal-Abad region, and there I could guarantee elections without any troubles, without any clashes, without any violence, in exchange for my personal security,” the expert added.

Also during the press-conference Kurmanbek Bakiyev stated that he does not have information at his disposal about Russian special services being involved in the Kyrgyzstan overthrow.

“I cannot say it’s the job of Russia’s special services,” he said.

Moscow was not satisfied with his politics, ousted Kyrgyz president also claimed, including the decision to keep Manas transit center in Bishkek airport.

“We wanted to lead our independent foreign policy, but I did not suspect that it irritated Russia that much,” Bakiyev added.

On Thursday the US Congress heard testimony that access to the Manas military base was the reason why the US ignored charges of corruption and human rights abuses in Kyrgyzstan under Bakiyev.