International community urges dialogue in Kyrgyzstan

The international community remains seriously concerned with the situation in Kyrgyzstan and has called for an end to the violence.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is sending a special envoy to Kyrgyzstan, he announced on Thursday.

“There needs to be calm, and any expressions of their positions should be handled by both sides in a peaceful manner," he told reporters at a news conference in Vienna. “I am going to dispatch, on an urgent basis, as special envoy Mr Jan Kubis,” UN Secretary-General said. Kubis will arrive on Friday, he added.

The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) has also appointed a special envoy to Kyrgyzstan, RIA Novosti reports, quoting Kazakhstan’s Foreign Ministry press service. Kazakhstan is now presiding in the OSCE. The envoy, Zhanybek Karibzhanov, is expected to arrive to Bishkek shortly.

Earlier the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton called on all parties in Kyrgyzstan to gather around the negotiations table.

“I urge all parties to show restraint and immediately resume the dialogue between the government and opposition forces in order to find a peaceful solution,” Ashton said in a statement, cited by RIA Novosti news agency.

The European Union official encouraged the parties to act in strict conformity with the Constitution of Kyrgyzstan, pointing out the need to ensure the right for legal protection to all of the arrested people.

Ashton expressed “very serious concerns” in connection with the arrests of opposition figures in Kyrgyzstan, as well as attempts to limit freedom of expression and freedom of public media.

“At this critical stage, Kyrgyzstan must remain faithful to its democratic obligations, which the EU has always strongly supported,” she said.

US State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said the US deplored the violence in Kyrgyzstan and urged all to respect the rule of law, Associated Press reports.

"We deplore the violence and encourage a full investigation and accountability in any incidents of death or mistreatment. We have reached out to the government and civil society leaders to urge calm," he said.

Also, the United States has said it is closely watching the situation and called on all sides to show restraint.

A high-profile official of the organization told Interfax news agency that the CSTO forces will not interfere in the situation in Kyrgyzstan.

”The Collective Rapid Reaction Force of the Collective Security Treaty Organization is not designed to take part in the internal conflicts on the territory of the CSTO member states," he said.

Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan are CSTO members, along with Kyrgyzstan.

"As we are interested in preserving political stability in a country that is friendly to us, we consider it important to resolve the issues raised by the current situation using legal means," commented Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Andrey Nesterenko.

Neighboring Tajikistan is also worried after the outbreak of violence in Kyrgyzstan and hopes that the conflict will be resolved within a legal framework.

”Information we receive from the neighboring republic, with which Tajikistan has a nearly-1,000-kilometer border, can’t leave the country's authorities undisturbed as our country has already experienced the effect of civil conflict,” Dawlat Nazriev, Tajik Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told ITAR-TASS news agency.

“We hope the politicians and the people of the friendly republic will show reason and restraint,” he said.

Tajik border guards have so far implemented no measures on tightening the security of the country’s borders.

Ukraine “urges all the parties to the conflict to stop the violence and to resolve all the existing problems in a peaceful manner,” the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry’s statement says.

Iran calls for the earliest possible normalization of the political situation in Kyrgyzstan, the Iranian Foreign Ministry said in a statement, and for an immediate end to violence.

A state of emergency has been imposed in the capital Bishkek and several regions of Kyrgyzstan amid violent clashes between police and anti-government demonstrators.

47 people are reported dead and about 400 injured after police opened fire on crowds gathered around the main government building.