\n\n“Former physicist Askar Akayev was Kyrgyzstan’s first president. He built a reputation for striving to create a real liberal democracy but shifted into a more autocratic stance as parliament resisted some of his economic policies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Akayev’s rule lasted until 2005, when his administration fell amid a violent revolution. His successor, Kurmanbek Bakiyev, was toppled by another uprising in 2010. Tribalism, nepotism, corruption, and the meshing of government with organized crime\u2014the nation produces and is a transit point for heroin in international markets\u2014have been hallmarks of Kyrgyz politics for much of the post-Soviet period.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n