Almazbek Sharshen uluu Atambayev ( ky, Алмазбек Шаршен уулу Атамбаев, translit=Almazbek Şarşen uulu Atambayev; born 17 September 1956) is a Kyrgyz politician who served as the

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese f ...

Kyrgyzstan Kyrgyzstan,, pronounced or the Kyrgyz Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Asia. Kyrgyzstan is bordered by Kazakhstan to the north, Uzbekistan to the west, Tajikistan to the south, and the People's Republic of China to the ea ...

from 1 December 2011 to 24 November 2017. He was Prime Minister of Kyrgyzstan from 17 December 2010 to 1 December 2011, and from 29 March 2007 to 28 November 2007. He served as Chairman of the Social Democratic Party of Kyrgyzstan (SDPK) from 30 July 1999 to 23 September 2011. In August 2019, Atambayev was imprisoned, facing charges of corruption and manslaughter. On 5 October 2020, election protestors freed him from prison. After a failed assassination attempt, however, he was imprisoned again on 10 October.

Personal life

Almazbek Atambaev was born in 1956 in the Northern region of Chüy. His father, Sharshen Atambayev, was a veteran of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

(

Great Patriotic War The Eastern Front of World War II was a Theater (warfare), theatre of conflict between the European Axis powers against the Soviet Union (USSR), Polish Armed Forces in the East, Poland and other Allies of World War II, Allies, which encom ...

) who served with the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian language, Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist R ...

on the front lines in Eastern Europe. Atambaev received his degree in economics while studying at the Moscow Institute of Management. He has four children from his marriage to his first wife Buazhar. In 1988 he married his second wife, Raisa, with whom he has six children: daughters Aliya (born 1997), Diana, and Dinara, and sons Seyit, Seytek, and Khadyrbek (born 1993). Raisa is an ethnic

Tatar The Tatars ()Tatar
in the Collins English Dictionary is an umbrella term for different

, born in the

Urals The Ural Mountains ( ; rus, Ура́льские го́ры, r=Uralskiye gory, p=ʊˈralʲskʲɪjə ˈɡorɨ; ba, Урал тауҙары) or simply the Urals, are a mountain range that runs approximately from north to south through western ...

in Russia, who moved to Osh as a child, with her parents. She is a doctor. In January 2018, he published a song he authored called "Kyrgyzstan", which was later rewritten by

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of th ...

i performer Araz Elses.

Political career under Akayev and Bakiyev

Atambayev was an unsuccessful candidate in the October 2000 presidential election, receiving 6% of the vote. He served as the Minister of Industry, Trade and Tourism in the

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government ...

from 20 December 2005 until he resigned on 21 April 2006. In November 2006 he was one of the leaders of anti-government protests in

Bishkek Bishkek ( ky, Бишкек), ), formerly Pishpek and Frunze, is the capital and largest city of Kyrgyzstan. Bishkek is also the administrative centre of the Chüy Region. The region surrounds the city, although the city itself is not part of ...

, under the umbrella of the movement 'For Reform!' (За Реформы). He was also involved in earlier protests in late April 2006. On 26 December 2006 Atambayev rejected calls from other lawmakers for a dissolution of the Supreme Council, saying, "It is impossible for this Parliament to be dissolved at least until May

007 The ''James Bond'' series focuses on a fictional British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short-story collections. Since Fleming's death in 1964, eight other authors have ...

and it has to adopt all the laws. Otherwise there will be a war in Kyrgyzstan, because even if Parliament adopts the roposedauthoritarian

constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When these princip ...

, I will tell you openly, we will not accept it. It would be a constitution adopted illegally. Then we would take every ossible protest action We are ready for that.""Kyrgyz Lawmakers Call For Dissolution Of Parliament"
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 26 December 2006. Following the resignation of Prime Minister

Azim Isabekov Azim Beishembayevich Isabekov (Kyrgyz: ''Азимбек Бейшембаевич Исабеков''; born 4 April 1960) is a Kyrgyz politician who served as the 10th Prime Minister of Kyrgyzstan from 29 January until 29 March 2007. Isabekov was b ...

on 29 March 2007, Atambayev was appointed acting Prime Minister by President Kurmanbek Bakiyev. He was then confirmed in parliament by a vote of 48–3 on 30 March. He is the first prime minister in Central Asia to come from an opposition party. On 11 April, he tried to address a large protest in

demanding Bakiyev's resignation, but was booed by the protesters. Bakiyev announced the resignation of Atambayev's government on 24 October 2007, following a constitutional referendum. The government was to remain in office until after a parliamentary election in December. Nonetheless, Atambayev resigned on 28 November 2007; Bakiyev accepted the resignation, while praising Atambayev for his performance in office, and appointed Acting First Deputy Prime Minister

Iskenderbek Aidaraliyev Iskenderbek Rysbekovich Aidaraliyev (born 13 November 1955) is a former Acting Prime Minister of Kyrgyzstan. He was appointed to that position on November 28, 2007, following the resignation of Almazbek Atambayev, and was replaced by Igor Chudi ...

in his place as Acting Prime Minister.Daniel Sershen
"Kyrgyzstan: Prime Minister pushed aside as parliamentary election approaches"
, Eurasianet, 29 November 2007.

Edil Baisalov Edil Baisalov (russian: Эдиль Байсалов) is a Kyrgyz politician, civil society activist who currently serves as the Kyrgyz Republic's Ambassador to the Court of St James's. He played prominent role in the Tulip Revolution of 2005 and ...

of the Social Democratic Party claimed that Atambayev was forced out of office because he was an obstacle to alleged government interference in the parliamentary election.

Presidential candidate

On 20 April 2009, Atambayev was announced as a candidate for the July 2009 presidential elections. But on polling day Atambayev withdrew his candidacy claiming "widespread fraud": "Due to massive, unprecedented violations, we consider these elections illegitimate and a new election should be held".Kyrgyz candidate in poll pullout

BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broad ...

(23 July 2009)

Political career (2010–2011)

Following the 2010 parliamentary election, he was chosen to be Prime Minister at the head of a coalition government with his SDPK, Respublika, and Ata-Zhurt (which won a plurality in the election). Atambayev ran in 2011 to succeed Roza Otunbayeva as President of Kyrgyzstan. On

election An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has opera ...

day, 30 October 2011, he won in a landslide, defeating

Adakhan Madumarov Adakhan Kumsanbayevich Madumarov (born 3 September 1965) is a Kyrgyz lawyer, historian, and politician, currently the party chairman of United Kyrgyzstan, and previously served as a member of the Supreme Council of Kyrgyzstan from 1995 to 2005. ...

from the Butun Kyrgyzstan party and Kamchybek Tashiev from the Ata-Zhurt party with 63% of the vote from about 60% of the eligible Kyrgyz population voting.

Presidency (2011–2017)

Inauguration

He was inaugurated on 1 December 2011. It took place in the National Philharmonic Hall in

. The ceremony was attended by the

President of Turkey The president of Turkey, officially the president of the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti Cumhurbaşkanı), is the head of state and head of government of Turkey. The president directs the executive branch of the national governm ...

, Abdullah Gul,

Prime Minister of Kazakhstan The Prime Minister of Kazakhstan ( Kazakh Cyrillic: Қазақстан Республикасының Премьер-Министрі, Kazakh Latin: Qazaqstan Respublikasynyñ Premier-Ministrı, ; russian: Премьер-Министр Респ ...

Karim Massimov,

Prime Minister of Azerbaijan The prime minister of Azerbaijan is the head of government of Azerbaijan. The current prime minister is Ali Asadov on 8 October 2019 after the removal of his predecessor, Novruz Mammadov. Due to the central role of the president in the polit ...

Artur Rasizade Artur Tahir oghlu Rasizade ( az, Artur Tahir oğlu Rasizadə; born 26 February 1935) is an Azerbaijani politician who served as the Prime Minister of Azerbaijan from 1996 until 2003, and again from 2003 until 2018. Rasizade was a long-time Commu ...

and

President of Georgia President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese f ...

Mikheil Saakashvili Mikheil Saakashvili ( ka, მიხეილ სააკაშვილი ; uk, Міхеіл Саакашвілі ; born 21 December 1967) is a Georgian and Ukrainian politician and jurist.

. The attendance of the head of the Presidential Administration of Russia Sergey Naryshkin and the

Head of Chechnya The Head of the Chechen Republic or Head of Chechnya (russian: Глава Чеченской Республики, italic=yes, ce, Мехкада Нохчийн Республика; formerly President of the Chechen Republic or President of Che ...

Ramzan Kadyrov Ramzan Akhmadovich Kadyrov ce, КъадаргӀеран Ахьмат-кӏант Рамзан, translit= (born 5 October 1976) is a Russian politician who currently serves as the Head of the Chechen Republic. He was formerly affiliated to the ...

was expected, however they could not and instead sent lower level

Russian Foreign Ministry The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation (MFA Russia; russian: Министерство иностранных дел Российской Федерации, МИД РФ) is the central government institution charged with lea ...

officials in their place. During his inaugural speech, he said the following about the future of Kyrgyzstan: The ceremony budget cost less than half of what was spent for inauguration ceremony of Kurmanbek Bakiev in August 2009, costing about 10 million soms ($217,000 in

US Dollars The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...

). Unlike the breastplates used for the inaugurations of Akaev, Bakiyev and Otunbayeva, which were framed with

diamond Diamond is a solid form of the element carbon with its atoms arranged in a crystal structure called diamond cubic. Another solid form of carbon known as graphite is the chemically stable form of carbon at room temperature and pressure, ...

s and

pearl A pearl is a hard, glistening object produced within the soft tissue (specifically the mantle) of a living shelled mollusk or another animal, such as fossil conulariids. Just like the shell of a mollusk, a pearl is composed of calcium ca ...

s, the jewelers decided not to use the gems in the 108 centimeter long breastplate as it was considered to be an "imported" element in the national culture.

Opinions on presidential term

George Soros George Soros ( name written in eastern order), (born György Schwartz, August 12, 1930) is a Hungarian-American businessman and philanthropist. , he had a net worth of US$8.6 billion, Note that this site is updated daily. having donated m ...

spoke positively about Almazbek Atambayev, stating that "Kyrgyzstan was lucky to have a non-corrupt president", noting that the coming to power of a person who is not mired in corruption is good for the democratic development of the country. Alexander Soros positively reviewed digitalization efforts of Kyrgyz government in Taza Koom project.

Vladimir Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin; (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who holds the office of president of Russia. Putin has served continuously as president or prime minister since 1999: as prime m ...

characterized Almazbek Atambayev as a person who "keeps his word... It is sometimes difficult to agree on something with him, but if something has already been agreed, he goes to the end in fulfilling the agreements reached."

Domestic policy

In November 2015, the

Ministry of Defense {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in state ...

was re-branded as the State Committee for Defense Affairs on Atambayev's orders while transferring authority over the Armed Forces of Kyrgyzstan to the General Staff, with the Chief of the General Staff exercising his/her authority as the

paramount leader Paramount leader () is an informal term for the most important political figure in the People's Republic of China (PRC). The paramount leader typically controls the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the People's Liberation Army (PLA), often hol ...

of the military and the second in command to the president. In December 2016, Atambayev signed a decree officially abolishing the use of military courts in Kyrgyzstan. Earlier that month, he presided over a constitutional referendum which proposed that the increasing the powers of the Prime Minister and his/her government, as well as reforms to the judicial system. It also established that marriage could be only "between a man and a woman" rather of "between two persons" as laid out by the previous constitution. The changes were approved with a landslide majority of close to 80% of the Kyrgyz population.International experts positively assessed the transition to a parliamentary form of government by constitutional reform, the strengthening of the role of the prime minister and parliament thanks to the constitutional reform, as well as the fact that it was supposed to stabilize the institution of power as opposed to the growing spread of Islamist ideology in the country. A landmark event during the work of Almazbek Atambayev is also the introduction of biometric passports and a biometric electoral system that ensured the transparency of elections and excluded the possibility for one citizen to vote several times. It became possible to vote only after identifying your fingerprint. The final year of Atambayev's presidency was marred by numerous civil and criminal trials against journalists, activists and opposition politicians. In many of those trials, the Prosecutor General's Office of Kyrgyzstan has often acted on Atambayev's behalf to represents his interests. In many cases they were dictated by the fact that the leadership of Kazakhstan interfered in the electoral process in Kyrgyzstan, especially after president of Kazakhstan met with one of the opposition leaders a month before the elections.

Foreign policy

In 2011 soon after becoming President, Atambayev travelled to Turkey and signed an agreement with the

Turkish President The president of Turkey, officially the president of the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti Cumhurbaşkanı), is the head of state and head of government of Turkey. The president directs the executive branch of the national gove ...

agreeing to increase trade from $300 million in 2011 to $1 billion by 2015, with

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

also agreeing to attract Turkish investment to Kyrgyzstan to the amount of $450 million within the next few years. Meeting Vladimir Putin and Almazbek Atambayev 03

Meeting Vladimir Putin and Almazbek Atambayev 03

Atambaev has announced Kyrgyzstan's entry into the Customs Union, secured the withdrawal of the American military base from the country in 2014, and has spoken of the need for closer economic relations with the Russian Federation, which employs at least 500,000 citizens of Kyrgyzstan; however, he also expressed his wish to achieve greater economic and energy independence from it. Kyrgyzstan also received GSP+ status with European Union under Almazbek Atambayev in 2015. To retain GSP+ status, Kyrgyzstan must comply with 27 international conventions. 7 of them relate to human rights - protecting the rights of children, eliminating discrimination against women and minorities, protecting freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, the right to a fair trial, ensuring the independence of the judiciary, as well as economic, cultural and social rights. In early 2012 Atambayev travelled to Moscow, where in his meeting with Medvedev he called for the $15 million owed by Russia to Kyrgyzstan for their use of the Kant airbase. In 2013, he launched a tirade against the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

, accusing it undermined democracy by allowing a Bakiyev's son, Maxim to live in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

: In February 2015, tension with

Belarus Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by ...

arose over the death of Almanbet Anapiyaev, aged 41, whose death Atambayev blamed solely on former Security Service chief

Janish Bakiyev Janysh Bakiyev ( Kyrgyz: Жаныш Салиевич Бакиев, ''Zhanysh Saliyevich Baqiyev''; born on March 16, 1958 in the Suzak District) is the former chief of the State Security Service of Kyrgyzstan and brother of former president Kurmanbe ...

, who was being sheltered in Minsk alongside his father. The Belarusian Foreign Ministry responded by saying that it "makes no sense" to comment on his statement. In May 2015, during a Victory Day meeting of CSTO leaders in

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

, Atambayev took part in an argument with President

Islam Karimov Islam Abduganiyevich Karimov ( uz, Islom Abdugʻaniyevich Karimov / Ислом Абдуғаниевич Каримов, italics=no; russian: link=no, Ислам Абдуганиевич Каримов; 30 January 1938 – 2 September 2016) was t ...

over who was being more patriotic during the 70th anniversary celebrations. Later that year, he met with supreme leader

Ayatollah Ayatollah ( ; fa, آیت‌الله, āyatollāh) is an Title of honor, honorific title for high-ranking Twelver Shia clergy in Iran and Iraq that came into widespread usage in the 20th century. Etymology The title is originally derived from ...

Ali Khamenei Sayyid Ali Hosseini Khamenei ( fa, سید علی حسینی خامنه‌ای, ; born 19 April 1939) is a Twelver Shia ''marja and the second and current Supreme Leader of Iran, in office since 1989. He was previously the third president ...

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkm ...

, where he condemned American sanctions on the country, saying to Khamenei that "With its 200-year history, America wants to impose its will on a country like Iran that has a five-thousand-year history and civilization, but this is not possible." During the Kyrgyz presidential election in 2017, Atambayev accused Kazakhstan of sponsoring Ömürbek Babanov, who was one of the presidential candidates. He also accused Kazakhstan officials for being corrupt by looting the pensioners income. On 9 October 2017, Atambayev announced that he wouldn't attend the CIS heads of state summit in Sochi, which would have required the Kyrgyz leader to meet president of Kazakhstan,

Nursultan Nazarbayev Nursultan Abishuly Nazarbayev ( kk, Нұрсұлтан Әбішұлы Назарбаев, Nūrsūltan Äbişūlı Nazarbaev, ; born 6 July 1940) is a Kazakhs, Kazakh politician and military officer who served as the first President of Kazakhstan ...

. That same month, he visited the Uzbek capital of

Tashkent Tashkent (, uz, Toshkent, Тошкент/, ) (from russian: Ташкент), or Toshkent (; ), also historically known as Chach is the capital and largest city of Uzbekistan. It is the most populous city in Central Asia, with a population of ...

in a breakthrough visit for a Kyrgyz leader.

Post-Presidency (2017–present)

Official meeting ceremony of President of Kyrgyzstan Almazbeh Atambayev was held 11

Since he left office on 24 November 2017 and handed the presidency to his successor and former prime minister

Sooronbay Jeenbekov Sooronbay Sharip uulu Jeenbekov (; ky, Сооронбай Шарип уулу Жээнбеков, translit=Sooronbay Şarip uulu Jeenbekov; born 16 November 1958) is a Kyrgyz politician who served as the 5th President of Kyrgyzstan from 2017 unt ...

, he has served as head of the SDPK. He has also has used his post presidency to get back in the political arena, most notably by criticizing his successor. This criticism, which began in the spring of 2018, has mostly revolved around Jeenbekov's criticism of the government corruption that took place under his rule. One of Atambayev's main points of criticism of Jeenbekov is that is that he is a victim of a smear campaign by his former ally and his government, saying the following to the April Television Agency about the Jeenbekov government: On 17 March, he expressed regret by saying: "I apologize to everyone for bringing this person to power". In June 2019,

MPs MPS, M.P.S., MPs, or mps may refer to: Science and technology * Mucopolysaccharidosis, genetic lysosomal storage disorder * Mononuclear phagocyte system, cells in mammalian biology * Myofascial pain syndrome * Metallopanstimulin * Potassium perox ...

voted to strip Atambayev of his presidential immunity and called for the pursuit of criminal charges on him. In response, Atambayev told reporters at his residence in

Koy-Tash Koy-Tash is a village in the Alamüdün District of Chüy Region of Kyrgyzstan Kyrgyzstan,, pronounced or the Kyrgyz Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Asia. Kyrgyzstan is bordered by Kazakhstan to the north, Uzbekistan to the ...

that he would "stand to the end" against the parliament and that he is "not afraid of anything in this world". Since then, he remained in his compound while publicly stating that he has weapons at his disposal to "fight back" if police come. On 3 July, Atambaev left his compound for the first time in weeks to speak at a rally of 1,000 of his supporters who called for all the charges to be dropped. On 24 July, he began a two-day visit to

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eigh ...

with a delegation from the SDPK after departing on a

Sukhoi Superjet 100 The Sukhoi Superjet 100 () or SSJ100 is a regional jet designed by Russian aircraft company Sukhoi Civil Aircraft, a division of the United Aircraft Corporation (now: Regional Aircraft – Branch of the Irkut Corporation). With development starti ...

Kant Air Base Kant Air Base (russian: Авиабаза Кант ''Aviabaza Kant'') is a military air base in Ysyk-Ata District of Chüy Region in Kyrgyzstan. It is located just south of Kant, around 20 km east of Bishkek and is home to the Russian Air Force ...

(operated by the

Russian Air Force "Air March" , mascot = , anniversaries = 12 August , equipment = , equipment_label = , battles = , decorations = , batt ...

) at 1:48 pm that day. During the visit, he met with President

in the

Kremlin The Kremlin ( rus, Московский Кремль, r=Moskovskiy Kreml', p=ˈmɐˈskofskʲɪj krʲemlʲ, t=Moscow Kremlin) is a fortified complex in the center of Moscow founded by the Rurik dynasty. It is the best known of the kremlins (Ru ...

Arrest

On 7 August 2019, the Special Forces of Kyrgyzstan attacked Atambayev's residence in

, supposedly based on charges of corruption made against him. As a result of the attack, 36 people were injured and one soldier died. In a meeting of the

Security Council The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN) and is charged with ensuring international peace and security, recommending the admission of new UN members to the General Assembly, an ...

, Jeenbekov accused Atambayev of "rudely violating the constitution". A second raid was launched the next day, after which Atambayev surrendered to security forces. On 13 August, Orozbek Opumbayev, the head of the State Committee of National Security (SCNS), said Atambayev was plotting to topple the government before he was taken into custody. On 23 June 2020, he was sentenced to 11 years in jail for corruption for (according to ''

The Diplomat ''The Diplomat'' is an international online news magazine covering politics, society, and culture in the Indo-Pacific region. It is based in Washington, D.C. It was originally an Australian bi-monthly print magazine, founded by Minh Bui Jones ...

'') "the illegal release of a Chechen criminal in 2013. Atambayev is still on trial for, among other things, his involvement in the death of a special forces officer during the botched 7 August 2019 attempt to detain Atambayev at his compound at Koi-Tash outside the capital. The trial has been largely moved online, given the

pandemic A pandemic () is an epidemic of an infectious disease that has spread across a large region, for instance multiple continents or worldwide, affecting a substantial number of individuals. A widespread endemic disease with a stable number of i ...

, but Atambayev reportedly will not testify. Atambayev's lawyers maintain that the former president is immune from prosecution, given his status as a former president; the Kyrgyz parliament – in which Atambayev's former party, the Social Democratic Party (SDPK) holds the most seats – stripped him of that immunity in 2019."

2020 protests

On 5 October 2020, protests erupted with a crowd of 1,000 people, that grew to at least 5,000 people by evening in

, the nation's capital, in protest against results and allegations of vote-buying in the October 2020 parliamentary election. In addition, protestors freed Atambayev from prison. On 8 October, Atambayev survived an assassination attempt in Bishkek after the car he was traveling in was shot at. He was imprisoned again on 10 October.

In prison

On March 23, 2022, Almazbek Atambaev’s spine was damaged as a result of violence by the prison guards, and numerous abrasions and marks of beatings were found on his body, which was confirmed on March 25 by the state National Center for the Prevention of Torture of the Kyrgyz Republic and subsequently by a medical examination at the National Center for Cardiology. Atambayev was denied not only treatment, but even a serious medical examination. Only after the Secretary General of the

Socialist International The Socialist International (SI) is a political international or worldwide organisation of political parties which seek to establish democratic socialism Democratic socialism is a Left-wing politics, left-wing political philosophy that su ...

Luis Ayala made a special visit to Kyrgyzstan in 2022 and a special statement from the Socialist International was issued, Atambaev was briefly placed in a clinic for examination.

International support

On July 8th of 2022, Council of

(63 political parties around the world) made a statement, that “the manner in which the former president has been detained, tried and sentenced contravenes his legal and human rights as a defendant, violates the Kyrgyz Code of Criminal Procedure and breaches international judicial norms”. Despite the need for two operations on the esophagus, the need for which was concluded by the state National Center for Cardiology, where Atambayev was examined, to this day these operations have not been carried out. Atambayev was diagnosed with

Barrett's esophagus Barrett's esophagus is a condition in which there is an abnormal ( metaplastic) change in the mucosal cells lining the lower portion of the esophagus, from stratified squamous epithelium to simple columnar epithelium with interspersed goblet cel ...

Awards

* Order of Manas (1 December 2011) * Order of "Danaker" (28 November 2007) *

Order of the Republic of Serbia Order of the Republic of Serbia ( sr, Орден Републике Србије) is the highest state order of Serbia. The order is awarded by the decree of the President of Serbia on special occasions. It is awarded in the first class on a larg ...

(Serbia, 2013) * Presidential Order of Excellence (

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to t ...

, 2013) * Order of Dostyk I degree (Kazakhstan, 7 November 2014) *

Order of Alexander Nevsky The Order of Alexander Nevsky ( ''orden Alexandra Nevskogo'') is an order of merit of the Russian Federation named in honour of saint Alexander Nevsky (1220–1263) and bestowed to civil servants for twenty years or more of highly meritorious s ...

(Russia, 17 September 2016) * Order "Friend of Azerbaijan" (Azerbaijan, 2016) * Hero of the Kyrgyz Republic (2017)

References

, - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Atambaev, Almaz 1956 births Kyrgyzstani Sunni Muslims Living people People from Chüy Region Presidents of Kyrgyzstan Prime Ministers of Kyrgyzstan Social Democratic Party of Kyrgyzstan politicians Recipients of the Order of Alexander Nevsky Recipients of the Presidential Order of Excellence Heroes of the Kyrgyz Republic Members of the Supreme Council (Kyrgyzstan) Heads of government who were later imprisoned State University of Management alumni Industry ministers of Kyrgyzstan