Myrzakan Usurkanovich Subanov (; born 15 October 1944) is a

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

- Kyrgyz military commander who served as post-Soviet Kyrgyzstan's chairman of the State Defense Committee in 1992–1993 and first

Minister of Defense A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and military forces, found in states where the government is divid ...

in 1993–1999.

Biography

Myrzakan Subanov was born in the Talas District of the Kyrgyz Soviet Socialist Republic in 1944. He graduated from the Tashkent Higher All-Arms Command School in 1966, the

Frunze Military Academy The M. V. Frunze Military Academy (), or in full the Military Order of Lenin and the October Revolution, Red Banner, Order of Suvorov Academy in the name of M. V. Frunze (), was a military academy of the Soviet and later the Russian Armed Forces ...

in 1977, and the General Staff Academy in 1984. A major-general in the

Soviet Army The Soviet Ground Forces () was the land warfare service branch of the Soviet Armed Forces from 1946 to 1992. It was preceded by the Red Army. After the Soviet Union ceased to exist in December 1991, the Ground Forces remained under th ...

, he served as a

military adviser Military advisors or combat advisors are military personnel deployed to advise on military matters. The term is often used for soldiers sent to foreign countries to aid such countries' militaries with their military education and training, organi ...

to the

Afghan Army The Islamic National Army (, ), also referred to as the Islamic Emirate Army and the Afghan Army, is the land force branch of the Afghan Armed Forces. The roots of an army in Afghanistan can be traced back to the early 18th century when the Ho ...

during the

civil war A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

against the '' mujihadeen'' from 1987 to 1989. and led an

army corps Corps (; plural ''corps'' ; from French , from the Latin "body") is a term used for several different kinds of organization. A military innovation by Napoleon I, the formation was formally introduced March 1, 1800, when Napoleon ordered Gener ...

in the

Leningrad Military District The Order of Lenin Leningrad Military District () is a military district of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. The district was awarded the Order of Lenin in 1968. In 2010, it was merged with the Moscow Military District, the Northern ...

from 1989 and was named a deputy commander of the Turkestan Military District in 1991. Subanov returned to Kyrgyzstan following the

dissolution of the Soviet Union The Soviet Union was formally dissolved as a sovereign state and subject of international law on 26 December 1991 by Declaration No. 142-N of the Soviet of the Republics of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union. Declaration No. 142-Н of ...

to serve in the

military of Kyrgyzstan The Armed Forces of the Kyrgyz Republic is the national military of Kyrgyzstan. It was originally formed from the former Soviet forces of the Turkestan Military District stationed in newly independent Kyrgyzstan. It consists of the Kyrgyz Army, G ...

and was appointed State Defense Committee Chairman Major-General Dzhanybek Umetaliyev's first deputy in 1992. Myrzakan Sabanov succeeded Umetaliyev as head of the Defense Committee on 22 July 1993, becoming Kyrgyzstan's first

when the Defense Ministry was formed by the Akayev government as a replacement for the State Defense Committee in the same year. Subanov was promoted to

lieutenant-general Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the battlefield, who was normall ...

and colonel-general during his tenure as defense minister, but was dismissed from the Defense Ministry after an August 1999 incident in which guerrillas from

Tajikistan Tajikistan, officially the Republic of Tajikistan, is a landlocked country in Central Asia. Dushanbe is the capital city, capital and most populous city. Tajikistan borders Afghanistan to the Afghanistan–Tajikistan border, south, Uzbekistan to ...

crossed into Kyrgyzstan, occupied border villages, and seized hostages."Kyrgyz Troops Kill 10 Gunmen in Hostage Crisis"
(25 August 1999).

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are dist ...

, ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

''. Retrieved 1 January 2012. Akayev's government dismissed Colonel-General Subanov over what press spokesman Kanybek Imanaliyev described as a failure to "stabilize the situation." Subanov was returned to a prominent position in the government following the

Tulip Revolution The Tulip Revolution, also known as the First Kyrgyz Revolution, led to Kyrgyzstan's then-President of Kyrgyzstan, President Askar Akayev's fall from power. The revolution began after Kyrgyz parliamentary elections, 2005, parliamentary elections ...

that ended President Akayev's fifteenth year in power in 2005 and served as head of the national Border Service in 2005–2006. He was elected director of the Executive Committee of the

Shanghai Cooperation Organisation The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) is a Eurasian politics, political, economy, economic, international security and Defence (military), defence organization of ten member states. It was established in 2001 by the China, People's Republic ...

's Regional Counterterrorism Structure in 2006.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Subanov, Myrzakan 1944 births Living people Government ministers of Kyrgyzstan Kyrgyzstani generals Soviet major generals Soviet military personnel of the Soviet–Afghan War Frunze Military Academy alumni Military Academy of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Soviet Union alumni Ministers of defence of Kyrgyzstan Tashkent Higher All-Arms Command School alumni