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February 1-7, 2015

Media Monitoring Report for Kyrgyzstan
Posted on February 7, 2015

Compiled by Caitlin Murphy

1. Society and Culture

Kabar.kg, Privately-owned media, 3 February 2015
Four Uzbek citizens detained for trespassing

  • According to the Public Relations and Media Department of the State Border Service of the Kyrgyz Republic, on February 2, four Uzbeks were arrested in Osh, Southern Kyrgyzstan.
  • The people were detained for violation of the Kyrgyz-Uzbek border.
  • The day prior, on February 1, two other Uzbek citizens were detained in Jalal Abad for illegal presence in Kyrgyzstan.

24.kg, State-owned Media, 4 February 2015
Ministry of Culture creates book “Code of the Kyrgyz” and promises that in 10 years, every Korean will ask why he was not born Kyrgyz

  • At a press conference presenting the book, one of the authors said that is was his goal that in 10 years every Korean will ask why he was not born Kyrgyz.
  • He also said that he aims to increase the intermarriage between Korean brides and Kyrgyz men, and American men and Kyrgyz brides.
  • The Deputy Minister of Culture stressed that the creators of the book are not pursuing the separation of the people of Kyrgyzstan.
  • The goal of the book is the preservation of Kyrgyz culture in the face of moral and ethical social changes within Kyrgyzstan due to the influence of political forces.
  • The book is also meant to curtail the word “kyrgyzchylyk” (Kyrgyz-like) in association with negative qualities of being late, or not keeping one’s word, for example.
  • The book is meant to be a statement of national identity, such that doubt is not cast on the potential of the Kyrgyz people.

Vecherniy Bishkek, vb.kg, Privately-owned media, 4 February 2015
The trial of the chief editor of Maalymatkg postponed due to absence of prosecution’s witnesses

  • Dayyrbekom Orunbekov, editor in chief of Maalmymat.kg, is to stand trial for “false reporting of a crime.”
  • The defendant’s lawyer, Jyrgal Babayev, has been trying to have the case dismissed since January, when the Constitutional Council of the Kyrgyz Republic decided that the article against false reporting of a crime was not applicable to the press.
  • His lawyer claims that the case is politically motivated.
  • His lawyer also called attention to Article 33 of the Constitution of the Kyrgyz Republic, where it says that a person cannot be held criminally liable for public statements.

24.kg, State-owned Media, 7 February 2015
Activists call for more information on Kumtor

  • Young activists of the Issyk-Kul region in Kyrgyzstan have called for more information from the government on their negotiations with the Canadian mining company Centerra Gold, which owns the Kumtor goldmine in Kyrgyzstan.
  • The general population has been kept completely in the dark during the negotiation process.
  • The Kumtor mine has been controversial in Kyrgyzstan in recent years; the government has sought to renegotiate its deal with the Canadian company in order that the country would have a stake in its own mine.
  • The Kumtor mine has been subject to much criticism with regards to how it is run, and its social and environmental impacts on its surroundings.
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