President Sadyr Japarov’s sudden dismissal of his friend and security service chief Kamchybek Tashiyev on February 10 sent shockwaves through Kyrgyzstan.

Japarov offered up reasons for the decision and said it will not affect his friendship with Tashiyev, but it becomes increasingly clear that this is much more than a rift between “Eki Dos,” or the Two Friends, as they’re sometimes called.

In Japarov’s purge, Tashiyev was one of the first to lose his job, but a series of detentions, firings and reshuffles of officials in the security service (known as the GKNB), the interior ministry, the office of the prosecutor general and other places have taken place.

The appeal

Tashiyev flew to Munich on February 6 for a medical check-up, something he has done regularly since he had heart surgery in Germany in February 2021.

On February 9, Kyrgyz media reported on an appeal addressed to Japarov and Speaker of Parliament Nurlanbek Turgunbek uulu signed by 75 people: former government officials and notable public figures.

It called for the immediate calling of an early presidential election. Signatories noted that Japarov was elected to a single, six-year term in office in January 2021, but that a new constitution adopted in April 2021 gives the president the possibility of two, five-year terms won at the ballot box. The logic behind the appeal is that if Japarov is serving as president under the new constitution, his term expired in late January, meaning a fresh election is needed.

The day after the appeal was made public, Tashiyev was fired. Japarov’s press secretary Askat Alagozov said signatories had been contacting MPs, public figures and representatives of the intelligentsia, urging support for the “General’s [Tashiyev’s] side.”

Alagozov also said that when Japarov stated that he made a “decision in the interests of our state, with the aim of preventing a split in society, including between government structures,” the president “did not mean Kamchybek Kydyrshaevich (Tashiyev).”

Cleaning house

Japarov said he spoke with Tashiyev before announcing the dismissal. But a journalist close to Tashiyev, Nurgazy Anarkulov, reported that Tashiyev said in Germany on February 11 that the move “came as a complete surprise to me.”

Tashiyev said the firing was a complete surprise to him (Credit: Official publication, public domain).

Also dismissed were three GKNB deputy chairmen. On February 17, reports said a fourth deputy chairman had been fired.

On February 11, Aldar Zhakypbekov, head of the GKNB department in Bishkek, was reported as detained. After a GKNB denial, the detention was confirmed on February 15. He has already been replaced.

The first deputy prosecutor general was relieved of his post on February 14.

The GKNB departmental head for Osh city and province was sacked on February 16, while the GKNB directorate chief in Jalal-Abad Province was dismissed on February 17.

Two GKNB employees close to Zhakypbekov were detained on February 16. One was a Chuy Province branch inspector known as “Vaseline”, the other was GKNB Sixth Department officer Sydyk “Pito” Duyshenbiyev.

Three interior ministry officials said to be close to Zhakypbekov were fired on February 16, namely the head of personnel at the ministry’s internal affairs directorate in Chui Province (reportedly Zhakypbekov’s brother-in-law), the internal affairs head in Balykchy, Issyk-Kul Province and the deputy chief of internal affairs in Bishkek’s Birinchi Mai (Pervy Mai) district.

Five of the appeal signatories were also detained and ordered to remain in custody for two months while an investigation is conducted.

Others who signed the appeal, including former PM Jantoro Satybaldiyev, were called in for questioning.

Parliamentary Speaker Turgunbek uulu was on an official visit to Turkey when news of the appeal broke. There were rumours that he would be dismissed on his return to Kyrgyzstan, but on arrival in Bishkek on February 12, he acted first, announcing his resignation in parliament. There are reports that he might give up his deputy’s mandate.

Also sacked were the ministers of natural resources, transport and communications, and emergency situations, while the president and Cabinet of Ministers’ special representative was relieved of his position.

Anarkulov, Tashiyev’s journalist friend who posted about Tashiyev’s surprise at being sacked, was detained on February 17 as he tried to cross into Kazakhstan.

Japarov moved quickly to bring security units that answered to Tashiyev's GKNB under his direct authority (Credit: Russian presidency).

And in one of Japarov’s first moves after firing Tashiyev, the Border Guard Service, brought under GKNB control after Tashiyev was named GKNB chief in 2020, was rebranded as the State Security Service and told to answer to the presidency.

Japarov said the whole episode started in parliament, but no one has yet mentioned which MPs were contacted about choosing sides by the appeal’s authors.

The latest parliamentary elections took place last November.

Attention has fallen on Shairbek Tashiyev, the brother of the former GKNB head. Shairbek was elected to parliament in November 2021 and re-elected last November, receiving the most votes of any candidate.

Shairbek said he and his brother Kamchybek respected the president’s decision.

He added that he has no intention of relinquishing his seat in parliament, saying only those who voted for him can take it away.

Eki Dos

Japarov and Tashiyev in 2020 became a ruling “tandem” when they rose to power together, but they became friends many years prior to that.

One of the first reports about them from some 20 years ago helped establish an image both would later continue to cultivate.

As the story goes, in late summer 2006 Japarov and Tashiyev, both MPs at the time,  were driving late at night outside Bishkek when a group of six or seven athletic men in their 30s blocked the road. An argument broke out and the group of men pulled the two deputies from the car and started beating them. Japarov and Tashiyev “gave a ‘worthy rebuff’ to the attackers” in a fight that reportedly lasted an hour.

Japarov and Tashiyev were among the cofounders of the Ata-Jurt party. It won the most seats in the 2010 parliamentary elections and the second highest number in the 2015 elections.

Both men helped lead armed protesters over the gate around the government building in October 2012 and were convicted of trying to overthrow the government in 2013. They were sentenced to a mere 18 months in prison and were released after only a few weeks behind bars.

Japarov was involved in another protest later in 2013 in his home area, Issyk-Kul. A local official was briefly taken hostage. Japarov was one of those blamed. He fled Kyrgyzstan and, when he finally returned in 2017, he was immediately arrested and eventually sentenced to 11.5 years in prison.

Tashiyev became an extremely influential political figure during the years Japarov was outside Kyrgyzstan and when he was in jail.

When president Sooronbai Jeenbekov’s government was overthrown after the October 2020 parliamentary elections, Japarov was freed from prison. Tashiyev was part of the group that propelled Japarov from prisoner to president in less than two weeks. Japarov then made Tashiyev GKNB chief.

They have governed together since. It has frequently seemed that Tashiyev was the lead figure.

The GKNB was an ineffective force. It watched almost helplessly during the 2005, 2010 and 2020 revolutions. Tashiyev turned it into a formidable defender of the regime. He raised GKNB salaries, constructed new GKNB HQ buildings nationwide, built apartments for security service employees and their families and constantly demonstrated his support for the GKNB rank and file.

Tashiyev also led a successful campaign against organised criminal groups in Kyrgyzstan. That included the killing of the top criminal figure in the country in October 2024.

The security boss also helped equip the military with newer weapons, including Turkish drones, after border clashes with Tajik troops in April 2021. They were used effectively when border fighting erupted again in September 2022.

Tashiyev then led the border demarcation talks with Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. They resulted in a historic border deal.

Japarov played secondary roles in these efforts, though both he and Tashiyev have clearly cooperated to neutralise Kyrgyzstan’s once vibrant political opposition and civil society.

Protests used to be common in the country, but several years have gone by since there was a large, sustained demonstration.

Whatever is happening now is more than just a rift between friends, or a divisive move made by a small group of people. There appears to have been a serious split involving powerful figures in government. It is unclear what role, if any, Tashiyev played in this.

The coming election

Tashiyev returned to Kyrgyzstan on February 13. He confined his comments to restating his loyalty to the people who served under him and to the president.

On February 14, Japarov vowed to investigate abuses in the GKNB and implement service reforms. He also warned that there will be no more coups in Kyrgyzstan.

He and Japarov met on February 15. Afterwards, Japarov said they remain friends but added that Tashiyev would not be given another government position.

Tashiyev left Kyrgyzstan “temporarily” on February 17. There was no word on where he was going or when he might return.

Japarov, on February 11, asked the Constitutional Court for a ruling on his presidential term in office. Six days later, the Court said Japarov is serving a six-year term under the old constitution, but that the next presidential poll remained set for January 2027.

It is worth noting that the powers Japarov has used to dismiss and replace officials were established under the new constitution passed in April 2021.

Japarov can run for re-election under the new constitution, but the Constitutional Court ruled his 2021 election to office counted as his first term, meaning he can only bid for office one more time.

The widely held belief has been that Japarov would go on to win another term in office with Tashiyev by his side. There have been rumours Tashiyev might run for president, but in public he has always dismissed such talk.

One thing’s for sure. The election next January could prove a lot more interesting than was previously anticipated.