Upheaval in Kyrgyzstan

After violent protests in the capital Bishkek, resulting in 1 dead and 590 injured, electoral results in Kyrgyzstan were annulled.

As a result of the confrontations, president Sooronbai Jeenbekov, who still remains in office, declared the state of emergency in the capital until October 21, ordering the armed forces to organize so as to combat the instability. Prime minister Kubatbek Boronov resigned last Tuesday, after electoral results were declared invalid, but protestors are still calling for the president’s resignation.

Former president Almazbek Atambayev, who was sentenced to over 11 years of prison on corruption charges, was released this week by protesters, after which he was allegedly the victim of an assassination attempt in Bishkek.

These developments are being closely followed by Russia, who still retains a large degree of influence in the region, while still not involving itself directly.

Developments in Nagorno-Karabakh

The conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh seems not to slow down. According to Armenian president Nikol Pashinyan, Russia is reported to have an agreement where it considers a threat to Armenian territorial security as a threat to its own security, although the latter is reluctant to involve itself in the conflict.

On the other hand, Turkish foreign minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu declared his support to Azerbaijan in the conflict, although the situation is reaching an alarming point for Iran, who seems in the conflict a high probability of collateral damage. The Iranian president Hassan Rouhani met with his Azerbaijani counterpart, Ilham Aliyev, having brought these concerns to the table.

Recently, Canada has also suspended the sale of arms to Turkey, after reports that these were being sent to Azerbaijan.

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