Bishkek, 24 January 2023 (GNP): The Kyrgyz government has filed a lawsuit to shut down the local services of the US-funded Radio Free Europe, also known as Radio Liberty.
The Kyrgyz government blames the radio for a video report that the government calls fake and misguiding about the last September clashes between Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan, in which more than 100 people were killed.
This is confirmed by the officials of the Kyrgyz Ministry of Culture. The former Soviet republic has a relatively free press and media as compared to other neighboring central Asian countries.
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Radio Liberty, original name Azattyk, has more than two million subscribers on its YouTube channel. The regular reporting about political opposition and the alleged corruption of politicians, whether in government or the opposition, have brought wrath to this radio channel.
Bishkek came hard on it by closing down its bank accounts and blocking access to its website and social media accounts.
Two American Senators, Democrats Bob Menendez and Republican Jim Risch, wrote a protesting letter to Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov about the crackdown on the free and independent media.
However, a spokesperson of President Sadyr Japarov said that it is essential for media outlets to follow the law of the land and that there is no pressing down of media in Kyrgyzstan.
The root of this Kyrgyz-Tajik conflict lay in the Soviet-drawn enclaves. Both Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan were once the parts of the historic Kokand Khanate that were captured by the Tsar in the 19th century, and then the Soviets demarcated the Fergana valley into two enclaves without fully justifying or taking into consideration the ethnic or the nationalists consideration of this region which now fuming so many conflicts for these central Asian countries.