WASHINGTON— U.S. Senator Benjamin L. Cardin (D-MD), Chairman of the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe (U.S. Helsinki Commission), and Co-Chairman Congressman Alcee L. Hastings (D-FL) announced today they will hold a hearing:
“Instability in Kyrgyzstan: the International Response”
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
2:30 p.m.
Room 210 Cannon House Office Building
Kyrgyzstan has been through two changes in government in recent years, both brought about by popular and violent uprisings, sparked by pervasive corruption, nepotism, and poor governance. Two months following the bloody events of April 2010 which brought down President Kurmanbek Bakiev, ethnic violence broke out in the southern part of Kyrgyzstan, leaving hundreds dead and some 400,000 displaced. A constitutional referendum in June legitimized the interim government of President Roza Otunbayeva and changed the country’s political structure from a presidential to a parliamentary system.
This hearing will examine the current situation in Kyrgyzstan, including the prospects for stability, democracy, interethnic reconciliation, and implications for U.S. policy.
Scheduled to testify:
The Honorable Robert O. Blake, Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia, U.S. State Department
Mr. Arslan Anarbaev, Charge d’affaires, Embassy of the Kyrgyz Republic
Dr. Martha Olcott, Senior Associate, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Dr. Bakyt Beshimov, Opposition Kyrgyz politician and visiting scholar at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
