The relatively wide media freedom experienced in Kyrgyzstan since the 2005 Tulip revolution narrowed this year. This coincided with local elections and associated internal political turmoil. Laws restricting free and independent media remain in force from previous years. Television continues to dominate the media landscape, with 97 percent of Kyrgyz speakers reporting they use the medium on a weekly basis for news and information. Friends and family are the next-most-used source, with 89 percent of Kyrgyz speakers relying on them weekly for news and information. The use of radio for news and information dropped (from 46 percent in 2006 and 2007 to 40 percent in 2008). Newspapers are now used as often as radio (41 percent of Kyrgyz speakers surveyed reporting using this platform on a weekly basis). Internet use inched up among Kyrgyz speakers from 5 percent in 2006 to 6 percent in 2008. Although the change in internet use is not statistically significant, the use of SMS for news and information about current events is something to watch: whereas just over one-quarter (27 percent) of respondents reported using SMS as an information source weekly in 2007, that figure increased to one-third (34 percent) of Kyrgyz speakers in 2008.
Kyrgyzstan
Congressional Research Service, Kyrgyzstan
April 2010 Coup in Kyrgyzstan: Context and Implications for U.S. Interests
Kyrgyzstan is a small and poor country in Central Asia that gained independence in 1991 with the breakup of the Soviet Union (see Figure A-1). It has developed a notable but fragile civil society. Progress in democratization has been set back by problematic elections (one of which helped precipitate a coup in 2005 that brought Kurmanbek Bakiyev to power), contention over constitutions, and corruption. The April 2010 coup appears to have been triggered by popular discontent over rising utility prices and government repression. After two days of popular unrest in the capital of Bishkek and other cities, opposition politicians ousted the Bakiyev administration on April 8 and declared an interim government pending a new presidential election in six months. Roza Otunbayeva, a former foreign minister and ambassador to the United States, was declared the acting prime minister.
Kyrgyzstan, World Bank
Joint Country Support Strategy for Kyrgyzstan 2007-2010
Задачи на пути развития. Кыргызская Республика, являющаяся горной страной без выхода к морским портам, сталкивается с труднопреодолимыми географическими барьерами в деле достижения высоких и устойчивых темпов экономического роста. Изолированность страны является серьезной преградой для развития международной торговли и перевозок, что далее усугубляется в силу неудовлетворительного состояния физической инфраструктуры и политики протекционизма, проводимой соседними государствами.