BISHKEK (Kyrgyzstan): Kyrgyzstan’s President Sadyr Japarov on Tuesday sacked his one-time close ally and powerful spy chief Kamchybek Tashiev in a surprise move a year before elections in the Central Asian former Soviet republic.
Japarov, who effectively governed with the former security service head in tandem, signed a decree stating that Tashiev “was dismissed from his position as Deputy Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers and Chairman of the State Committee for National Security”.
“I made this decision in the interests of our state, to prevent division in society, including between state structures,” Japarov was quoted as saying by the state news agency Kabar.
He added that the move was aimed at “strengthening the unity” of the nation.
Japarov came to power after a revolution in 2020 — the third since Kyrgyzstan gained independence in 1991 — and appointed Tashiev shortly after.
Both vowed to bring stability to a country that had regularly been shaken by political crises.
Japarov is seeking re-election in a presidential vote scheduled for next year. Tashiev had said publicly that he had no intentions of standing against his boss.
Split in two by vast mountain ranges, regional affinities are strong in Kyrgyzstan, where representatives from the north and the south typically switch places in the presidential seat.
The tandem of Japarov, from the north, and Tashiev, from the south, helped maintain the fragile balance between the parts of the country.
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