Almazbek Atambayev

He was inaugurated on 1 December 2011.[26][27] It took place in the National Philarmonic Hall in Bishkek. The ceremony was attended by the President of Turkey, Abdullah Gul, Prime Minister of Kazakhstan Karim Masimov, Prime Minister of Azerbaijan Artur Rasizade and President of Georgia, Mikheil Saakashvili. The attendance of the head of the Presidential Administration of Russia Sergey Naryshkin and the Head of Chechnya Ramzan Kadyrov was expected, however they could not and instead sent lower level Russian Foreign Ministry officials in their place. During his inaugural speech, he said the following about the future of Kyrgyzstan:[28]

"Today we are writing a new story. This is not the history of the president, but a new history of our country."

The ceremony budget cost less than half of what was spent for inauguration ceremony of Kurmanbek Bakiev in August 2009, costing about 10 million Soms ($217,000 in US Dollars).[29] Unlike the breastplates used for the inaugurations of Akaev, Bakiyev and Otunbayeva, which were framed with diamonds and pearls, the jewelers decided not to use the gems in the 108 centimeter long breastplate as it was considered to be an "imported" element in the national culture.[30]

In November 2015, the Ministry of Defense was re-branded as the State Committee for Defense Affairs on Atambayev's orders while transferring authority over the Armed Forces of Kyrgyzstan to the General Staff, with the Chief of the General Staff exercising his/her authority as the paramount leader of the military and the second in command to the president.[31] In December 2016, Atambayev signed a decree officially abolishing the use of military courts in Kyrgyzstan.[32][33] This was done on a recommendation made by the Commission for the Reform of the Judicial System, which said that the state budget couldn't fund these institutions anymore.[34] Earlier that month, he presided over a constitutional referendum which proposed that the increasing the powers of the Prime Minister and his/her government, as well as reforms to the judicial system. It also established that marriage could be only "between a man and a woman" rather of "between two persons" as laid out by the previous constitution.[35] The changes were approved with a landslide majority of close to 80% of the Kyrgyz population.

The final year of Atambayev's presidency was marred by numerous civil and criminal trials against journalists, activists and opposition politicians. In many of those trials, the Prosecutor General's Office of Kyrgyzstan has often acted on Atambayev's behalf to represents his interests.[36]

In 2011 soon after becoming President, Atambayev travelled to Turkey and signed an agreement with the Turkish President agreeing to increase trade from $300 million in 2011 to $1 billion by 2015, with Turkey also agreeing to attract Turkish investment to Kyrgyzstan to the amount of $450 million within the next few years.[37]

Atambayev in Moscow in 2017.

Atambayev with Nursultan Nazarbayev.

Atambayev has repeatedly presented himself as a pro-Russian politician. He has announced Kyrgyzstan's entry into the Customs Union, secured the withdrawal of the American military base from the country in 2014, and has spoken of the need for closer economic relations with the Russian Federation, which employs at least 500,000 citizens of Kyrgyzstan;[38] however, he also expressed his wish to achieve greater economic and energy independence from it.[39]

In early 2012 Atambayev travelled to Moscow, where in his meeting with Medvedev he called for the $15 million owed by Russia to Kyrgyzstan for their use of the Kant airbase.[40]

In 2013, he launched a tirade against the United Kingdom, accusing it undermined democracy by allowing a Bakiyev's son, Maxim to live in London:[41]

"Is Britain hosting the kids of [Muammar] Gaddafi or Bashar al-Assad? Why are there double standards against Kyrgyzstan? Britain is saying: 'We want to help with democratic development in Kyrgyzstan.' That's a lie. You're hosting a guy who robbed us. We could use that money to fund fair elections".

In February 2015, tension with Belarus arose over the death of Almanbet Anapiyaev, aged 41, whose death Atambayev said lied solely in former Security Service chief Janish Bakiyev, who was being sheltered in Minsk alongside his father. The Belarusian Foreign Ministry responded by saying that it "makes no sense" to comment on his statement.[42] In May 2015, during a Victory Day meeting of CSTO leaders in Moscow, Atambayev took part in an argument with President Islam Karimov over who was being more patriotic during the 70th anniversary celebrations.[43]

During the Kyrgyz presidential election in 2017, Atambayev accused Kazakhstan of sponsoring Ömürbek Babanov, who was one of the presidential candidates. He also accused Kazakhstan officials for being corrupt by looting the pensioners income. On 9 October 2017, Atambayev announced that he wouldn't attend the CIS heads of state summit in Sochi, which would have required the Kyrgyz leader to meet president of Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbayev.[44] That same month, he visited the Uzbek capital of Tashkent in a breakthrough visit for a Kyrgyz leader.[45]

On 7 August 2019, the Special Forces of Kyrgyzstan attacked Atambayev's residence in Bishkek, supposedly based on charges of corruption made against him.[56] As a result of the attack, 36 people were injured and one soldier died.[57][58] In a meeting of the Security Council, Jeenbekov accused Atambayev of "rudely violating the constitution".[59] A second raid was launched the next day, after which Atambayev surrendered to security forces.[60]

On 13 August, Orozbek Opumbayev, the head of the State Committee of National Security (SCNS), said Atambayev was plotting to topple the government before he was taken into custody.[61] On 23 June 2020, he was sentenced to 11 years in jail for corruption[62] for (according to The Diplomat) "the illegal release of a Chechen criminal in 2013. Atambayev is still on trial for, among other things, his involvement in the death of a special forces officer during the botched 7 August 2019 attempt to detain Atambayev at his compound at Koi-Tash outside the capital. The trial has been largely moved online, given the pandemic, but Atambayev reportedly will not testify. Atambayev's lawyers maintain that the former president is immune from prosecution, given his status as a former president; the Kyrgyz parliament – in which Atambayev's former party, the Social Democratic Party (SDPK) holds the most seats – stripped him of that immunity in 2019."[63]

On 5 October 2020, protests erupted with a crowd of 1,000 people,[64] that grew to at least 5,000 people by evening in Bishkek, the nation's capital, in protest against results and allegations of vote-buying in the October 2020 parliamentary election.[65] In addition, protestors freed Atambayev from prison.[66] On 8 October, Atambayev survived an assassination attempt in Bishkek after the car he was traveling in was shot at.[67] He was imprisoned again on 10 October.[3]