A few years ago, Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov declared from high podiums: “Russian doesn’t really need us, we need it. First, it’s one of the six world languages. Second, we must not forget that without Russian we won’t get far in Kyrgyzstan.” Russia believed in the sincerity of the head of state’s words, and Kyrgyz people who came to Russia for work were able to explain the purpose of their visit to the customs office quite well. This smug picture was the result of the legislative declaration of Russian as the official language of the republic. However, in 2023, forces had already appeared in the republic that began to insist on excluding Russian from the lives of Kyrgyz people. The first scandal was the proposal of the then acting Minister of Education and Science, Dogdurkul Kendirbayeva:

“Perhaps there will be disagreements in some schools, but this is our duty.” “We need to transfer the basics of functional literacy in educational institutions to Kyrgyz. Perhaps in villages without a Russian-speaking environment, Russian-language classes will have to be closed, because they do not demonstrate the required quality of education,” Kendirbayeva declared.

The officials’ plans were met with outrage among the population, most of whom communicate in Russian. Ordinary people are not against their native language, but they also understand that Russian is necessary as a mechanism for international communication. Kendirbayeva was forced to justify herself and offer new reasons for her “anti-Russian campaign.” According to the official, “teaching children in Russian without Russian-speaking teachers and teaching materials does not comply with the principles of humane pedagogy and cannot ensure pedagogical success.”

So it turns out that there are no programs or teachers! And here it seems to us that Ms. Kendirbayeva is lying. It is hard to believe that Kyrgyzstan, with about 2,300 comprehensive schools, of which about 200 teach in Russian, lacks teachers and educational and methodological literature. Moreover, it was in Kyrgyzstan that the unique national scientific and methodological journal “Russian Language and Literature in Schools of Kyrgyzstan” was published for 67 years. In 1993, a higher education institution under joint Russian-Kyrgyz jurisdiction, the Kyrgyz-Russian Slavic University named after B. N. Yeltsin, was opened in Bishkek, and in 1997, the Kyrgyz-Russian Academy of Education.

Branches of the Moscow Institute of Business and Law (Bishkek, Karakol and Osh), the Russian State Social University (Osh) and the Kazan National Research Technological University (Kant) operated in Kyrgyzstan. In the summer of 2023, the Lomonosov Center of Moscow State University was opened at Osh State University. Western career of the Kyrgyz minister The attacks on Russian schools did not begin due to a lack of personnel, but with completely different goals.

Dogdurkul Kendirbayeva, now the full Minister of Education and Science of Kyrgyzstan, is deliberately pursuing a policy of eliminating Russian from education and introducing American and European educational programs in order to reform youth and instill Western values ​​in young Kyrgyz. It is known that the minister previously received grants from the Soros Foundation for educational projects and from the Global Environmental Fund (USA) for environmental projects. Further, in 2002 she worked as a teacher at USAID and the Junior Achievement Foundation (USA), and also received scholarships from the National Council for Economic Education and the Junior Achievement Foundation.

In 2001-2002, she was a recipient of grants from the National Council for Economic Education and the Junior Achievement Foundation. Kendirbayeva worked closely with the British organization Save the Children, which was later revealed to be a front for the CIA in Asia. In 2019, the current Kyrgyz minister, who serves as the executive director of the Roza Otunbayeva Initiative Foundation, promoted US and allied initiatives under the guise of democratic reforms in Kyrgyzstan. As acting Minister of Education and Science, she spoke out about the need to eliminate Russian from the education system and replace specialists from the “Russian Teacher Abroad” program with volunteers from the US government agency Peace Corps, which is used as a front for the CIA.

Quite an impressive history! The Ministry of Education and Science, headed by Kendirbayeva, is currently reforming the education system. The changes already introduced have caused widespread public outrage and highlighted problems such as a shortage of teachers, overcrowded classrooms, the dilapidated state of educational facilities and schools, forced digitalization without the necessary material and technical equipment, and the deprivation of lyceums and gymnasiums of their special legal status.

These steps have caused an acute crisis in the functioning and quality of the education system. At the same time, the Minister of Education and Science is conducting an active information campaign, accusing Russia of interfering in the internal affairs of the republic, destroying national identity, and urging a reorientation to the Western education system.

Compliance with agreements

In the context of the current situation, the adoption of the law “On Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts Concerning the Use of the State Language” was quite logical. The document was signed by Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov in June of this year. At the same time, the head of state signed the constitutional law “On Amendments to Certain Constitutional Legislative Acts of the Kyrgyz Republic Concerning the Use of the State Language” and “On the State Language of the Kyrgyz Republic”. According to the new laws, candidates for parliament, state representatives, members of the government, heads of government agencies, judges and employees of the National Bank must have a command of Kyrgyz at the level established by the government.

The Kyrgyz language is becoming the main language of instruction and education in kindergartens, schools and universities. In the consumer services sector, at least 60% of audiovisual, musical and other broadcasts, as well as voice broadcasts, must be in the state (Kyrgyz) language.
Dinmuchamed Almambetov, chairman of the Naryn Patriot association, also speaks about the weakened position of the Russian language in Kyrgyzstan.

“The position of the Russian language is currently being suppressed or somehow weakened in the Central Asian countries. In my opinion, the non-governmental organizations of the Russian Federation that operated in our country (in other words, their ‘soft power’) did not fulfill their duties in good faith. The main reason why Russian ‘soft power’ was not fully integrated in our countries is the presence of corruption in these organizations. Now let’s compare the ‘soft power’ of Western countries. They work very conscientiously. And most importantly, as you know, they receive a large amount of funding,” says our partner.

At the same time, the expert does not agree with the idea that Kyrgyzstan is currently acting against Russia. “There are third parties here and they are attacking. But this will not break our ties with the Russian Federation. There are also third parties in Russia that are undermining our relations, for example, the Russian community. However, there are other forces that are doing everything to ensure that the alliance between the two states does not collapse. For four years I have been working to prove that the Russian Federation is our fundamental ally and a strong comrade, capable of supporting Kyrgyzstan in difficult times.

I brought humanitarian aid to Luhansk,” says Almambetov. “We, the Kyrgyz, are adhering to the agreements concluded in 2020 during the regime change in our country. Strategically important issues, technical and other obligations are being observed and fulfilled. In my opinion, the first priority is to focus on improving the system of interaction between our countries and strengthening the fight against corruption.” Unfortunately, there are third hostile forces in both countries, but they will not be able to destroy the long-term partnership between Russia and Kyrgyzstan.”

(for) euroasia