Amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine another war has unfolded, the media war, in Kyrgyzstan. Disputes about who’s right and who’s wrong often arise both in the society and on social media. People have divided into various groups, and some have actually stopped communicating with one another because of different views. Detentions can happen during protests.
Yaroslav Tartykov, editor of Factcheck.kg, said that unchecked information flows through the internet. According to him, such information comes both from the supporters of the Kremlin policy, and from the supporters of Ukraine.
“My profession is to check information,” Tartykov said. “Therefore, I have to keep abreast of information, monitor publications in social media, messengers, search for facts, report them to the people; to try to make them understand the situation, to enable critical thinking, to see the events from another side and stop giving credibility to propaganda and misinformation.”
Of course, this situation leaves its mark and causes distress. In the first few days after Russian invasion of Ukraine, Tartykov could not sleep.
“It was difficult to stay indifferent after reading Telegram channels day and night, seeing all the collapse and killing of innocent people,” he said.
Because of different opinions about the events in Ukraine, Yaroslav now has worse relations with some friends and relatives. According to him, he could not even imagine that there would be many supporters of the military aggression in Ukraine among them. On the other hand, according to Tartykov, military events could change his opinion about some persons for the better.
“First, I did not expect that many Kyrgyzstanis would take the tragedy in Ukraine as their personal tragedy and would express their views cohesively and bravely,” the journalist said. “Second, some of my colleagues who have worked in Russian or pro-Russian media for a long time have surprised me. They assess the events in an objective way and publish rather critical materials on independent websites.”
Aigul Chekirova (the name was changed by respondent’s request) has worked in the human rights field for many years. All her professional activity is focused on the support of peace and against any aggression. Chekirova’s relations with her old friend have been deteriorated because of different views on the war in Ukraine.
“My friend Alina was born in Kyrgyzstan, but now she lives in Kaliningrad and has Russian citizenship,” Aigul said. “Despite the distance, we have always maintained friendly relations, sometimes we even visited each other. But the war has changed everything.”
Alina often published posts on social media in support of the military aggression, and if Aigul provided some counter arguments to her, Alina took it negatively. As a result, the friends have ended their friendship.
“And I often notice that some of my acquaintances immediately change their attitude towards me as soon as they see my opinion about the situation in Ukraine,” Chekirova said. “In other words, they contact or talk to me less.”
According to Aigul, her relations with her friend and other acquaintances will never be the same again.
Kyrgyzstani Nurbek Akmatov calls himself “neutral” in this regard. According to him, his own well-being and mental condition are more important to him.
“I have watched the news of both Russian and Ukrainian media. You never know what is true and what is lie,” Akmatov said. “Therefore, I’ve decided to stay away of this subject, never intervene in a dispute, and mind my own business.”
According to Akmatov, unfortunately, Kyrgyzstan also suffers from the consequences anyway, so citizens “should mind their own business and never intervene in someone else’s war.”
Giving comments on such facts, the experts shared the opinion that it is quite normal to react emotionally to the war. According to political analyst Emil Dzhuraev, it is quite natural to have the separation in the society, misunderstanding of each other. However, there is a limit to everything.
“Of course, people should judge from the rational, logical basis,” the expert said. “First, they should think about their words, attitudes and arguments not to label the ones they talk to, especially their friends, relatives, etc.”
In turn, political analyst Medet Tiulegenov said that sometimes people try to say something not to reassure someone, but just to express their opinion. And the problem here, according to the expert, is the lack of critical thinking skills.
“In particular cases, it is almost futile to reassure someone,” Tiulegenov said. “Many people, despite the wealth of information that can help understand or even change one’s opinion, fail to do it. It is more important to them to maintain their position in various disputes instead of trying to think over and analyse it.”
According to Samar Syrgabaev, candidate of sociological sciences, the polarisation in a society on various issues is a widespread phenomenon in the world and Kyrgyzstan is not an exception. According to him, the issues that concern some basic life skills always cause violent controversies and they usually take place on social media, in kitchens, sometimes outdoors.
“However, the foreign policy issue has never been that dramatic on the agenda of our citizens,” Syrgabaev said. “And given the negative impact of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict on the world, the society reacts this way. So far, such reaction takes the form of disputes in social media and protests.”
Protests in Bishkek
From the moment of Russian invasion of Ukraine, several protests have taken place in Bishkek. Protest actions have been organised in support of both Ukraine and Russia. Activists and citizens have protested in front of the embassies of the two countries and expressed their opinions about the developments in Ukraine.
On March 11, the Pervomaisky Court of Bishkek approved the legality of the decision made by a local police precinct banning special actions at some places in the city. From March 11 to April 11, non-governmental organisations and citizens were banned from holding protests in front of the buildings of Zhogorku Kenesh, government, embassy of Russia in Kyrgyzstan, as well as at Ala-Too square. The exceptions were state and municipal official events. The location for holding actions for NGOs and citizens was the Maksim Gorky public garden.
On April 1, the Chief Directorate of Internal Affairs of Bishkek announced that administrations of all four districts of the city banned all kinds of actions, peaceful associations and protests regarding the Russian-Ukrainian conflict until July 1. The exception is again state and municipal official events held at the main square of the country.
A few hours after the message of the city police, President Sadyr Zhaparov on his Facebook account said that Kyrgyzstan will not deviate from the democratic path, and the authorities do not impose restrictions on citizens and their rights.
“Peaceful demonstrations should take place. For this purpose, we have designated the Gorky park. If you want, you can hold rallies there for 24 hours. You can speak there whatever you want to. No one will be against. There’s only one demand: do not disturb the embassies,” the president wrote.
On April 2, two peaceful protests took place in Bishkek: first, the protest in support of Russia, and then the rally “against Putinism”. However, the rally did not last for even 15 minutes – the police detained its participants. Law enforcement officers reminded about the court order, demanded to disperse, and participants in turn referred to the Constitution and the post of the President. As a result, about 30 activists were brought to Pervomaisky district Department of Internal Affairs for the alleged insubordination to law enforcement bodies.
Later, the Chief Directorate of Internal Affairs of Bishkek stated that participants of anti-Putin protest were detained because they “made a provocative attempt to march to the embassy of Russia”. And regarding the fact that no one was detained during the protest in support of Russia, the police said that “participants of the protest did not leave the Gorky park and after the protest dispersed quietly without violating the laws.”
Journalists who reported on the protest in support of Ukraine said that police officers detained the participants in the square in front of the Maksim Gorky memorial. Tens of videos confirm this fact.
On April 3, Pervomaisky district court of Bishkek acquitted all the detainees for absence of the event of a crime.
Samar Syrgabaev, candidate of sociological sciences, said that the rallies with contrary purposes showed the complex and ambiguous nature of the foreign policy course of the country pursued these days.
“The political leadership of the state is now trying to balance near its earlier announced neutrality regarding the Russian-Ukrainian conflict. This is also the representation of geopolitical interests of global actors that are crossed by our state,” he said.
In turn, political analyst Medet Tiulegenov said that there are many questions about the competence of the police in case of detention of protesters.
“I think it was a kind of fulfilment of some political order,” he said. “And the fact that the court made this decision means that they wanted to make everybody happy. In other words, the protest was disrupted, but this court decision made the state look not that bad.”
According to the experts, people can start the debate, argue, or take part in rallies for a long time, but they should understand what they stand for and what values they are trying to protect.
According to Emil Dzhuraev, one can remove the words “Russia” and “Ukraine” and just ask oneself: am I for war or for peace? Am I for the side that protects itself or for the side that attacks the other side? Am I for the side that tries to protect its country or for the side that destroys another country?
“I think every person who is honest at least to oneself should find right answers to such questions,” the political analyst said.