Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov has warned that “unscrupulous politicians” are discussing plans to provoke a conflict between ethnic Kyrgyz and Uzbeks in the south of the country ahead of the presidential election, reported NUR.KZ.
In a Facebook post, Japarov said that “several sources” had told him about the plans. He said these politicians “keep a stone behind their backs” and want to provoke unrest and disrupt the January 27, 2027 vote. “So far they are only talking about it,” he wrote, but warned that the plans could materialise. He named no one.
According to Japarov, spreading false rumours that play on national pride would be enough to start a conflict “out of nothing”. He urged Kyrgyz and Uzbeks not to give in to provocations and asked elders in both communities to warn young people aged 20 to 25, who did not live through earlier clashes. He said the state could now stop any conflict within one or two days, though there would probably be victims. He also linked the alleged plans to opponents of the China–Kyrgyzstan–Uzbekistan railway.
The warning touches the country’s most painful memory. Ethnic clashes in Osh and Jalal-Abad in 1990 and June 2010 killed hundreds of people. The 2010 violence alone left more than 400 dead and displaced hundreds of thousands. The statement, made without evidence, is likely to be read both as a security warning and as part of the election campaign. Japarov is running for a second term.
CentralasianLIGHT.org,
November 12, 2026