Kyrgyzstan accuses fired national security chief Tashiyev of major corruption

Kyrgyzstan’s tax authority on March 16 released a video levelling accusations of major corruption at ex-national security chief Kamchybek Tashiyev.

It alleged that ⁠Tashiyev and relatives have defrauded state oil and gas ​company Kyrgyzneftegaz of around Kyrgyzstani som 4bn ($45mn). No formal charges have been pressed against Tashiyev and he has made no public comment on the allegations.

In a shock move, the country’s president, Sadyr Japarov, a month ago fired Tashiyev, while he was in Germany for a medical appointment. Japarov and Tashiyev had ruled the Kyrgyz Republic in a power tandem for five years. Japarov has also mounted a still-ongoing purge of Tashiyev’s allies in parliament and across government. Tashiyev returned to Kyrgyzstan but, following advice from Japarov that he should “rest”, on February 17 he “temporarily” left the country for an unknown destination.

Azattyk on March 16 referred to reports that Tashiyev is preparing to make a major announcement after the Muslim holy month of Ramadan concludes on March 19.

While governing together, Tashiyev, an outspoken politician dubbed the “People’s general”, known for upbraiding officials in public as head of the GKNB internal security service, ran a nationalist-populist administration that cracked down on the country of seven million’s independent media, labelling some titles as “extremist” and tantamount to terrorist.

Prior to their coming to power following a revolution in late 2020, Kyrgyzstan was known as Central Asia’s most democratic country.

The two men, both 57-years-old, were also known for repairing relations between the north of the country, from where Japarov hails, and the south, where Tashiyev comes from. The north and south are known for a somewhat ⁠fractious relationship.

Among those ousted by Japarov’s purge are Tashiyev’s younger brother, Shairbek Tashiyev, who at the weekend gave up his seat in parliament saying he was doing so after a campaign of slander against him and to preserve political stability, the mayor of the country’s second city, Osh, and top officials at the GKNB.

Japarov has said the sacking of Tashiyev and his allies was required in order to maintain stability and unity in the ⁠country. He has spoken of a campaign to split MPs and other senior figures into either Japarov or Tashiyev “camps”.

The dismissal by presidential decree of Tashiyev came two months after bne IntelliNews reported on how freelance journalist and Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center analyst Galiya Ibragimova concluded in a commentary that there was growing unease between the country’s two most powerful men.

Though Tashiyev was maintaining public support for Japarov and his expected bid to win a second presidential term in an election scheduled for January 2027, he was also, wrote Ibragimova, “rapidly expanding his own authority, which is now starting to exceed that of the president at times. In Kyrgyz politics, which is so personalized, this has inevitably sparked rumors that the country’s top security official may have presidential ambitions of his own, and even speculation that the upcoming parliamentary elections [which took place at the end of November] could be a rehearsal for a power struggle between Japarov and Tashiyev.”