Word: russianizing
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...workers washed the blood and rubble from the streets and families mourned the nearly 70 people killed in the violent revolution that swept Kyrgyzstan, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin put in a caring phone call on Thursday, April 8, to Roza Otunbayeva, the opposition leader now in command of the impoverished Central Asian state. He promised her financial aid, legitimacy and a "special relationship" with the Kremlin, and she gladly accepted. The move was significant: it seems clear now that Kyrgyzstan will quickly return to Moscow's sphere of influence after months of strained relations with Russia, making...
...Moscow, however, has been less forthright on the matter. On Wednesday, Putin staunchly denied any involvement in the unrest. "Not Russia, not your humble servant. Russian officials have nothing to do with these events," Putin said. Yet he went on to chastise the Bakiyev government for "stepping on the same rakes" as the corrupt leadership it had itself deposed in 2005. On Thursday, Putin made it even clearer which government he preferred. "Due to the special relationship between our two countries, Russia always has provided the necessary humanitarian aid to the people of Kyrgyzstan and is ready to continue providing...
...Manas air base outside the capital, Bishkek, to ferry supplies to U.S. troops in Afghanistan. (Amid Wednesday's upheaval, the U.S. State Department said Maxim Bakiyev was on his way to the U.S. for consultations.) The opposition had also accused the Bakiyev government of taking an increasingly anti-Russian stance on various issues. Russian-language websites were recently blocked or shut down in Kyrgyzstan, prompting the Russian embassy to officially express its concerns last month. Russian businessmen in the country had complained of discrimination. And most infuriating of all for the Russians, President Bakiyev did not follow through with...
...Kyrgyz opposition, meanwhile, took up the Russian cause in recent months, expressing deep concerns that Bakiyev's government was siding too closely with the Americans at the expense of traditional ties with Moscow. Otunbayeva was at the forefront of this initiative. In February, when she was still an opposition leader in the Kyrgyz parliament, she told Bakiyev's government that it "must not act the way it's acting toward Russia, which is our strategic partner and ally...
Aleksei Levshin, a 19th-century Russian traveler, wrote sneeringly that the "Kirghiz manner of life is a living picture of the age of the Patriarchs... they live almost solely for their herds." Heavy-handed Tsarist and eventually Soviet rule saw the migration of a significant population of Russians as well as the dilution of Kyrgyz culture. New tree-lined urban centers like Bishkek as well as spas along the land's salt lakes became popular destinations for Russians escaping the industrial grimness further north. As in elsewhere in Central Asia, Cyrillic is the adopted script and vodka shops abound...