During the World War and the following decades, the industry in the region underwent a renewed expansion, which was mainly concentrated on the production of machinery, building materials and electricity.
In 1961-82, Turdakún Usubaliev was the first secretary of the Kyrgyz Communist Party. As a result of the changes that took place in the Soviet Union from 1986 during Mikhail Gorbachov’s reign, a strong independence movement developed in Kyrgyzstan, and after the failed coup attempt against Gorbachov in August 1991, Kyrgyzstan decided to disengage from the Soviet Union.
On August 31, 1991, the Supreme Soviet (Parliament) of Kyrgyzstan declared the country a democratic and independent state. On the same occasion, Kyrgyzstan recognized the three new states in the Baltic States: Estonia, Latvia and Estonia.
In October of that year, the first presidential election was held in the country, and by this Askar Akayev was elected without opposition. He was previously president of the Soviet Academy of Sciences and an internationally recognized physicist. Akayev was among the few political leaders who, along with Boris Yeltsin, personally resisted the Moscow parliament during the coup attempt in August.
By his takeover of power, Akayev became the first head of state to ban the local Communist Party and at the same time declare his republic independent. In December, Kyrgyzstan, along with 10 other former Soviet republics, signed the Treaty establishing the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).
In December 1991, President Akayev had to veto a law passed in parliament that restricted land ownership to only Kyrgyz people. The enactment of the law had further increased tensions between the indigenous population and the Uzbek people in Ferganá, and could have led to an even greater conflict with neighboring Uzbekistan.
A year earlier, more than 200 Uzbeks had been murdered by young Kyrgyz gangs in the Osh region of the country’s west. Officially, the responsibility for the incident was laid on the former secret Soviet police, the KGB.
According to thesciencetutor, Kyrgyzstan set up a small National Guard of 1000 men and asked the state community to preserve its troops in the country. The military presence was legitimized for security reasons until the time when the republic would be able to fully enter the international community.
In March 1992, the country’s president confirmed the decision to maintain neutrality on international issues. Other Muslim countries such as Pakistan, Iran and Saudi Arabia offered capital and wanted closer relations with Kyrgyzstan, but Akayev declared that the country preferred to develop its relations with Turkey.
24-25. October 1992 a clash between the local clans in the Dzhelal-Abad region. Supporters of the deposed local administration chief tried to reinstate him on his post. President Akayev visited the region and participated personally in resolving the conflict.
On May 5, 1993, a new constitution was adopted for Kyrgyzstan. That same year, the president continued his fight with parliament, which disagreed with his reform policy. Due to rising tensions, the Russian minority population – predominantly intellectuals and engineers – began to leave the republic. The government also decided that the country should issue its own currency, which.
In January 1994, Akayev won a referendum that was printed to confirm support for him as president and his reform policy. Throughout the rest of the year, he continued to implement the economic policy recommended by the IMF. After the introduction of the country’s new currency, inflation fell from 40-50% per month to 4% – one of the lowest rates among the former Soviet republics. But it was not just inflation that fell. In 1992, production fell by 19% and in 1993 by 16%, while imports from Turkey and China in particular increased sharply.
The February 1995 parliamentary elections did not change the opposition’s political opposition to Akayev’s liberalization program. The president tried to maintain his mandate through a referendum, but parliament forced him to participate in the general elections in the December presidential election that year. Akayev was re-elected with 60% of the vote.
