Kyrgyzstan spy chief vows ‘purge’ of officials

BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan: Kyrgyzstan´s powerful security chief Kamchybek Tashiev promised an imminent “purge” of the Central Asian country´s civil service on Thursday.

Officials identified as working against the interests of the country should not just be sacked, but prosecuted, said Tashiev, who presents himself as an uncompromising opponent of organised crime.

Allied to Russia and seen as moving closer to China, Kyrgyzstan has experienced numerous political crises since it gained independence from Moscow in 1991.

Tashiev was appointed head of the State National Security Committee (GKNB) after President Sadyr Japarov, his longtime ally, came to power in 2021. “We should start a purge among officials,” Tashiev said in a combative speech during the opening ceremony of GKNB building in the capital Bishkek.

“At the local, region and national level, there are people who are working to prejudice our country instead of supporting it,” he said, local media reported. Civil servants he identified as working against the state should be removed from their posts and face criminal prosecution, he added.

“We need to get rid of them. They should not just be dismissed, but brought to justice,” the 54-year-old said. A string of revolutions in the country had not improved people´s lives but weakened the country, he argued.