Kyrgyzstan: Bishkek's Lenin Statue to Remain Standing, Officials Say

Government officials have rejected a recent proposal to remove the Lenin monument from Bishkek's Old Square, Orda reports, citing Kloop.

The position was made clear by both Deputy Prime Minister Yedil Baisalov and Presidential Administration Press Secretary Daiyrbek Orunbekov.

The discussion began when Nurbek Sydygaliev, Vice Speaker of the Zhogorku Kenesh,  suggested replacing Lenin's statue with one honoring Turdakun Usubaliev, a prominent leader of both the Kyrgyz SSR and the Kyrgyz Republic.

Sydygaliev said he was acting on requests from residents of the Kochkor district.

However, Deputy Prime Minister Baisalov firmly dismissed the idea.

The Cabinet of Ministers has no plans to pursue this. Usubaliev himself was the first to oppose removing Lenin monuments. We're not at war with our past. As we build our new country, we embrace the good from our history while learning from the mistakes.

The proposal faced additional pushback from Deputy Iskhak Masaliev, who urged his colleagues to leave the issue alone:

We have monuments to Soviet-era officials who carried the Communist Party banner and praised 'great Lenin,' yet now some want to reject Lenin himself. We can't simply erase yesterday – remember, 30-40 percent of Kyrgyzstan's people lived through 73 years of the USSR. 

Masaliev emphasized Lenin's significant role in establishing the Kyrgyz state.

The monument, originally erected in 1984 in the central square, was relocated to its current position in front of the government building on Old Square in 2003.