Askar Akayevich Akayev
Аскар Акаевич Акаев
Scientist-president who moved from reformist promise to prolonged rule
At the Supreme Soviet session on 26 August 1991, Akayev declared the draft Union Treaty 'unacceptable' and demanded a confederal revision.
A physicist and former president of Kyrgyzstan's Academy of Sciences, Akayev was elected the republic's first president in 1990 as an outsider to the senior party apparatus. Amid late-Soviet ethnic conflict and demands for sovereignty, he promoted pluralism and market reform, then quickly condemned the 1991 coup attempt and led Kyrgyzstan toward independence. At the Novo-Ogaryovo negotiations he put republican sovereignty first, calling the August treaty draft unacceptable and demanding a revision closer to confederation. His later rule brought extended presidential terms, family-centered politics and corruption allegations, ending in his overthrow during the 2005 popular protests.
Career timeline
- 1967–1988Researcher and professor, Frunze Polytechnic Institute; head of computer engineering
- 1987–1989Vice-president, Academy of Sciences of the Kirghiz SSR
- 1989–1990President, Academy of Sciences of the Kirghiz SSR
- 1990.10–1991.08President of the Kirghiz SSR
- 1991.08–2005.03President of Kyrgyzstan
- 1991.08.26At the Supreme Soviet, opposed the New Union Treaty draft and demanded a confederal revision
- 2005–presentProfessor and researcher at Moscow State University, based in Russia