RFE/RL Protests Removal From Kyrgyz Airwaves

(PRAGUE, Czech Republic) In an indication that Kyrgyzstan’s brief experiment with pluralism may be ending, authorities in this Central Asian country confirmed on Friday that RFE/RL radio and television broadcasts have been taken off the air.

“The suspension, which began on October 8, was initially portrayed as a payment dispute, but we have since traced the payments and confirmed deposit and receipt,” said RFE/RL President Jeffrey Gedmin. “Nine weeks have passed. Our programs remain off the air. Kyrgyz officials have refused to meet with us to resolve the situation. Frankly, we expected more from a country trying to prove its reformist credentials in the region.”

Melis Eshimkanov, director of state-owned UTRK, gave his first public acknowledgement of RFE/RL’s situation yesterday in remarks to Reuters after announcing the suspension of the BBC’s local service, also on contractual grounds. UTRK is the only nationwide Kyrgyz-language broadcaster in Kyrgyzstan, and has long aired RFE/RL radio broadcasts and prime-time television programs.

The original suspension of RFE/RL programming coincided with local elections in Kyrgyzstan on October 5, which exposed political turmoil in the country and galvanized public criticism against President Kurmanbek Bakiyev for concentrating power.

RFE/RL’s Kyrgyz Service, known in Kyrgyzstan as Radio Azattyk, broadcasts three hours of radio programming a day and produces two weekly prime-time television news shows, “Inconvenient Questions” and the youth-oriented “Azattyk Plus”. The Service is extremely popular in Kyrgyzstan — recent surveys by Intermedia show that 40 percent of all Kyrgyz adults either listened to Kyrgyz Service radio broadcasts or watched its television shows at least once a week.