A Brief History of People Power
The Tulip Revolution, Kyrgyzstan, 2005
After gaining independence in 1991, the small Central Asian state of Kyrgyzstan, like the other former Soviet republics neighboring it, was ruled by an ex-Soviet apparatchik turned authoritarian strongman. The regime of Askar Akayev, though initially popular, gradually lost hold of the public as it became increasingly corrupt and repressive. The alleged rigging of elections in February 2005 prompted riots and protests the following month — dubbed the Tulip Revolution — which prompted Akayev (whose portrait is being defaced in this photo) to flee the country and led to the formation of a new government with promises of transparency and democracy. But those promises rang hollow. In 2010, demonstrations and violent protests unseated Akayev's successor, Kurmanbek Bakiyev, who, despite his once progressive rhetoric, proved as authoritarian as his predecessor. Kyrgyzstan remains in a fragile political state.