Kyrgyzstan: Optimism About Media Freedom

DW-AKADEMIE: Mr. Iskender what would you call the events of the recent week?

Bektour Iskender: I'm afraid to call it a revolution because we had one five years ago and nothing changed. Technically, it was certainly a coup, but on the other hand, the police were the first to fire on the demonstrators. I was there. I saw it. While it is difficult to find a legal justification for the interim government, it is understandable why people did this. By law, the new government is illegal, but de facto it had to happen. Still, we now don’t know how to refer to Bakiyev in our reporting. We simply call him Kurmanbek Bakiyev.

What are the current working conditions for journalists in Kyrgyzstan?

The transitional government is very open and very polite to us as journalists. It is easy to contact people and to get answers and that was not the case before. I have the cell phone numbers of all the new ministers, including those of (interim Prime Minister) Rosa Otunbayeva – who incidentally also twitters regularly.

This sounds like a positive change.

I'm currently optimistic. During the last five days, the KGB has exerted no pressure on us. We can now openly say that we were threatened by the KGB under Bakiyev, and I’m glad we can say that. I have the feeling that we can currently influence the events. We have the power to not give the new government any opportunity to suppress the media.

It seems Bakiyev is preparing for an uprising against the transitional government. Are you concerned this could lead to a civil war?

This is one of my two major concerns. The other one is that censorship will return with the new government.

This interview was conducted by Mathis Winkler.

DW-AKADEMIE in Kyrgyzstan

DW-AKADEMIE maintains close relations with the media in this Central Asian country, where freedoms have recently been increasingly curtailed. The Bakiyev regime blocked several websites in March which had reported critically on the president's son Maxim Bakiyev.

In addition to Kloop.kg, DW-AKADEMIE’s media partners include the citizen radio Radiomost in Talas - the town where the protests against the Bakiyev regime began in early April. "The most important thing now is that the Kyrgyz government thinks of its people," says Radiomost journalist Rita Klyut, who reported on the protests in Talas. "Kyrgyzstan will not survive a third revolution.” Klyut also administers Radiomost’s blog, Talasmost.kg, which was created in cooperation with DW-AKADEMIE and has been nominated for this year's Prix Ars Electronica. The prize will be awarded this September in Linz, Austria.

In addition to some other private radio stations, Kyrygz state broadcaster NTRK also became a DW-AKADEMIE partner this year. The head of the Kyrgyz rebroadcaster of Radio Liberty, Radio Azattyk, has just been appointed as new director of NTRK by the interim government.

While DW-AKADEMIE will continue to organize regular seminars and in-house trainings for media partners in the region , starting this May it will also offer a three-month summer academy for Central Asian journalists in the Kyrgyz capital, Bishkek, in cooperation with the OSCE Academy.