Bakiyev speaks

Ousted Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev, now living in exile in Belarus, gives an interview to Radio Free Europe in which he denies that he is instigating the ongoing violence in Southern Kyrgyzstan and dismisses the rumors on the internets that his family is planning a new coup to put him back in power: 

RFE/RL: Since we’re talking about your family, a recording has appeared on the Internet allegedly of a conversation between your son Maksim and your brother Janysh. Maybe you’ve heard it too, and if you believe what they say, your son and your brother are preparing a coup, a plan to seize power. Are you in contact with them?

Bakiev: I must say openly, I am not in contact with any of the brothers now, because I know if I contact them — whether my sons or my brothers — then all the cases that you’re talking about will be dumped on me. So I have not made contact with any of them.

RFE/RL: In this audio recording, Maksim says that "the chief," meaning you, should return to power but that you are supposedly against that.

Bakiev: When I was leaving Kyrgyzstan, my home village, during my [telephone] conversation with Putin and Nazarbaev we agreed that I would leave to prevent a war between the north and the south. I said I would leave after talking with these two colleagues. I said that if my family and I were not going to be persecuted, if the situation in the country was stabilized, I would agree to leave Kyrgyzstan. Based on that, I left. But what happened after that?

RFE/RL: Where are your sons Maksim and Marat?

Bakiev: Let’s not talk about my sons. My family is in a very difficult situation now.

RFE/RL: But I think many people in Kyrgyzstan have heard [the audio recording] on the Internet. If what they say is true, are you going to try and stop them?

Bakiev: Of course, as I’ve said, there are no conditions, no possibility for a return to Kyrgyzstan, and there are no such plans. I’ve also said that it was an armed coup which claimed the lives of innocent people. Over time, all will become clear. I believe it will. It takes time. If the boys are talking about something and if they’re going to do something, I suppose they may as well have such thoughts. But I’ve also said before that I have no such thoughts.

There aren’t many familes in which a father can say, "If my sons are planning a coup, that’s their business," but I guess that’s the Bakiyevs.