The dominoes keep falling, and this time things may be coming up tulips.
Demonstrators in the central Asian nation of Kyrgyzstan have siezed that country’s seat of government and forced the country’s long-time president to flee his office, political observers and reporters in the nation’s capital of Bishkek tell CNN.
It was what amounted to a swift and popular shift of power.
Opposition leaders are attempting to establish a smooth, stable transition after a day of passionate demonstrations that led to the toppling of the Ashkar Akayev government.
“The Akayev government, for intents and purposes, is no longer in charge,” a Western source told CNN.
“I’d say the new government is in the process of being formed. The leaders of the opposition realize they need to put together a regular, working government for the Kyrgyz people.”
There are reports that Akayev, his family and his advisers have left the country.
As usual of late for the region, Publius Pundit is all over the story, as Daniel Berczik has put together a nice collection of related links and analysis.
Don’t go popping the champagne corks just yet, though, as some see the upheaval in Kyrgyzstan as an opportunity for radical Islamists.
Although the Bush administration supports pro-democracy movements, the turmoil in the region also has created a potentially dangerous opening for extremist Islamic parties.
Hizb ut-Tahrir, or the Party of Liberation, has a following among the young in Central Asia. It has called for Islamic rule to replace secular governments and unite the Muslim world. And its pamphlets criticize U.S. bases established in Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks to support the war on terror.
A senior Western diplomat in Tajikistan confirmed that Hizb ut-Tahrir’s influence is growing across the region, particularly among the young who are looking for alternatives to what they perceive as corrupt, totalitarian regimes with links to the Soviet past.
The United States has not declared Hizb ut-Tahrir a terrorist organization because it does not advocate violence, but the diplomat said some of its literature is virulently anti-American and anti-Semitic and could inspire violence.
We are truly living in interesting times.