Contrasts: 2005/2010 and North/South

Here's a really good article comparing and contrasting Kyrgyzstan's 2005 Tulip Revolution with the current revolution, from Transitions Online.

Meanwhile...

Bakiev has fled from Bishkek (which, for those of you who don't know, is located in the north of Kyrgyzstan) to the south of Kyrgyzstan. He has announced this in several interviews with foreign news organizations, although whether he is in Osh, Jalalabad or one of the smaller villages in that part of the country is uncertain.

There is a divide between the north and south of Kyrgyzstan. The borders of the "stans" were drawn up by the Soviet Union in ways beneficial to the Kremlin and not so much to the residents of that part of the world. Much of southern Kyrgyzstan probably should've become part of Uzbekistan, back in the day. There's a much larger Uzbek population in that part of the country than in the north.

Cultural differences between north and south go back in time a long way, being derived in part from landscape differences. Those residing in mountainous northern Kyrgyzstan tended to be nomadic, shepherding their livestock from valley to high mountain pastures as the seasons changed. Southern Kyrgyzstan is located along the Ferghana Valley - and area which lends itself well to a more sedentary, farming lifestyle. (You can see the differences in lanscape in the pictures I took in 2008 during my trip from Bishkek to Osh.)

Lastly, Southern Kyrgyzstan tends to be more more religious and more conservative than their northern half... and it is this part of the country that Bakiev is from. (He was born in a village near Jalalabad. There are tons of rumors that Bakiev has gone south to rally supporters in order to take back power. How I hope these rumors are false.

Articles:

Kyrgyzstan leader demands president go into exile as civil war threat rises

Kyrgyzstan ousted president Bakiyev fears for life