Kyrgyzstan conducts operation against group allegedly preparing for coup

By Nazir Aliyev Tayfur

BISHKEK, Kyrgzystan (AA) - Kyrgyzstan's national security agency on Thursday said it carried out an operation against a group said to be preparing to overthrow the country's government.

The Kyrgyz State Committee for National Security (UKMK) in a statement said it detained two people during the operation, one of was preparing to incite the public while the other was planning to transfer money from the US.

The statement said Imamidin Tashov and Tilekmat Kurenov, who had search warrants against them for "preparing to seize power by force," supported the two people detained, both of whom testified that Tashov financed the preparations and plans to overthrow the government.

It said that searches were undertaken as part of the operation in the houses where Tashov resided, during which luxury vehicles, money and jewelry were seized.

Tashov, who was a candidate in the 2021 Kyrgyz presidential election and owns a construction company, was detained by the UKMK in November 2023 on the complaint of property owners, but was released on bail a month later.

Meanwhile, Kurenov was detained on charges of organizing an illegal demonstration and left the country after being released last October.

Expressing that measures are still being taken against the group, the agency also released photos of the operation and search activities, which include a book written by Fethullah Gulen, the leader of the Fethullah Terrorist Organization (FETO).

FETO and its US-based leader Fethullah Gulen orchestrated the defeated coup of July 15, 2016 in Türkiye, in which 252 people were killed and 2,734 wounded.

Ankara accuses the terror group of being behind a long-running campaign to overthrow the state through the infiltration of Turkish institutions, particularly the military, police and judiciary.

*Writing by Burc Eruygur