Kyrgyzstan holds referendum after ethnic clashes

Kyrgyzstan is holding a referendum on a new constitution amid fears it could inflame ethnic tensions.

Izvor: BBC

Sunday, 27.06.2010.

13:48

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Kyrgyzstan is holding a referendum on a new constitution amid fears it could inflame ethnic tensions. The proposed constitution would give parliament more power and set the stage for a general election in September. Kyrgyzstan holds referendum after ethnic clashes Several hundred people died in clashes between ethnic Kyrgyz and Uzbeks in the south of the country earlier in June. The interim government called Sunday's referendum after President Kurmanbek Bakiyev was overthrown in April. The BBC's Tom Esslemont in the Kyrgyz capital, Bishkek, says the conditions for holding a referendum are far from perfect. Health officials say 275 people were killed in the clashes, but other officials put the number of deaths at 2,000. Thousands of homes and businesses were destroyed and an estimated 400,000 people - many of them from the minority ethnic Uzbek community - were displaced. Interim leader Roza Otunbayeva said the new constitution would give her government more legitimacy. Speaking as she cast her vote in the southern city of Osh - where the violence started - she said: "As a people, we want to heal the wounds we have sustained in recent times." The curfew in the city, the second-largest in Kyrgyzstan, has been lifted for the vote.

Kyrgyzstan holds referendum after ethnic clashes

Several hundred people died in clashes between ethnic Kyrgyz and Uzbeks in the south of the country earlier in June.

The interim government called Sunday's referendum after President Kurmanbek Bakiyev was overthrown in April.

The BBC's Tom Esslemont in the Kyrgyz capital, Bishkek, says the conditions for holding a referendum are far from perfect.

Health officials say 275 people were killed in the clashes, but other officials put the number of deaths at 2,000.

Thousands of homes and businesses were destroyed and an estimated 400,000 people - many of them from the minority ethnic Uzbek community - were displaced.

Interim leader Roza Otunbayeva said the new constitution would give her government more legitimacy.

Speaking as she cast her vote in the southern city of Osh - where the violence started - she said: "As a people, we want to heal the wounds we have sustained in recent times."

The curfew in the city, the second-largest in Kyrgyzstan, has been lifted for the vote.

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