When Kyrgyzstan’s President Sadyr Japarov suddenly dismissed his long-time friend Kamchybek Tashiyev as head of the country’s State Committee for National Security (GKNB) on February 10, he cryptically said it was “in the interests of our state, in order to prevent a split in society.”

Less than two months later, that split could be coming, and there is a possibility the country is headed for a confrontation between the two men and their supporters.

The Gathering Clouds

Tashiyev returned to Kyrgyzstan on March 19 after being outside the country for more than a month amid a widening corruption investigation targeting Tashiyev and people close to him.

On the day he arrived, Tashiyev went to the Interior Ministry’s investigative department, where he was questioned about state-owned company Kyrgyzneftegaz.

On March 17, the head of the State Tax Service, Almambet Shykmamatov, said that “Kyrgyzneftegaz was under the complete control of the GKNB.” The State Tax Service is looking into allegations that Kyrgyzneftegaz sold crude oil to private companies connected to Tashiyev’s relatives or associates who then sold the oil back to Kyrgyzneftegaz at a profit.

These accusations are not new.

Bolot Temirov, the host of the investigative news program Temirov Live, reported about this exact topic in January 2022. Two days after the report was posted on YouTube, police raided the office of Temirov Live, detaining Temirov on narcotics possession charges that were later dropped. Instead, Temirov was convicted of having a fake Kyrgyz passport and using false documents to cross in and out of Kyrgyzstan.

At an appeals trial in November 2022, a judge ordered Temirov deported from Kyrgyzstan, and he was taken from the courtroom to the airport and put on a plane to Russia. Several journalists connected to Temirov Live have been detained, and some, including Temirov’s wife, have been imprisoned since Temirov’s expulsion from Kyrgyzstan. The State Tax Service has resurrected the Temirov Live accusations, while insisting that the evidence it collected has no relationship to the Temirov Live report.

nephew, Baigazy Matisakov, who was the head of the Kyrgyzneftegaz refinery since 2021, was detained on March 18. Tashiyev’s son, Tay-Muras, who is connected to Moko Group, one of the private companies involved in purchasing oil from and then reselling it to Kyrgyzneftegaz, was questioned at the Interior Ministry.

An article from March 16 states that the State Tax Service also connected Tashiyev’s brother, Shairbek, to illegal activities in the oil business. Reports about Tashiyev being questioned at the Interior Ministry on March 19 stressed that he was called in as a “witness.”

Japarov Goes on the Offensive

On February 10, the reason for sacking Tashiyev, who was out of the country at the time, was unclear. In the days that followed, it gradually became apparent that this was more than just a disagreement between two friends who had governed Kyrgyzstan together for five years.

Japarov also dismissed top officials in the GKNB, which Tashiyev had headed since October 2020. Officials in the Interior Ministry, the prosecutor general’s office, several ministers, the mayors of Kyrgyzstan’s second and third largest cities, Osh and Manas (formerly Jalal-Abad), respectively, and eight newly-elected members of parliament were fired or suddenly resigned.

Tashiyev’s brother, Shairbek, received some 56% of the votes in his district in the November 30, 2025, parliamentary elections, the biggest percentage received by any candidate in the 30 electoral districts.

On February 16, less than a week after his brother was fired as head of the GKNB, Shairbek said his brother’s dismissal “did not cause a stir in our family.” He commented about posts on social networks that were calling for him to step down, saying that only the people who voted for him had the right to take away his deputy’s mandate.

But on March 13, the Interior Ministry’s Investigative Department called Shairbek in for questioning, and the next day, he signed a declaration officially relinquishing his seat in parliament.

The Border Guard Service was subordinate to the GKNB, but Japarov transferred it under the control of the president’s office, and also created a state security service and an investigative committee that report directly to the president.

All the while, Japarov insisted he and Tashiyev were still friends.

Shortly after Tashiyev was dismissed, the head of the presidential press service, Dayyrbek Orunbekov, warned there was a fake campaign to discredit Tashiyev, and later, Syrgak Berdikozhoyev, the chairman of the newly created State Security Service, stated that Tashiyev would continue to receive government security.

An Ominous Silence

Tashiyev was in Germany when Japarov announced his dismissal. Japarov said he had spoken with Tashiyev before the announcement, but Tashiyev said the move was unexpected.

The apparent reason for firing Tashiyev was an appeal a group of 75 former government officials and prominent public figures released on February 9, calling for President Japarov and then-speaker of parliament Nurlanbek Turgunbek uulu to set a date for an early presidential election.

Japarov was elected president in January 2021 under a previous constitution that stipulated a six-year term for the president. A new constitution approved in a national referendum in April 2021 reduced the presidential term to five years, so there was some ambiguity about Japarov’s time in office. Hours after the appeal was made public, information appeared claiming that some of its authors were contacting members of parliament and other people, and urging them to “go over to the general’s (Tashiyev’s) side” when an early presidential election was held.

The timing was strange. Tashiyev departed Kyrgyzstan on February 6 for a medical check-up in Germany, something he has done regularly since undergoing heart surgery there in February 2021. He returned on February 13 and met briefly with Japarov on February 15, then left Kyrgyzstan again on February 17.

Tashiyev did not make any comments to the media during his short stay in Kyrgyzstan. After the meeting, President Japarov said Tashiyev would not be returning to any government position and hinted that perhaps the discussion had not gone well.

“Of course, he (Tashiyev) won’t say thank you now; he’ll be upset,” Japarov said, adding, “But years from now, he’ll say, ‘Friend, you did the right thing back then.’”

Tashiyev remained in Kyrgyzstan after being questioned by the Interior Ministry, and on March 20, attended prayers in Bishkek marking the end of Ramadan.

“If I made a mistake and offended anyone, I ask for forgiveness,” he told the media. But, he added, “I have forgiven everyone who spread rumors and slandered during the holy month… I hope next time they won’t do this and spread information that is not true.”

Next Move?

Most of the people in government whom Japarov has sacked since February 10 are connected to Tashiyev. The investigation involving Kyrgyzneftegaz seems to be the next step in disassembling Tashiyev’s support base, but this is a dangerous move.

While there is almost surely “kompromat” on Tashiyev and his family, the same is true of Japarov.

One example is Japarov’s sister, Raykul, who fled Kyrgyzstan in 2014 just before she was convicted of laundering illegal proceeds and sentenced to seven years in prison. In 2015, she was convicted of involvement in the 2007 illegal takeover of Investbank Issyk-Kul and was sentenced to ten years in prison. Raykul Japarova has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing. A warrant was issued for her arrest, and as of May 2020, she was reportedly seeking political asylum in Poland.

Then came the October 2020 revolution in Kyrgyzstan. Sadyr Japarov was in prison, three years into an 11.5-year sentence for kidnapping a local official during protests in Issyk-Kul in October 2013, charges which Japarov denies. Sadyr Japarov initially fled Kyrgyzstan, but was arrested and convicted after returning in March 2017.

Japarov was freed from prison by supporters during the October 2020 revolution and, with help from Tashiyev and others, was catapulted into the presidency in less than two weeks.

In January 2021, Kyrgyzstan’s Supreme Court overturned the convictions of Raykul Japarova. The Supreme Court had already overturned Japarov’s conviction shortly after he was freed from prison in October 2020.

There are more recent allegations that members of Japarov’s family and their friends have also been involved in unethical or illegal business activities. As head of Kyrgyzstan’s security service for more than five years, Tashiyev probably has his own kompromat material on the Japarov family and their acquaintances.

Loyal supporters of Japarov and Tashiyev are likely on edge already and preparing for a potentially volatile period in the coming weeks.