The end of Askar Akaev's regime in Kyrgyzstan and incidents after it (2005-2007)

24 March 2005 events succeeded Ukraine's Orange and Georgia's Rose Revolutions, suggesting that a cascade of revolutions were sweeping aside the long-standing political leaderships across the former Soviet Union. The event earned the epitet Tulip Revolution and the night of 24/25 March is often remembered less for popular empowerment than for the widespread looting and wanton destruction that accompanied that night of leadership vacuum. The then president of Kyrgyzstan, Askar Akaev, fled the country after brief street demonstrations. Opposition leaders, headed by Kurmanbek Bakiev, came to power. Moreover, much of the population also regards 2005 events negatively since the post-2005 political developments seemed to give little optimism to those who believed in the democratic nature of the 'revolution'. Bakiev's control of the state, corruption and political violence, and his failure for over a year to institutionalize the agreement he had made with Felix Kulov, led to renewed political unrest. The change of regime in March 2005 also brought about changes in the criminal world, adjusting state-crime relations. Under Bakiev, the criminal world became more centralized, while more high-ranking officials are reported to be involved in criminal activities. Key words: Tulip Revolution, Askar Akaev, Kurmanbek Bakiev, Tribalism, Clan Politics.