Almazbek Sharshenovich Atambayev (born 17 September 1956) was President of Kyrgyzstan from 1 December 2011 to 24 November 2017, succeeding Roza Otunbayeva and preceding Sooronbay Jeenbekov.
Biography[]
Almazbek Atambayev was born in Arashan, Kyrgyz SSR, Soviet Union in 1956, and he became an economist. He served as Minister of Industry, Trade, and Tourism from 2005 to 2006, and he went on to serve as Prime Minister of Kyrgyzstan in 2007, from 2010 to 2011, and in 2011 while the leader of the Social Democratic Party of Kyrgyzstan. He was elected President in 2011, and he abolished the use of military courts in the country, increased the powers of the Prime Minister, increased trade with Turkey, secured the withdrawal of Americans from his country in 2014, and politically allied his country with Russia while seeking economic independence. He left office in 2017, but, after his return to civilian life, he was accused of corruption during his time in government. On 7 August 2019, Kyrgyz special forces attacked his residence in Bishkek but were repulsed by his guards, leaving one soldier dead and 36 people injured. A day later, however, Atambayev was forced to surrender to the soldiers to be tried for corruption. On 5 October 2020, he was freed from captivity amid the 2020 Kyrgyzstan protests.