Activities of Secretary-General in Kyrgyzstan, 10-11 June

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres travelled to Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, from Nukus, Uzbekistan, on the evening of Saturday, 10 June.

On Sunday morning, he held a bilateral meeting with President Almazbek Atambaev, and participated in a high-level forum on “Taza Koom”, a project on public service supported by the United Nations Development Programme, dedicated to bringing the Sustainable Development Goals to all the citizens of Kyrgyzstan.  (See Press Release SG/SM/18566.)

In a joint press conference following the forum, the Secretary-General said that Kyrgyzstan was the pioneer of democracy in Central Asia and that the United Nations would fully support the Government in the implementation of “Taza Koom”.

He also met with the Speaker of the Kyrgyz Parliament, Chynybai Tursunbekov, and with United Nations staff working in the country, before travelling to Osh to commemorate the June 2010 events.  He said that the people of Osh have demonstrated a remarkable resilience, an enormous patience and a capacity to recover from these terrible days that need to be praised by all of us.  (See Press Release SG/SM/18567.)

He then met with civil society representatives, before leaving Kyrgyzstan for Dushanbe, Tajikistan, where he arrived in the evening.