Kyrgyzstan Raises Monument To Victims Of 1916 Unrest

Part of the new monument unveiled in the Boom Gorge (RFE/RL) PRAGUE, August 25, 2006 (RFE/RL) -- Some 1,000 people, including high-ranking Kyrgyz officials, attended the inauguration today of a monument to the victims of anti-Russian unrest in 1916.

The 9-meter-high structure, located at the entrance to the Boom Gorge in the east of the country, honors the memory of the estimated 100,000 people who died in what is now Kyrgyzstan either at the hands of Cossacks or while attempting to reach China.

Cholponbek Abykeev, a public relations adviser to Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiev, told RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service that the Kyrgyz government is also considering erecting another monument on the outskirts of the capital, Bishkek.

The 90th anniversary of the events of 1916 -- known as Urkun (Exodus) -- were commemorated earlier this year, and the Kyrgyz authorities have collected and buried the bones of some of those who died as they fled through mountain passes near the Kyrgyz-Chinese border.