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Kyrgyzstan
Islam and the State
Religion has not played an especially large role in the politics
of Kyrgyzstan, although more traditional elements of society urged
that the Muslim heritage of the country be acknowledged in the
preamble to the 1993 constitution. That document mandates a secular
state, forbidding the intrusion of any ideology or religion in
the conduct of state business. As in other parts of Central Asia,
non-Central Asians have been concerned about the potential of
a fundamentalist Islamic revolution that would emulate Iran and
Afghanistan by bringing Islam directly into the making of state
policy, to the detriment of the non-Islamic population. Because
of sensitivity about the economic consequences of a continued
outflow of Russians, President Akayev has taken particular pains
to reassure the non-Kyrgyz that no Islamic revolution threatens
(see Ethnic Groups, this ch.). Akayev has paid public visits to
Bishkek's main Russian Orthodox church and directed 1 million
rubles from the state treasury toward that faith's church-building
fund. He has also appropriated funds and other support for a German
cultural center. The state officially recognizes Orthodox Christmas
(but not Easter) as a holiday, while also noting two Muslim feast
days, Oroz ait (which ends Ramadan) and Kurban ait (June 13, the
Day of Remembrance), and Muslim New Year, which falls on the vernal
equinox.
Data as of March 1996
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