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Kyrgyzstan says recordings posted online confirm opposition’s plans to seize power

The intelligence agency obtained the recordings as part of a criminal case that is underway now

© Yuri Smityuk/TASS, archive

BISHKEK, March 23. /TASS/. Kyrgyzstan’s intelligence agency, the National Security Committee, has confirmed authenticity of recordings circulated on the Internet in which opposition members talk about plans to take power in the Central Asian country.

A group of persons unveiled plans "to destabilize the situation in the country and to further carry out plans to seize power," the NSC press service said, adding that the agency obtained the recordings as part of a criminal case that is underway now.

The recordings leaked on Tuesday apparently feature the voices of politician Duulatbek Turdunaliyev, former governor of the southern Jalal-Abad region Bektur Asanov and one of the leaders of the national opposition movement Kubanychbek Kadyrov.

Participants of the meeting discussed plans to seize government buildings on March 14 in Talas, in northwestern Kyrgyzstan, and on March 24 in the southern regional centers of Osh and Batken and also in the capital Bishkek.

The main goal of their actions was to oust the president, the prime minister and the parliament. One of the participants said the issue on parliamentary elections would be decided on the same day and the parliament would be elected in 45 days.

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