Kyrgyzstan takes down Central Asia’s tallest Lenin statue

Kyrgyzstan has taken down an enormous statue of the revolutionary Soviet chief Vladimir Lenin, which was regarded as the tallest in Central Asia.

First erected when Kyrgyzstan was a part of the Soviet Union, the 23m-tall monument towered over town of Osh for 50 years earlier than it was quietly eliminated this week.

Images emerged on Saturday exhibiting the communist revolutionary – who options prominently in Soviet iconography – mendacity on his again on the bottom, having been lowered by crane.

Many former Soviet republics have not too long ago sought to recast their nationwide identities with much less emphasis on their earlier ties to Russia, although native officers downplayed the choice to maneuver the statue.

Authorities in Kyrgyzstan will pay attention to the danger of offending its ally, Russia, per week after the latter unveiled a model new statue of one other Soviet figurehead, Josef Stalin, in Moscow.

A press release from Metropolis Corridor in Osh – the landlocked nation’s second-largest metropolis after the capital, Bishkek – mentioned the determine can be relocated as a part of “widespread observe” geared toward enhancing the “architectural and aesthetic look” of town.

It pointed to examples of Lenin statues beforehand being taken down in Russia.

The statue will likely be changed by a flagpole, as was the case when a special Lenin statue was relocated in Bishek, in line with native media.

Kyrgyzstan gained its independence 34 years in the past when the Soviet Union collapsed.

However reminders of its Soviet historical past may be discovered throughout the nation, even the place there aren’t any statues. As an example, its second-tallest mountain is called Lenin Peak.