Roza Otunbayeva

Roza Otunbayeva served as the president of Kyrgyzstan from April 7, 2010 until December 1, 2011. She was announced as the Special Representative for Afghanistan and Head of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan in September 2022.

Otunbayeva was born on August 23, 1950, in Frunze, Soviet Union (now Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan). She graduated from Moscow State University in 1972 with a degree in philosophy. She was senior professor and head of the philosophy department at Kyrgyz State National University for six years.

Otunbayeva began her political career in 1981 as the Communist Party's second secretary of the Lenin raion council of Frunze. In the late 1980s, she served as head of the Soviet delegation to UNESCO in Paris, and later as the Soviet ambassador to Malaysia. From 1986 to 1989, she served as the deputy chairwoman of the Council of Ministers and as minister of foreign relations of the Kyrgyz SSR. Between 1992 and 2004, she became both foreign minister and deputy prime minister of the newly independent Kyrgyzstan. Otunbayeva also served as the Kyrgyz ambassador to the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom, and as the deputy head of the United Nations special mission to Georgia. In 2004, she was the co-chairwoman of the Ata-Jurt Movement, and in 2005 served as minister of foreign affairs of the Kyrgyz Republic.

Having joined the opposition in 2004, Otunbayeva supported the Tulip Revolution, which ousted president Askar Akayev, and served for several months in the interim government of Kurmanbek Bakiyev. Her nomination to the post of foreign minister by President Bakiyev in 2005 was not confirmed by the parliament. In 2007 Otunbayeva was elected to the parliament and served as a member of the Committee for Constitutional Legislation and State Building, where she served until the 2010 uprising.

Sources:

Albert, M. (2010, June 24). “Roza Otunbayeva” Britannica. Retrieved December 5, 2022. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Roza-Otunbayeva

Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (2011, December 29). “Background on Roza Otunbayeva” Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Retrieved December 5, 2022. https://carnegieendowment.org/2011/12/29/background-on-roza-otunbayeva-pub-46368

United Nations (2022, September 2). “Ms. Roza Otunbayeva of Kyrgyzstan - Special Representative for Afghanistan and Head of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan” United Nations. Retrieved December 5, 2022. https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/sg/personnel-appointments/2022-09-02/ms-roza-otunbayeva-of-kyrgyzstan%C2%A0-special-representative-for-afghanistan%C2%A0and-head-of-the-united-nations-assistance-mission-afghanistan%C2%A0

World Leaders Forum (2011, November). “Roza Otunbayeva” Columbia University. Retrieved December 5, 2022. https://worldleaders.columbia.edu/directory/roza-otunbayeva