The 'Urkun revolt' experienced by the Kyrgyz people 100 years ago will never be forgotten
Ugur Ozen
The 'Urkun revolt' experienced by the Kyrgyz people 100 years ago has not been forgotten. A monument which represents one of the most important events in recent Kyrgyz history where thousands of people have lost their lives, was opened with a ceremony in September. In addition the exhibition organized in Bishkek named '1916 uprising' displayed works which where descriptive of the Urkun event.
The event which has been recorded in history as 'Urkun' was one of the most important turning points historically in the effort of the Kyrgyz people to be an independent nation. In the event which took place in the North of Kygyzstan in 1916, hundreds of thousands of Kyrgyz people lost their lives while trying to escape to China. The revolt against the tsarist Russia who either forced the local people to work in the working camps or sent them to the front line in war, finished as a catastrophe for the Kyrgyz people. Thousands of Kyrgyz who were trying to escape to China could not withstand the extreme cold and starvation on the mountains.
As more documents and information have appeared regarding this event that the Kyrgyz refer to as 'Urkun', the extremity of this tragedy was also better understood. In 2005 as a group of people went on an expedition which followed the same tracks in order to find remains of this event, they discovered many bones which were remains of the dead people at a passage close to the peak. These bones were collected and buried in a monumental cemetery. In the memory of the martyrs there was a monument erected at the Boom passage. Every year in August the Kyrgyz people have gathered around this monument in order to remember this bitter event and to pray.
This year in order to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Urkun event there was a huge monument erected at the 'Ata Beyit Cemetery'. In addition at the Ata Beyit Cemetery there is also the graves of 138 intellectuals which were killed during the Stalin period, the famous Kyrgyz writer Cengiz Aytmatov and the '7th April Martyrs'. The president Almazbek Atambayev who spoke at the ceremony said, 'The Kyrgyz people today have paid their dues in front of the people who have lost their lives for our nation'.
The works of famous painters which depicts Urkun were also displayed.
For the Urkun Monument which was completed in six months, the sculptor Ogonbayev Aciyev and the architect Beysenbayev worked together. For the monument model used for the construction, that was selected after a nationwide contest, 135.1 million Som was used from the government budget.
The monument which draws attention with a 'Bozuy' at its center that is descriptive of a traditional Kyrgyz house, has a Tinduk that is 21 meters high which serves as a joining factor for the monument. At the sides of the complex are works which are used to explain the event. On a huge wall there is a writing which says '1916' with a verse next to it.
At the capital Bishkek, there was a painting exhibition that took place at the Gapar Aytiyev Kyrgyz Visual Arts Museum, consisting of works that depicted Urkun by famous painters. At the exhibition 16 paintings which were stocked in the museum's collections in 1936, were presented to the people after 80 years. Some of the paintings that were displayed at the exhibition included Cuykov's ' From a colonial past', '1916 Kyrgyz uprising' and 'Escape to China', Gapar Aytiyev's 'At the masters ranch', Obraztsov's 'Complo' and 'On the path to China', Rindin's ' On the path to China', Deyfman's 'Preparation for the 1916 uprising'.
