{{short description|Kyrgyz general and politician}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Abdygul Chotbaev | native_name = | native_name_lang = | image = | order = | office = Commander of the National Guard of Kyrgyzstan | president = Askar Akayev | predecessor = ''Office established'' | successor = Sultan Kurmanov | term_start = 1992 | term_end = 24 August 2005 | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1957|12|02|df=y}} | birth_place = Keminsky District, Kirghiz SSR, Soviet Union<br>(now Kyrgyzstan) | spouse = Svetlana Abdykadyrovna | allegiance = {{flag|USSR}}<br>{{flag|Kyrgyzstan}} | branch = {{army|Soviet Union}}<br>23px Kyrgyz Armed Forces | service_years = 1975–present | rank = Colonel General }} Colonel General '''Abdygul Abdrashitovich Chotbaev''' ({{Langx|ru|Абдыгул Абдрашитович Чотбаев}}) is a retired Kyrgyz general and politician who served as the 1st Commander of the National Guard of Kyrgyzstan.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://who.ca-news.org/people:355|title=Чотбаев Абдыгул Абдрашитович|website=who.ca-news.org|accessdate=Apr 22, 2019}}</ref>
== Biography == ===Early life and military career=== He was born in the village of Tert-Kül in the Chuy Region of Kirghizia to Abdrashit Supataev and his mother Zhanyl Budaychiev. He joined the Soviet Army, studying at the Alma-Ata Higher All-Arms Command School (now the Military Institute of the Kazakh Ground Forces) until he graduated in 1979. He also studied at the Frunze Military Academy in Moscow from 1985–1989. Upon graduating, the first time, he took up the post of platoon and company commander of a motorized rifle battalion. From 1980 to 1992, he served in various leadership positions, rising to the post of regimental commander in Uzbekistan. In 1989, he briefly served in the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan to aid in the Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan.
===National Guard=== In July 1992, he was appointed to the post of Commander of the National Guard of Kyrgyzstan, the first person to hold this role. He did this after surrendering his Uzbek army positions and holding a meeting with President Akayev.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://24.kg/obschestvo/16421_natsgvardiya_vchera_i_segodnya/|title=Нацгвардия: вчера и сегодня|date=20 July 2015}}</ref> In 1996, he graduated from Kyrgyz National University with a degree in jurisprudence. He served during the Batken Conflict of 1999, when militants of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan invaded Kyrgyzstan through the Batken Region. During this period, he was appointed as the commander of the joint task force that was assigned to deal with this threat.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://jamestown.org/program/growing-international-ramifications-of-the-islamic-insurgency-in-kyrgyzstan/|title=GROWING INTERNATIONAL RAMIFICATIONS OF THE ISLAMIC INSURGENCY IN KYRGYZSTAN.|website=Jamestown|accessdate=Apr 22, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.rferl.org/a/1343642.html|title=Kyrgyz Report: August 31, 1999|website=www.rferl.org|accessdate=Apr 22, 2019}}</ref>
===Political and public career=== While fulfilling both of these roles, he also served as a member of the Bishkek City Council from 1994 to 2000. In 2000, he was elected to the Jogorku Kenesh as part of the Party of War Veterans in Afghanistan and other Local Conflicts. During the events of the Tulip Revolution in March 2005, Chotbayev was at the White House compound where he attempted to negotiate with the anti-government rioters. When this strategy failed, the rioters beat and captured Chotbayev alongside the head of the presidential administration.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/kyrgyzstan-the-day-the-tulip-revolution-came-7867.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190422020414/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/kyrgyzstan-the-day-the-tulip-revolution-came-7867.html |archive-date=2019-04-22 |url-access=limited |url-status=live|title=Kyrgyzstan: The day the tulip revolution came|date=Mar 25, 2005|website=The Independent|accessdate=Apr 22, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://iwpr.net/global-voices/opposition-seizes-kyrgyz-government-building|title=Opposition Seizes Kyrgyz Government Building|website=Institute for War and Peace Reporting|accessdate=Apr 22, 2019}}</ref> He was dismissed from his role in the national guard as a result by the Security Council of Kyrgyzstan on 24 August 2005.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.rferl.org/a/1342129.html|title=Central Asia Report: September 2, 2005|website=www.rferl.org|accessdate=Apr 22, 2019}}</ref> Since September 2006, he has served as the Deputy Chairman of the Committee on the Affairs of Soldiers-Internationalists at the Council of Heads of Government of the CIS.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://centrasia.org/person2.php?&st=1027077394|title=ЧОТБАЕВ Абдыгул Абдрашитович | ЦентрАзия|website=centrasia.org|accessdate=Apr 22, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://iwpr.net/global-voices/opposition-seizes-kyrgyz-government-building|title=Opposition Seizes Kyrgyz Government Building}}</ref>
== Awards and promotions == * Order of Danaker (February 2004) * Major General (1993) * Order "For Merit to the Fatherland" (Russian Federation, 2004) * Colonel General (2004) * Order of Friendship (Russian Federation, 2010)
== References == {{Reflist}} {{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chotbaev, Abdygul}} Category:1957 births Category:People from Chüy Region Category:Living people Category:Kyrgyzstani generals Category:Kyrgyz National University alumni