AKIPRESS.COM - 2024 witnessed both positive and tragic events, such as the court hearing in the case of Saltanat Nukenova's murder, earthquakes on Kyrgyz-Chinese border and Kazakhstan, and Rahim Aga Khan's visit to Kyrgyzstan.

To summarize the results of this year, AKIpress publishes 10 most read news.

1. Court hearing in the case of Saltanat Nukenova's murder

The Astana court considered the criminal case against former Minister of National Economy of Kazakhstan Kuandyk Bishimbayev, who was accused of murdering his common-law wife Saltanat Nukenova.

Saltanat Nukenova was killed in the BAU restaurant on the second floor of the Gastrocenter in Astana on the night of November 8–9, 2023.

Bishimbayev was accused of murder with extreme cruelty and torture. His relative Bakhytzhan Baizhanov, director of the Gastrocenter, was charged with concealment and failure to report a crime.

On May 13, the Astana Court sentenced former Minister of National Economy Kuandyk Bishimbayev to 24 years in prison. He was found guilty of murder committed with particular cruelty and torture.

2. Tajik Interior Ministry denies involvement of its 3 citizens into terrorist attack in Moscow region

The Ministry of Internal Affairs of Tajikistan denied involvement of 3 Tajik citizens into the terrorist attack at the Crocus City Hall in Krasnogorsk, Moscow region.

The Tajik Ministry of Internal Affairs said the information was spread in Russian media that the department of internal affairs in Bryansk region put two citizens of Tajikistan on wanted list on suspicion of involvement into the terrorist attack in Moscow region.

Both are residents of J Balkhi District of Khatlon Region of Tajikistan.

The information is ungrounded, the Tajik Ministry of Internal Affairs said.

The above citizens returned from Russia to Tajikistan on November 26, 2023 and remain at the place of their residence in Tajikistan since that time.

The third citizen of Tajikistan, Rustam Nazarov, native of Bokhtar town, Khatlon region, works as a taxi driver in Samara. During the terrorist attack he was in Samara and is not involved into the attack, the Tajik Interior Ministry said.

3. Magnitude 5 earthquake occurred near Kyrgyz-Chinese border

An earthquake with a magnitude of 5 occurred near the Kyrgyz-Chinese border at 10:33 on January 22, according to the Seismology Institute of the National Academy of Sciences of Kyrgyzstan.

The earthquake's epicenter was located in Chinese territory, 217 km southeast of the city of Karakol in Issyk-Kul region.

The earthquake was not felt in populated areas of the Kyrgyz Republic.

4. Embassies of Pakistan and India in Kyrgyzstan comment on last night protests

The Embassies of Pakistan and India in Kyrgyzstan commented on the incident in Bishkek after the brawl with involvement of foreign nationals.

The Embassy of Pakistan said several students received light injuries. Several dormitories of medical schools in Bishkek and private residences of foreign students, Pakistanis among them, were attacked. Students from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh lived in the dormitories, the Embassy said.

The Embassy has asked the students to remain home until normalization of the situation.

The Embassy of India said they are in contact with students. "The situation is calm now, but students are recommended to stay indoors and to contact the embassy in case of problems," the embassy said,

Young people gathered last night on the cross of Chui Prospekt and Kurmanjan Datka street after the brawl with foreigners in the hostel in Bishkek. They demanded to bring foreigners to justice and to resolve the problem of illegal migration. Bishkek police chief Azamat Toktonaliev met with protesters. He said the foreigners involved into the brawl were detained. Protesters dispersed by dawn.

5. Mongolia reveals team uniforms for Paris Olympic Games

The ceremonial uniforms for the Mongolian team participating in the opening ceremony of the 33rd Olympic Games Paris-2024 have been designed by the Michel & Amazonka brand, Montsame reports.

The uniforms feature national and Olympic symbols, including the Nine White Banners, the Olympic torch, the emblem of the Paris Olympics, and representations of the sun, moon, and the Gua-Maral (myth deer), all embroidered with golden thread.

6. Rafael Fiziev made a statement about his return

 

UFC lightweight Rafael Fisiev, who suffered a knee injury last September in a fight against Mateusz Gamrot, has revealed when he plans to return to the octagon.

"I’ve been training for a long time – after the surgery I started training the very next day," he said in an interview with the channel Meta MMA Plus.

"I’m doing boxing for now. February 15 was at the doctor’s office, and he’s already cleared running, cleared gently kicking. So we’ll add a little bit of running, add some kicking. It’s been four months since the surgery, and it’s another four to five months to fully recover. That’s another seven to eight months of downtime," he said.

Last March, Rafael Fiziev snapped his own impressive six-fight win streak with a three-round majority decision loss to Justin Gaethje, and six months later, the Azerbaijani fighter was forced to withdraw in the second round of his fight with Mateusz Gamrot after tearing knee ligaments in the main event of UFC Fight Night 228.

7. Prince Rahim Aga Khan has arrived in Kyrgyzstan on working visit

Prince Rahim Aga Khan, Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development (AKFED) and Co-Chair of the Budget Review Committee of the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN), arrived in Kyrgyzstan on February 29, the Foreign Ministry of Kyrgyzstan said.

Prince Rahim Aga Khan was met by First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Kyrgyz Republic Asein Isaev at Manas Airport upon arrival.

The parties held a brief meeting and discussed the program of the visit and the meeting with the country's leadership.

The main attention was paid to priority issues of bilateral cooperation of the Kyrgyz Republic with the Aga Khan Development Organization (AKDN) and its project activities in the country in socio-economic and educational spheres.

Issues related to attracting international attention to mountain issues, and the joint development of initiatives for environmental protection, as well as sustainable and balanced economic development were discussed.

8. Erdogan holds emergency meeting after reported coup

President of Türkiye Recep Tayyip Erdogan held an emergency meeting with the heads of law enforcement agencies and the Ministry of Justice after leader of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) Devlet Bahçeliwarned about the possible coup attempt, Sabah reports.

The Ankara Prosecutor General's Office began an investigation against three police officers of the capital's department regarding their involvement in the criminal organization Ayhan Bora Kaplan. Their houses were searched.

Erdogan's ally Bahçeli said that there could be a conspiracy, and the removal of several police officers would not solve anything. Bahçeli warned of the possibility of a repeat coup attempt in the country.

There was an attempted coup in Turkey in 2016, which was suppressed within a few hours. 241 people were killed and more than 2,000 were injured in clashes across the country.

More than 40,000 people were arrested in Türkiye on suspicion of involvement in the coup. A state of emergency was introduced in the country for several months.

9. 44 people injured as result of Almaty earthquake

Residents of Almaty felt a 5 magnitude earthquake on the night of January 22-23. People in a hurry tried to leave their homes. Some ran out in slippers and without outerwear, others got dressed while already standing in the snow, local media report.

There were traffic jams at the exits from the city, and queues at gas stations. People tried to leave the city, fearing new tremors. Residents of multi-storey buildings were afraid to return to their apartments. People tried to go to relatives or friends living in private houses. Almaty residents also went to reception centers for the affected population.

44 people were injured in Almaty as a result of the earthquake. They were taken to city hospitals with mild and moderate injuries - bruises, pinching and sprains. 34 of them were adults. 3 were hospitalized, 31 people were sent for outpatient treatment, the Ministry of Health of Kazakhstan reported.

6 earthquakes occurred in China near the border with Kyrgyzstan on the night of January 23. According to the website of the China Seismological Center, the strongest earthquake with 7.1 magnitude occurred in Aksu, Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, at 2:09 am local time. According to the center, several dozen aftershocks with magnitudes ranging from 3 to 5.3 were recorded in the region.

10. Fight involving foreign citizens occurs in Bishkek

A video of a fight between young people was posted on social networks. Some of the fighters used sticks.

The police received information about a fight on Budyonny Street on the evening of May 13, the Sverdlovsky district police precinct reported.

An investigative team arrived at the scene and established that the hostel guests had a fight.

People involved into the fight were taken to the police station to write a statement. A case on hooliganism was opened.

The fight allegedly occurred with the involvement of foreign citizens, sources told AKIpress.