Memoirs of Akbar Hashemi – October 21, 1993

There was no new important content in the Persian, English, US, and Iranian radio news. After breakfast, we went to the President's office. First, there were private negotiations, and then negotiations took place in an official session where the desired points were discussed. It was decided that experts should complete the negotiations and prepare the memorandums of understanding for signing.

From there, we went to the National University of Kyrgyzstan. The university president welcomed us and gave a report on the status of the university with 14,000 students, 3,000 masters and professors, and 90 chairs. Then, we visited the hall of Iranian and Persian books, which were mostly donated by Iran. I signed a copy of the book "Amir Kabir or the Hero of the Struggle Against Colonialism" and gave it to the President who was accompanying me.

Then I visited the university's natural history museum and their artistic works. They do not have anything significant and are trying to find something to prove their historical records. In a tent made in the style of nomads, we sat on the ground and they served us at a round table and performed an artistic program; similar to the storytelling setups in our own coffeehouses where they perform the stories of Hossein Kord-e Shabestari and Rostam Nameh, they read the Manas epic and play an instrument with movements similar to our own.

Then, we went to the amphitheater for the ceremony of awarding me an honorary doctorate from the university. The university president gave a respectful speech, spoke of my cultural, political, religious, revolutionary, and anti-colonial services, and mentioned the names of some of my writings. Then he read the text of the university jury's verdict regarding the evidence of my eligibility for the most appropriate professor degree, and the audience applauded with continuous clapping. I also delivered a speech of thanks, praising knowledge and Islam's view on science and the necessity of acquiring knowledge for the Islamic Ummah, and I put on the academic robe.

From there, we went to inaugurate our own embassy. The President of Kyrgyzstan had also come. It is a house they have placed at our disposal. We have renovated it and bought the surrounding houses for expansion. The Mayor of Bishkek, the Iranian Ambassador, the President, and I spoke.

We returned to the residence for lunch and rest. The Speaker of Parliament and the Prime Minister came for a meeting. The Speaker of Parliament is a supporter of Iran. We had a warm conversation with both. The Speaker of Parliament suggested that the ECO organization, like the European Community, should also have a parliament. The Speaker of the Uzbek Parliament also had this suggestion.

We went to the Presidential Palace; a building where the three branches of government are located. We had negotiations about Tajikistan. They, like the Uzbeks, want us to intervene to solve the problem. They promised it would be based on democracy and freedom, with the difference that Islam Karimov believes Russia is the instigator of both sides, while [Askar] Akayev does not accept this.

Then we participated in the signing ceremony of the memorandums of understanding. 15 agreements were signed in all possible fields of cooperation. Then we had a joint press conference where Akayev spoke more than I did. The Kyrgyz journalists' questions were mostly political.

From there, we went to the Grand Mosque together to see the clergy. They gave a warm welcome. About 300 male and female students had gathered. The Mufti of Kyrgyzstan gave a warm welcome. I spoke briefly, and Akayev also gave a good speech praising the role of religion and the clergy and promised help. They also praised his support. I gave 10,000 dollars to help the students; normally, if distributed well, it would cause anger among communists and secularists.

They also held a lavish and long dinner banquet at the government guesthouse. Late at night, Dr. Velayati, [Mahmoud] Vaezi, and the Ambassador came, spoke about the situation of the embassy staff, and asked for help to resolve problems. Overall, the President and other officials acted very friendly. Excessive humility, constant accompaniment, friendly statements, and speed in accepting our requests, the last of which was at the dinner table when I asked them to train pilots in Bishkek for various types of MiGs, and here is an important training center built by the Russians; he immediately accepted and instructed the Prime Minister. We need this to make some Iraqi MiGs operational. General Sattari, [Commander of the Air Force], had requested it.

Mr. Akayev answered my questions well. He has some complaints against Islam Karimov and raises them with caution, and expressed surprise at Karimov's statements regarding the Tajikistan issue, considering that he encourages the Russian military presence.

Their economic situation is bad due to the drop in production and high inflation. He expresses satisfaction with printing their own national currency. One dollar became equivalent to 7.5 Som [Kyrgyzstan's national currency], which was 5 Som in the early days. He says Russia caused a lot of trouble for giving Rubles and I was forced to go to Moscow every month and endure the humiliation of requesting.It says that even now, Russia is making it difficult to provide rubles for their limited expenses and does not accept the third type, and for the new ruble, which is 1,004 rubles to one dollar, it only gives 500 rubles for each dollar. The old ruble was about 4,000 to 5,000 to one dollar. The value of the ruble is decreasing so rapidly that every day all prices in all Commonwealth countries change.