37 Facts About Sooronbay Jeenbekov

Sooronbay Sharip uulu Jeenbekov was born on 16 November 1958 and is a Kyrgyz politician who served as the fifth president of Kyrgyzstan from 2017 until his resignation in 2020, following a week of protests.

Sooronbay Jeenbekov was succeeded by Sadyr Japarov who would go on to serve as an acting president and prime minister for short period of time before being officially elected in the 2021 presidential elections.

Sooronbay Jeenbekov was widely viewed to continue his predecessor Almazbek Atambayev's policies; however, they both fell out just months after he assumed office, leading to Atambayev's arrest and an end to his influence in Kyrgyz politics.

Sooronbay Jeenbekov was born in Biy-Myrza, Osh Region on 16 November 1958.

Sooronbay Jeenbekov's father, Sharif, was a collective farm manager while his mother was a housewife.

Sooronbay Jeenbekov's grandfather, Jeenbek Pirnazarov, was a Red Army soldier who served during the Great Patriotic War and was labelled as missing in action.

Sooronbay Jeenbekov is one of nine siblings in his family, being the third eldest child.

Sooronbay Jeenbekov attended the Kyrgyz Academy of Agriculture, graduating with a degree in zoological engineering.

Sooronbay Jeenbekov started his career at the Lenin School in the Uzgen District, where he worked as a teacher at 18 and taught Russian and literature.

Sooronbay Jeenbekov became a Deputy of the Assembly of People's Representatives in 1995.

Sooronbay Jeenbekov resigned from the post of prime minister on 21 August 2017, after being named as an official candidate in the 2017 presidential election.

Sooronbay Jeenbekov was inaugurated as president on 24 November 2017 in a ceremony that took place in the Enesay reception house of the Ala Archa State Residence.

Just days into his presidency, Sooronbay Jeenbekov changed the time of his departure to the White House to early in the morning to avoid Bishkek traffic, a move which was praised by many Bishkek residents.

Sooronbay Jeenbekov conducted his first foreign visit after assuming the presidency was to Russia where he met with Vladimir Putin.

On 19 April 2018, Sooronbay Jeenbekov fired his Prime Minister Sapar Isakov and the government following a vote of no confidence from Kyrgyzstan's parliament.

Sooronbay Jeenbekov opened the Central Mosque of Imam Sarakhsi, which is the largest mosque in Central Asia, with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan during his visit to Bishkek in early September 2018.

Sooronbay Jeenbekov opened the 2018 World Nomad Games in Cholpon-Ata on 3 September 2018, marking the first major international event that Sooronbay Jeenbekov has hosted in Kyrgyzstan.

Sooronbay Jeenbekov praised Shevchenko's role in her profession, even going as far as to say that she "defended the honour of our Kyrgyzstan".

Sooronbay Jeenbekov is noted for repairing relations with neighboring Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, following an improvement in ties under Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, who took power the year before Jeenbekov, and a diplomatic crisis after Jeenbekov's predecessor, Almazbek Atambayev accused Kazakhstan of election interference and called the Kazakh government under President Nursultan Nazarbayev a "dictatorship".

All of this is reflected in the international working and state visits which he makes often, with Sooronbay Jeenbekov visiting Russia and Kazakhstan the most since 28 November 2017.

In March 2019, Sooronbay Jeenbekov made his remarks during a meeting with the heads of diplomatic missions of Kyrgyzstan that his country had plans to step up work on development of bilateral co-operation with the United States and United Kingdom.

Sooronbay Jeenbekov's son-in-law became the head of the foreign policy department of the president's office, his nephew Nooruz headed the "Gazprom Kyrgyzstan" branches, another brother, Jusup Sooronbay Jeenbekov, headed the embassy in Ukraine, and another nephew Teniz became the head of the "Ayyl Bank" branches.

Sooronbay Jeenbekov "Farwater" won a bid for the supply of PPE suits for 6,000 soms, even though volunteers purchased them at prices ranging from 240 to 360 soms.

Sooronbay Jeenbekov was linked to the "Birimdik" party, affiliated with Asylbek Jeenbekov.

In June 2020, Sooronbay Jeenbekov went into quarantine after returning from a cut-short visit to Moscow after two of his staffers tested positive for COVID-19 during the pandemic in Kyrgyzstan.

Sooronbay Jeenbekov was due to attend the 2020 Moscow Victory Day Parade.

Since Sooronbay Jeenbekov took power in November 2017, he has had what can only be described as a contentious relationship with his predecessor and former ally, Almazbek Atambayev.

Since Atambayev left office on 24 November 2017 and handed the presidency to his successor Sooronbay Jeenbekov, he has served as head of the SDPK.

In early April 2018, Sooronbay Jeenbekov dismissed two high-ranking officials in the State Committee for National Security who are considered to be close to Atambayev.

Sooronbay Jeenbekov later denied that he was fighting with Atambayev, saying at a press conference in December 2018 that his major goal was to do "nothing but to work day and night" while saying that he does "not consider anyone a rival".

Sooronbay Jeenbekov claimed that he faced a coup d'etat, and then he told the BBC that he was "ready to give the responsibility to strong leaders".

Later that day however, despite all indications of the opposite, Sooronbay Jeenbekov declared a state of emergency in Bishkek and ordered the deployment of the Kyrgyz Army to the streets.

Sooronbay Jeenbekov charged General Taalaibek Omuraliev as Chief of the General Staff to lead the response, replacing General Rayimberdi Duishenbiev.

Sooronbay Jeenbekov sacked Omurbek Suvanaliyev, who served as the national security chief.

Sooronbay Jeenbekov stated as his official reason staying not being "worth the integrity of our country and agreement in society".

Sooronbay Jeenbekov called "on Japarov and the other politicians to withdraw their supporters out of the capital of the nation and to return the people of Bishkek to peaceful lives".

Sooronbay Jeenbekov's younger brother, Asylbek Sooronbay Jeenbekov, is a politician, while his other brother, Zhusupbek Sharipov, is a former governor from Jalal-Abad and the current ambassador of Kyrgyzstan to Ukraine.