KYRGYZ PRESIDENT UNDERGOES HIP SURGERY

C O N F I D E N T I A L BISHKEK 000256 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPT FOR SCA/CEN (GEHRENBECK) E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/14/2018 TAGS: PGOV PREL PINR KG SUBJECT: KYRGYZ PRESIDENT UNDERGOES HIP SURGERY REF: BISHKEK 221 Classified By: Amb. Marie L. Yovanovitch, Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (C) On March 13, presidential advisor Valentin Bogatyryov confirmed to the Ambassador that Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev traveled to Weisbaden, Germany on March 3 to undergo hip surgery. He said that surgeons operated on one of Bakiyev's hips on March 4, and that the second hip, also requiring the same minor operation, would be corrected later this year. Bogatyryov said that doctors prescribed ten days of bed rest for Bakiyev who was recuperating well. According to Bogatyryov, the President is expected back on March 16. ¶2. (C) Bogatyryov said that, over the New Year holiday, Bakiyev experienced horrendous back pains, at times preventing him from sitting or lying down. Bogatyryov said that the president traveled to Germany in February for medical examinations, where his doctors detected no issues with his spine but discovered problems with his hip joints. Bogatyryov believed that the president's hip joints were not firmly in place, a medical condition "common among Kyrgyz and usually corrected at an early age." ¶3. (C) Prior to his departure, Bakiyev asked for Bogatyryov's advice in handling the situation but apparently chose not to take it. Bogatyryov felt that the trip was perfectly acceptable and encouraged the president to inform the public that he was going on medical leave to Germany. Bakiyev's move to keep the trip under wraps was thwarted by former MP Azimbek Beknazarov who speculated about Bakiyev's medical treatment and who in the government would act in his place in a crisis. In response, the president's unprofessional press office reported that Bakiyev left March 3 on a "short term vacation." YOVANOVITCH