Tulip Revolution

Tulip Revolution
Part of Colour revolution
Date	22 March 2005 - 11 April 2005
Location	Kyrgyzstan
Causes	Authoritarianism Kyrgyzstani parliamentary election, 2005
Goals	Invalidation of parliamentary election Resignation of President Askar Akayev and Prime Minister Nikolai Tanayev
Result	Overthrow of president Askar Akayev and Nikolai Tanayev government Kurmanbek Bakiyev became Acting President and Acting Prime Minister Assumption of power by the opposition Kyrgyzstani presidential election, 2005
Parties to the civil conflict
Kyrgyz Opposition Government of Kyrgyzstan
Lead figures
Kurmanbek Bakiyev Roza Otunbayeva Almazbek Atambayev Felix Kulov Askar Akayev Nikolai Tanayev Ishenbai Kadyrbekov

The Tulip Revolution or First Kyrgyz Revolution led to President of Kyrgyzstan, Askar Akayev's fall from power. The revolution began after parliamentary elections on February 27 and March 13, 2005. The revolutionaries alleged corruption and authoritarianism by the Akayev, his family and supporters. Akayev fled to Kazakhstan and then to Russia. On April 4, 2005, at the Kyrgyz embassy in Moscow, Akayev signed his resignation statement in the presence of a Kyrgyz parliamentary delegation. The resignation was ratified by the Kyrgyz interim parliament on April 11, 2005.

In the early stages of the revolution, the media variously referred to the unrest as the "Pink," "Lemon", "Silk", or "Daffodil" revolution. It was Akayev himself who coined the term, "Tulip Revolution". In a speech of the time, he warned that no such "Color Revolution" should happen in Kyrgyzstan. Using a color or floral term evoked similarity with the non-violent Rose Revolution in Georgia, the Orange Revolution in Ukraine (2004), the Czechoslovak Velvet Revolution (1989) and the Portuguese Carnation Revolution (1974).

Givi Targamadze, a former member of the Liberty Institute of Georgia and the chair of Georgian Parliamentary Committee on Defense and Security, consulted Ukrainian opposition leaders on the technique of nonviolent struggle. He later advised leaders of the Kyrgyz opposition during the Tulip Revolution.