President of Kyrgyzstan Sadyr Japarov supports U.S. President Donald Trump and the head of DOGE (Department of Government Efficiency) Elon Musk in the closure of USAID and media projects Voice of America and Radio Liberty. He said this in an interview with Kabar news agency.
The President was reminded that last December at the People’s Kurultai he spoke about the amounts allocated by various American funds to finance Azattyk and other media.
«If you don’t know where to spend the money, give it to us, the state, directly. We will ensure democracy and human rights at the highest level,» Sadyr Japarov appealed then to the leadership of the U.S. Department of State.
The correspondent noted that in fact now Donald Trump and Elon Musk are echoing the position of the President, voiced two months ago.
Sadyr Japarov responded that this was just a coincidence.
«Donald Trump and Elon Musk don’t need my initiatives. They are both billionaires. They understand perfectly well that money doesn’t fall from the sky. They want to stop the meaningless waste of American taxpayers’ money. And they are absolutely right. It’s the 21st century now. Any information spreads worldwide in five minutes. Twenty or thirty years ago, everyone was waiting for Azattyk, listening to it, believing it—because there was no Internet, no smartphones. Now, people don’t need Azattyk’s news. Everyone gets information online,» the president said.
He believes that people have learned to analyze the news and no longer believe everything blindly. People understand what news is unreliable and what is true.
«For example, when Azattyk spreads distorted information that discredits someone’s reputation, people analyze it. And when they find out it is false, they ask: «Why are you spreading disinformation?» Then Azattyk deletes the article from their website and says: «Sorry.» But if someone sues them, they start shouting to the world: «Our freedom of speech is under attack!» Is that normal? Is spreading false information or manipulating news really freedom of speech? You should not confuse permissiveness with freedom of speech or human rights,» Japarov stated.
Therefore, in his view, Trump and Musk’s decisions deserve support.
Donald Trump previously suspended USAID operations for three months. Recently, Elon Musk has spoken in favor of shutting down Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and Voice of America.
