Kyrgyzstan delays vote on naming mountain after Putin
Elspeth Lodge January 11, 2011 – 5:39 pm
REUTERS/Ria Novosti/Pool/Alexei Druzhinin
Russia’s Prime Minister Vladimir Putin holds a piece of excavation as he visits the site of the “Lena-2010″ Russian-German scientific expedition on Samoilovsky Island in Far Eastern Federal District, August 23, 2010. Putin traveled beyond the Arctic Circle on Monday to look into evidence on climate change after a record heatwave devastated central Russia this summer.
Kyrgyzstan prime minister Almazbek Atambayev will have to wait a bit longer to dedicate a mountain to his Russian counterpart, after his parliament on Tuesday differed a final vote to name a mountain after Vladimir Putin.
The 4,446 meter high mountain to be named stands near Mount President Boris Yeltsin (3,500 metres) and Lenin Peak (7,134 metres) in Chuy Province in the Tian Shan mountain range, near the border with China.
What isn’t clear is what exactly the mountain will go by if the bill passes:
RIA Novosti said the bill is for a mountain named ‘Vladimir Putin Peak,’ but, a earlier article by RIA Novosti said the name is slated to be ‘Mount Vladimir Putin,’ as does The Voice of Russia; the Moscow News reported that the mountain is to be called “Peak Vladimir Putin”; France24 and AFP say it will be the ‘Peak of Vladimir Putin.’
Kyrgyzstan was a republic of the Soviet Union before gaining independence in 1991.
Kyrgyzstan to name peak ‘Mount Vladimir Putin’
Getty Images
Elspeth Lodge January 5, 2011 – 4:06 pm
Historically, political figures have softened the heart and opened the mind of tough Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin by giving him cute four-legged creatures, but Kyrgyztan’s PM Almazbek Atambayev has found another gift that will likely put him in Russia’s good graces for years to come. The Kyrgyztan parliament is in the process of naming a 4,500-metre mountain ‘Mount Vladimir Putin,’ reported RiaNovosti, BBC News and the Herald Sun; it will be in the Tian Shan mountain range not far from China’s border.
Photo from the website of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
If the Kyrgyzstan parliament approves the mountain’s name PM Putin will be in well-known company — nearby will be ‘Mount Boris Yeltsin,’ named after Russia’s first president in 2002 — Also, close-by will be ‘Lenin Peak,’ which was renamed four years after the death of the first Soviet leader, reported RiaNovosti.
Officials believe the gift is meant symbolize the importance of the relationship between the two nations, it also shows gratitude for the extensive aid Russia pledged to give the Central Asian Country last December, when Kyrgyz premier Almazbek Atambayev visited Russia, reports All Headline News.
When the two PM’s met on Dec.27. PM Atambayev said “I have always said – when running for MP and for prime minister and when appointed as prime minister – that Russia is our main strategic partner. There is no alternative to it because we have a historical affinity and a shared past. I am convinced that only a united and common future is possible for our countries,” the Russian government reported in press release.
Putin himself has named a mountain, a 3,269 meter high mountain located in the westernmost area of North Ossetia, reported RiaNovosti on Dec.11. The PM named the Sugan Ridge mountain peak in honor of Russian Spies: the Peak of Russian Counterintelligence Agents. The name certainly isn’t as catchy or as ominous sounding as ‘Mount Putin.’
Other gifts Putin has received:
- Bulgarian PM Boyko Borisov gave Putin his Bulgarian Shepherd ‘Buffy’ in 2009.
Nikolay Doychinov, AFP/Getty
- In 2008 the PM received a two-and-a-half-month-old female Siberian tiger for his 56th birthday. The cub weighed around 20 pounds and was curled up within a wicker basket, on top of a tiger print cushion. Mr. Putin will not reveal who gave him the tiger.
Photo by the Associated Press (AP)
- Putin was presented with one of the smallest horses in the world during the opening ceremony of the International horse-racing complex in 2005.
Dmitry Azarov
- Former Moldovan President Vladimir Voronin gave Putin a Crocodile in 2002.
EU Times
- Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev gave Putin a Persian gazelle in 2002.
photo from piperbasenji.blogspot.com
Abdella II, the King of Jordan, gave Mr.Putin two Pure Arabian colts and a filly, Isis in 2002.
Russian Emergencies Minister Sergei Shoigu gave Koni, a Black lab, to Putin on New Years Eve in 2001.
ALEXANDER GREK/AFP/Getty Images
