Toktayum Umetalieva (Kyrgyz: Токтайым Уметалиева) (born 4 April 1962 in Leninpol) is a Kyrgyzstani physicist, political coordinator and activist. She was the only female candidate for the 2005 and 2009 Kyrgyz presidential elections.[1]
Toktayum Umetalieva | |
|---|---|
Токтайым Уметалиева | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 4 April 1962 Leninpol, Kyrgyzstan |
| Children | 3 |
| Occupation | Physicist, political coordinator, activist |
Biography
editBorn in the village of Leninpol in Talas District, she graduated from Kyrgyz State National University with a degree in physics in 1984. She worked a lecturer and became a director for an industrial and commercial company. In 1997, she was appointed chief editor of the newspaper Ай-Данек,[2] and she has published several papers on science and politics.[1] She has sat on numerous advisory councils in her native country for Supreme Council and has led the political party known as "Long Live Kyrgyzstan" ("Жашасын Кыргызстан").[2]
She heads the Association of Nongovernmental and Noncommercial Organizations and was running as an independent.[3]
Umetalieva been employed as a national coordinator for UNICEF and is associated with the World Bank. Between 2000 and 2010 she was the chair of Kyrgyzstan’s Association of Nongovernmental and Noncommercial Organizations. She stood as a presidential candidate for the 2009 elections to raise awareness of women's rights issues.[2] In 2011 she advocated the dismantling of the statue of Erkindik on Ala-Too Square in Bishkek.[1]
She is married and has three daughters: Mirgul, Nazgul, and Burulayim.[1]
References
edit- ^ a b c d "Токтайым Уметалиева". Knews (in Kyrgyz). Knews. August 2011. Archived from the original on 2021-08-08. Retrieved 27 November 2017.
- ^ a b c "Toktayum Umetalieva". Centralasien Grupperna. Centralasien.org. 2017-01-24. Archived from the original on 2021-08-08. Retrieved 27 November 2017.
- ^ "Q&A: Kyrgyzstan votes". BBC. July 8, 2005. Archived from the original on 2018-03-09. Retrieved 2009-07-28.