Bakyt Beshimov

In 2019 Northeastern University awarded Beshimov Excellence in Teaching Award.

In the lead up to the 2010 Parliamentary elections Beshimov criticized the government for planning to close universities for the duration of the election, arguing that education is not a high priority for the government.

Beshimov actively advocated that the 2010 South Kyrgyzstan ethnic clashes were provoked from outside Kyrgyzstan. He testified before Helsinki Commission on 27 July 2010 with this view.

In 2009 Beshimov was granted political asylum in the US after surviving several assassination attempts due to him being a leader of the opposition.

Beshimov was the campaign manager for the unified opposition candidate during the July 2009 presidential elections, which western observers deemed "fraudulent". Beshimov said that exit polls by opposition supporters showed Almazbek Atambayev won around 60 percent of the vote. Eventually, he was placed under state surveillance during the Bakiyev regime with intention to kill him.

In 2009 Beshimov filed a suit with the Constitutional Court of Kyrgyzstan against Bakiyev. The basis for the suit was the claim that Bakiyev broke the law by being an active member of the Ak Jol political party The Court rejected the claim.

While serving as president of Osh State University, Beshimov became increasingly outspoken in his criticism towards then president Askar Akayev. Effective reforms of Osh State University gained him large popularity among the students. Students therefore protested, when Beshimov's political activity caused him to be fired. That same year Beshimov ran for a newly opened parliamentary spot from a district in Osh, and won a landslide victory. Beshimov became a prominent opposition leader. There were numerous attempts to assassinate and throw him in jail by the Akayev regime. Beshimov played a major role in negotiations with Askar Akayev on succeeding certain roles to the opposition. Under the agreement reached in the year 2000, Beshimov was appointed as Kyrgyzstan's ambassador to India with concurrent accreditation to Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka. Following the Tulip Revolution Beshimov returned to Kyrgyzstan to serve as vice-president of American University of Central Asia. Beshimov was a big supporter of and believer in the Tulip Revolution. After the new government followed short of promises made during the Tulip Revolution, and started reverting the course back to dictatorial rule, Beshimov re-engaged in politics, going into opposition against Kurmanbek Bakiyev. In December 2007 he was elected to Kyrgyzstan's Parliament, the Supreme Council, on the candidate list of the Social Democratic Party of Kyrgyzstan. He is the leader of the opposition fraction in the Kyrgyz Parliament.

Beshimov started his career on the faculty as professor at Kyrgyz State National University. In 1991 he was appointed as the president of Osh State University, becoming the youngest president of a university in Kyrgyzstan. From 2006 to 2008 Beshimov served as a vice-president of American University of Central Asia.

Bakyt Beshimov grew up in the south of Kyrgyzstan, spending most of his childhood in Osh. Graduating from the Lomonosov School, he attended Kyrgyz State National University where he earned a PhD in history in 1977.

Bakyt Beshimov (Russian: Бактыбек Жолчубекович Бешимов ; born 1954) is a leader of parliamentary fraction and deputy chairman of Social Democratic Party of Kyrgyzstan. Bakyt Beshimov is a prominent opposition leader, famous for his liberal views, and speaking out against Kurmanbek Bakiyev's and Askar Akayev's regimes.