Post by : Jyoti Gupta

Photo:AFP

BISHKEK: On Saturday, Kyrgyzstan quietly took down the tallest statue of Vladimir Lenin in Central Asia. The statue was in the city of Osh, the second biggest city in the country.

Officials said the 23-meter (75-foot) tall statue was removed during the night and will be moved to another place. They asked people not to turn it into a political issue.

Many countries that were once part of the Soviet Union are trying to build their own identity. They are changing city names that sound Russian and replacing old Soviet statues with local heroes.

Russia still has army bases in Kyrgyzstan and wants to keep its influence there. But China and Western countries are also becoming more active in the region.

Osh city officials said that even in Russia, some Lenin statues have been taken down or moved. They said this is just part of making cities look better, not about politics.

Even though some places are trying to move away from their Soviet past, many Lenin statues can still be found across Kyrgyzstan.

Kyrgyzstan became part of the Russian Empire in the 1800s. After the 1917 revolution, it joined the Soviet Union. The country became independent in 1991 when the USSR broke apart.