She’s neither as glamorous nor as wicked as the other Central Asian princesses, but Bermet Akayeva is still formidable.
Gulnara has cash, Dariga has clout; but Bermet has brains. And balls. Bermet’s dad, Askar Akayev, got kicked out during the 2005 “Tulip Revolution.” The whole family fled to Moscow, where Askar settled down to become a humble math professor.
But Bermet doesn’t freak out that easily. She returned to Kyrgyzstan, ran for Parliament, and won. The Central Election Commission invalidated the result due to allegations of irregularity.
Bolotbek Maripov, who lost to Akayeva in [the] disputed parliament seat, said that her return showed courage. ‘I’m glad that there’s at least one man in the Akayev family,’ he added. (Wikipedia)
Bermet’s resume could send a geek into ecstasies:
- 1989: Graduated Frunze School of Physics and Mathematics, Bishkek
- 1989-1992: Studied Computational Mathematics and Cybernetics, Moscow State University
- 1994: MBA, Lausanne Business School, Switzerland
- 1994-2000: UN Compensation Commission, Geneva
- Until 2005: Program Coordinator of the well-respected Aga Khan Foundation, Bishkek
Ok, so Bermet may not have the savvy of the other Princesses. But at heart she seems a stubborn, nerdy professor’s daughter, and that’s my kind. : )
Kids in Mongolia
November 17, 2008 at 8:33 pm
She is very smart woman, but greediness is everybody’s biggest vice. When you have ultmate power you just cannot control your desires.
The Akaev family made the country sank, however the education was one of the major strategies of prosperying the country it didn’t do much.
Being there, living there at those times and seeing people starving I was hoping the new government would change things, but it became only worse. So even if she is a smart woman I guess not smart enough or she needs something else, like self-sacrifice, love to nation, land and many other gifted abilities that not so many people posess.
At the moment Kyrgyzstan need a very strong, charismatic and really smart leader, otherwise we will loose what we had through so much pain and suffering. It is really painful to admit, but somebody has to do something really soon or good bye the country.