BISHKEK -- Two opposition members of the Kyrgyz parliament say they have been invited to a foreign meeting with a banned Islamist group.
Bakyt Beshimov of the Social Democratic Party told RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service that he received an invitation on December 31 to a meeting abroad for the Hizb ut-Tahrir party, which is banned in Kyrgyzstan. He said that the invitation was intended to hurt his political reputation.
Parliament deputy Roza Otunbaeva, also a Social Democrat and a former foreign minister, said she has received a similar invitation.
Hizb ut-Tahrir says its goal is the creation of an Islamic caliphate in Central Asia, though it rejects violence to achieve that aim. It is banned throughout the region.
Bakyt Beshimov of the Social Democratic Party told RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service that he received an invitation on December 31 to a meeting abroad for the Hizb ut-Tahrir party, which is banned in Kyrgyzstan. He said that the invitation was intended to hurt his political reputation.
Parliament deputy Roza Otunbaeva, also a Social Democrat and a former foreign minister, said she has received a similar invitation.
Hizb ut-Tahrir says its goal is the creation of an Islamic caliphate in Central Asia, though it rejects violence to achieve that aim. It is banned throughout the region.
