Page "History of Kyrgyzstan" Paragraph 29

However events quickly began to slip from the Communists control.

On 1 May 1990 the opposition groups held their first big demonstration in Frunze in competition with the officially sanctioned May Day celebrations, and on 25 – 26 May 1990 the opposition groups formed the Kyrgyzstan Democratic Movement as a bloc of several anti-Communist political parties, movements and nongovernment organizations.

Then on 4 June 1990, ethnic tensions between Uzbeks and Kyrgyz surfaced in an area of the Osh Oblast where Uzbeks form a majority of the population.

Violent confrontations ensued, and a state of emergency and curfew were introduced.

Order was not restored until August 1990.