Quotes

• "All other lower level negotiations will be just a waste of time" Opposition leader Kurmanbek Bakiyev, 20 March 2005, demanding that Askar Akayev attend talks regarding election results.

• "Not the President, not me, and not the interior minister will allow weapons to be used against our own people" 20 March 2005, Prime Minister Nikolai Tanayev insisting that troops would not fire upon protestors.

• "The most important thing right now is to let people calm down, assess what has happened and then start negotiations with them about their demands" Presidential spokesman, 21 March 2005

• "As of now, there is nothing to negotiate about. We are demanding that the president resign" 21 March 2005, Opposition leader Roza Otunbaeva referring to the governments proposal for talks.

• "Unlike Ukraine and Georgia, and other countries, to which our oppositionists refer, the protests from the beginning were not peaceful in character. Protesters started capturing government buildings, beating the law-enforcement officers," President Akayev, 23 March 2005.