JALAL-ABAD, Kyrgyzstan -- Rights activists and representatives of Kyrgyzstan's ethnic minorities have set off on a "Peace Caravan" to call for interethnic harmony, RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service reports.
The Peace Caravan started off today in the Toktogul district of Kyrgyzstan's southern Jalal-Abad region, ahead of the upcoming anniversary of interethnic violence that left hundreds dead in southern Kyrgyzstan in June 2010.
One of the organizers, human rights defender Toktaiym Umetalieva, told RFE/RL that the participants would also call on people to surrender to police any weapons still in their possession after last year's clashes between local Uzbeks and Kyrgyz.
The Peace Caravan activists plan to visit every region of the country and to end the march in Bishkek, where mass demonstrations against ethnic violence are planned in mid-June.
Read more in Kyrgyz here
The Peace Caravan started off today in the Toktogul district of Kyrgyzstan's southern Jalal-Abad region, ahead of the upcoming anniversary of interethnic violence that left hundreds dead in southern Kyrgyzstan in June 2010.
One of the organizers, human rights defender Toktaiym Umetalieva, told RFE/RL that the participants would also call on people to surrender to police any weapons still in their possession after last year's clashes between local Uzbeks and Kyrgyz.
The Peace Caravan activists plan to visit every region of the country and to end the march in Bishkek, where mass demonstrations against ethnic violence are planned in mid-June.
Read more in Kyrgyz here
