Kyrgyz President Back Home After Heart Scare, Russian Hospitalization

An ill Almazbek Atambaev is shown in an ambulance at Istanbul's Ataturk Airport on September 19.

Kyrgyz President Almazbek Atambaev has arrived home in Bishkek after more than a week in a Russian hospital, where his office said he received "treatment" for possible heart problems after he fell ill en route to the UN General Assembly in New York.

The 60-year-old leader's office had said earlier in the week that complications related to an irregular heartbeat had been "fully resolved" and he had shown "significant improvement."

Atambaev's health scare comes amid a mounting political battle over proposed constitutional reforms in Kyrgyzstan, which is widely regarded as the most democratic of Central Asia's five post-Soviet republics.

His allies in parliament this week continued their push for a bill to hold a national referendum on December 4 to decide on the amendments, which would boost the powers of the prime minister.

Atambaev is slated to step down next year in accordance with the country's one-term limit on presidents.

Atambaev complained of "chest pains" after departing Kyrgyzstan on September 19 and spent several days in a Turkish hospital, before being taken to Russia on September 23.

Based on reporting by Reuters and AFP