Central Asia | featured news

Kyrgyzstan will vote Sunday to create the first parliamentary democracy in Central Asia, in an election its interim leaders hope can unite the country only four months after the worst bloodshed in its modern history.

The interim leaders of Kyrgyzstan said voters approved a new constitution Sunday that will allow the Central Asian nation to form a legitimate government after months of turmoil.

President Roza Otunbayeva called the referendum a success, saying it took place without incident and paved the way for holding parliamentary elections in October. The vote came just weeks after rampages against minority Uzbeks in southern Kyrgyzstan killed as many as 2,000 people and forced 400,000 ethnic Uzbeks to temporarily flee.

Kyrgyzstan's interim rulers sent troops on Tuesday to quell ethnic violence that has threatened their fragile grip on the Central Asian state after the overthrow of President Kurmanbek Bakiyev.