“Kyrgyzstan was probably best known for the fact that representatives of more than 80 ethnic groups reside within its borders and a key slogan under Akaev was “Kyrgyzstan - our common home”.”

Yes, that has been one of these naive mantras. OK there are 81 ethnic groups registered in Kyr, counting from a couple of dozens (eg. Udmurts, Latvians) to several thousands (eg. ethnic Germans).

Yet, in reality, most of them do not play a real role in Kyr’stani society. The key groups are limited to: the Kyrgyz; Uzbeks; Russians and then also a number of minorities who play a large economic role as compared to their overall share in the population, i.e. Uighurs, Dungan, ethnic Koreans and Turks.

For the rest, most ‘nationalities’ are tiny, decreasing rapidly (emigration, assimilation) or belong to a nationality in name but are de facto assimilated into the russkiiyazytshnii component of society (eg. the other Slavic groups, Tatars, Jews).