This will give everyone a quick look at where this all stems from...
June/July 1990 - Authorities sack a police chief and local government chief after the Soviet Central Asian republic of Kirghizia authorities are fighting to contain ethnic tension between Uzbeks and the majority Kirghiz. - Around 300 people have been killed in the clashes.
Aug. 31, 1991 - The Central Asian republic of Kyrgyzstan declares independence from the Soviet Union.
Oct. 13 - Askar Akayev, the only candidate in Kyrgyzstan's first presidential election is elected, pledging reform but rejecting a call for early democratic elections to parliament.
Oct. 23, 2003 - Russian President Vladimir Putin opens an airbase, Russia's first post-Soviet military outpost abroad and a springboard for reviving its clout in volatile Central Asia.
Feb. 27, 2005 - Kyrgyzstan holds the first round of parliamentary elections, in an atmosphere marked by the muzzling of independent news sources and protests.
March 13 - Results in second round of the parliamentary poll show the opposition won only a handful of seats. OSCE says vote shows many shortcomings.
March 21 - Osh, Kyrgyzstan's second biggest city, falls to opposition control as protests sweep across the country's south to demand the resignation of President Askar Akayev.
March 23 - Police violently break up a protest in the capital, Bishkek, and the interior minister says prepared to use force and weapons to restore order.
March 24 - Kyrgyzstan's opposition declares itself in power after seizing key buildings as Akayev vanishes following days of violent protests.
March 25 - Opposition party leader Kurmanbek Bakiyev is named acting president.
- Akayev confirms reports he has left the country, but says he has not resigned and accuses the opposition of an "anti-constitutional coup".
March 28 - Kyrgyzstan's new parliament takes over and confirms Bakiyev as prime minister as well as acting president.
July 10 - Kurmanbek Bakiyev wins presidential elections with 88.9 percent of votes cast.
Nov. 8, 2006 - Parliament adopts a new constitution reducing the president's powers, defusing a political crisis. The opposition, which had staged days of protests calling on the president to quit if he would not cede to their demands, hailed the vote as a victory.
Feb. 19, 2009 - Parliament votes to close the only U.S. air base in Central Asia. Washington later agrees to pay $180 million to Kyrgyzstan to keep the base open.
March 17, 2010 - Thousands of Kyrgyz protesters threaten to oust Bakiyev if he fails to accede to their demands within a week, five years after violent protests propelled him to power.
April 3 - Visiting U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon calls on Kyrgyzstan to protect human rights after protesters shout "help us" as he drove to parliament.
April 6 - Police firing teargas and rubber bullets briefly take back a building in the northwestern town of Talas, freeing the regional governor who had been taken hostage, but 3,000 protesters return to retake the building after nightfall.
April 7 - Bakiyev orders a state of emergency in Bishkek and three other areas after police clash with protesters.
- Kyrgyz troops open fire on anti-government protesters killing dozens of people.
- Some 1,000 people storm the prosecutor-general's office in the capital.
- Opposition activists also take control of state television channel KTR.
- Protesters seize government buildings in three other towns.
