Dedicated in 1978, The Martyrs of the Revolution monument is a tribute to those who sacrificed their lives during the revolutionary era. It was awarded the ‘All Union Lenin’ prize during the Soviet era.
The centerpiece of the monument is a statue of Urkuya Salieva (1910-1934), an influential socialist organizer. Turgunbai Sadykov designed the statue depicting Salieva wearing a headscarf and holding a banner in her left hand.
Grouped behind her are additional statues of “socialist warriors,” representing those who fell victim to the actions of “rich peasants” during the turbulent times of the revolution.
The plaza has served as a gathering place for demonstrations and marches connected with women’s rights topics, including protests against violence against women and the International Women’s Day March.
For a little more context, In the late nineteenth century, the eastern part of what is today Kyrgyzstan was ceded to the Russian Empire by China. The Russian takeover was met with revolts, and many of the Kyrgyz people left, for the mountains and Afghanistan. There was a regional revolt in 1916 sparked by the conscription of Muslims into the Russian military for service on the eastern Front during World War I. More people left, this time to China. On February 4, 1934, Salieva and her husband were assassinated by anti-Soviet partisan forces who opposed policies such as forced collectivization.
