Kyrgyz leader Rosa Otunbayeva celebrates jubilee.

BISHKEK, August 23 (Itar-Tass) - Rosa Otunbayeva, the President of the transitional period in Kyrgyzstan, is celebrating her jubilee on Monday.

She is not planning any pompous celebrations and will celebrate her
birthday with her family and close friends, the press service of the
Kyrgyz government said.
Otunbayeva does not think it right to arrange holidays in such a
difficult period in the life of the country. "Frankly speaking, it is not
the right time for jubilees and gala receptions. We have a strenuous
period to live before winter comes during which we should supply bread to
the population and provide housing to people in the south who suffered
there. Therefore, there will be no gala birthday feast , only relatives,
close friends and people dear to my heart will come," she said.
Usually, people give her heaps of flowers on her birthday, Otunbayeva
told journalists. "I do not mind flowers, but I would not like people, who
want to present gala bouquets to me, spend money on flowers. I would
rather prefer the money to be contributed for purposes of buying school
textbooks," she said.
After the March 2005 revolution in Kyrgyzstan that resulted in the
departure of first Kyrgyz president Askar Akayev, who had to step down
from his post, Otunbayeva was proclaimed leader of the tulip revolution.
But, she resigned from the state service after Kurmanbek Bakiyev came
into power, and returned to the ranks of the opposition, becoming leader
of a bloc of Social Democrats in the Kyrgyz parliament. Kyrgyz political
experts believe Otunbayeva played a big role in ousting former Kyrgyz
president Kurmanbek Bakiyev who, like his predecessor, had to flee from
Kyrgyzstan. Many experts are inclined to believe that Otunbayeva became a
figure of compromise for all the leaders of the Kyrgyz opposition who
rallied in the struggle against Bakiyev.
-0-ere/gor