Kyrgyzstan plans to use its own resources to recover from a wave of violence that hit the country in June, the country's new president said on Monday.
"We will help ourselves, we will not rely on aid or handouts," Roza Otunbayeva told reporters after a session of the member states of the Eurasian Economic Community (EurAsEC) in Astana.
Otunbayeva was sworn in as president for a transitional period until December 31, 2011 earlier on Saturday, after a new constitution was approved by a national referendum on June 27.
"We are sure that a small amount of aid from all countries will help us regain our footing, and the EurAsEC's crisis fund comes in handy," Otunbayeva said.
Inter-ethnic clashes in the south of the Central Asian state claimed the lives of more than 280 people, according to government figures, and made thousand homeless. However, Kyrgyz officials acknowledge that the real death toll may be 10 times higher.
Otunbayeva, who came to power amid large-scale opposition protests that overturned president Kurmanbek Bakiyev in April, said on Saturday that Kyrgyzstan was going through "one of the most dramatic periods in its history."
She called on the international community to help avoid a "humanitarian catastrophe," but also pledged that all those made homeless by the unrest would receive new housing by the onset of winter.
ASTANA, July 5 (RIA Novosti)
