KelKel is a youth movement in

Kyrgyzstan Kyrgyzstan,, pronounced or the Kyrgyz Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Asia. Kyrgyzstan is bordered by Kazakhstan to the north, Uzbekistan to the west, Tajikistan to the south, and the People's Republic of China to the ea ...

that gained some prominence during the

Tulip Revolution The Tulip Revolution or First Kyrgyz Revolution (russian: Тюльпановая революция; ky, Жоогазын революциясы) led to President of Kyrgyzstan Askar Akayev's fall from power. The revolution began after parlia ...

of March 2005 that culminated in the ousting of President

Askar Akayev Askar Akayevich Akayev ( ky, Аскар Акаевич (Акай уулу) Акаев, translit=Askar Akayevich (Akay Uulu) Akayev ; ; born 10 November 1944) is a Kyrgyz politician who served as President of Kyrgyzstan from 1990 until being ove ...

. In Kyrgyz, KelKel means renaissance. In many of the post-communist

revolutions In political science, a revolution (Latin: ''revolutio'', "a turn around") is a fundamental and relatively sudden change in political power and political organization which occurs when the population revolts against the government, typically due ...

, youth groups were at the forefront of

protests A protest (also called a demonstration, remonstration or remonstrance) is a public expression of objection, disapproval or dissent towards an idea or action, typically a political one. Protests can be thought of as acts of coopera ...

. The most famous of these was

Otpor! Otpor ( sr-Cyrl, Отпор!, en, Resistance!, stylized as Otpor!) was a political organization in Serbia (then part of FR Yugoslavia) from 1998 until 2004. In its initial period from 1998 to 2000, Otpor began as a civic protest group, eventual ...

, the young people's movement that helped oust Slobodan Milošević in

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin and the Balkans. It shares land borders with Hungar ...

. In

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

the movement was called

Kmara Kmara ( ka, კმარა; "Enough!") was a civic youth resistance movement in Georgia (country), Georgia, active in the protests prior to and during the November 2003 Rose Revolution, which toppled down the government of Eduard Shevardnadze. Con ...

. In the

Ukrainian Ukrainian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Ukraine * Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe * Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine * So ...

Orange Revolution The Orange Revolution ( uk, Помаранчева революція, translit=Pomarancheva revoliutsiia) was a series of protests and political events that took place in Ukraine from late November 2004 to January 2005, in the immediate afterm ...

, the movement worked under the slogan '

PORA Pora! ( uk, Пора!, Russian: Пора!), meaning “''It's time!”'' in both Ukrainian and Russian, is a civic youth organization (Black Pora!) and political party in Ukraine ( Yellow Pora!) espousing nonviolent resistance and advocating i ...

'— "It's Time"; KelKel is based on these movements. In an attempt to create confusion, a rival group was formed, presumably by supporters of President Akayev. This group was also called KelKel and used the same yellow logo as the original group. The rival KelKel disappeared after the revolution of 24 March, 2005. At present, KelKel is a registered youth organization - "KelKel: civil youth movement" - that aims to be an active but non-partisan part of civil society and a participant in public debate and strategic discussions.

See also