January 3, 2019
CEU alumnus Ilyas Bekbolotov (IRES ’96) passed away on December 26, 2018, after a long illness.
A citizen of Kyrgyzstan, Ilyas worked as a translator, a press secretary and from 2002 to 2005 as Head of Protocol for the administration of former Kyrgyz President Askar Akayev.
He is survived by a wife and daughter. Our deepest condolences to Ilyas’s family, friends and fellow alumni.