The decision to cut down the trees in Rappaport Alley was announced on February 27 during discussions about the construction of a racetrack for the second World Nomad Games. This large-scale cultural and sports event will take place at Issyk-Kul in the fall of 2016, and preparations are already in full swing. In particular, the reconstruction of the Balykchy – Tamchy - Cholpon-Ata – Korumdu road is planned. However, the nearly four-and-a-half-kilometer-long Rappaport Alley did not fit into the authorities' plans, so the unique "green tunnel" was simply decided to be removed. As noted by the participants in the discussion, the trees are located too close to the road and hinder the expansion of the roadway. They also mentioned that traffic accidents often occur in this area. Therefore, the old poplars and black locusts were set to be cut down, with a promise to plant young birches in their place.
The news of the destruction of Rappaport Alley, which has become a kind of landmark on the northern shore of Issyk-Kul, sparked a wave of outrage on social media. Users and media outlets published photographs of stumps and empty shoulders where tall majestic trees once stood. Just when it seemed that the alley would be permanently lost, the head of the government came to the rescue of the surviving plantings.
- The Prime Minister of the Kyrgyz Republic, Temir Sariev, instructed to consider another option for expanding the Tamchy – Korumdu road to preserve Rappaport Alley, - reported on March 2 the head of the press service of the KR government, Nazira Akhmedova. - The head of the government has repeatedly stated that it is necessary to preserve as many trees as possible along the alley. Currently, an expert commission is working on this issue, tasked with finding another way to expand the road.
It can be said that a story from two years ago has repeated itself: before the first World Nomad Games, there were also plans to cut down the trees in the alley to create a parking lot for guests. This caused a significant public outcry, and at that time, a directive was issued by the Deputy Prime Minister for the social block, Elvira Sarieva, to stop the tree cutting. Sariev's decision, this time from the Prime Minister of the KR, saved the Issyk-Kul landmark once again.
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Rappaport Alley, or Ala-Too Alley, is a unique green planting located along the Issyk-Kul – Karakol road, between the village of Progress and the city of Cholpon-Ata in the Issyk-Kul region. Silver poplars and black locusts are planted in dense rows on both sides of the road. Their crowns connect above the road, forming a kind of tunnel. The height of the trees reaches five meters.
The alley was planted in 1934 by workers of the horse breeding farm at the initiative of the first director of the enterprise, Leonid Lvovich Rappaport. He himself said: "A person must love a tree just as much as a horse - and then he will be priceless!"