Ayaz Baetov

Ayav Batyrkulovich Baetov (; born 20 December 1984) is a Kyrgyz lawyer and politician who has been serving as the Minister of Justice of Kyrgyzstan since October 2021 under President Sadyr Japarov. Prior to being appointed as minister, he worked as a professor in the Faculty of Law at various universities.

Early life Baetov was born on 20 December 1984 in Frunze, which was then part of the Kirghiz SSR in the Soviet Union. He was born the son of Batyrkul I. Baetov, who served for many years in civil service, such as being the Deputy Chairman of the State Committee on Tourism, Sports and Youth Policy for some time. In 2006, he graduated from the Faculty of Law Kyrgyz National University with a bachelor's degree. He was then the 3rd secretary of the International Law Department at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs from 2011 to 2013. He taught at Kyrgyz National University and the American University of Central Asia in diplomatic law. He ran for seat 14.

He was appointed Minister of Justice in October 2021 by President Sadyr Japarov. In 2022, he testified in a New York Court on behalf of the government. He was also noted for his actions during the dispute over the Andijan Reservoir with Uzbekistan during the subsequent protests after the government ceded control of the reservoir in exchange for agricultural land in Uzbekistan without giving full details of the border deal. Specifically, Baetov suspended the licenses of the lawyers of the protestors, such as Erkin Bulekbaev and Akin Toktaliev, which was seen as political pressure. In May 2025, the government announced plans to radically reform and cut the bureacuracy, which Baetov was appointed to do, in a manner he noted would be similar to Elon Musk's actions with DOGE.