Erlis Terdikbayev

Erlis Jekshenovich Terdikbayev (; born 27 May 1969) is a Kyrgyzstani general and a former Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Kyrgyzstan.

Early life and education Erlis Terdikbayev was born on 27 May 1969 in the village of Issyk-Ata in the Chuy Region of the Kyrgyz SSR. He joined the Soviet Army in 1983, and graduated from the Alma-Ata Higher All-Arms Command School (now the Military Institute of the Kazakh Ground Forces) in 1990 after spending 4 years there as a cadet.

Career He served in a regiment of the Soviet Army's Transcaucasian Military District from June 1990 to June 1992. During the 1990s and the 2000s, Terdikbayev served in various military units of the poorly equipped Armed Forces of the Kyrgyz Republic.

He studied at the Combined Arms Academy of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation and the Military Academy of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Russia from 2002 to 2004. In 2017, he was appointed the commander of the newly formed Kyrgyz Land Forces.

On 21 April 2018 he replaced Colonel Mirbek Kasimkulov as the chairman of the State Committee for Defense Affairs as a result of Prime Minister Sapar Isakov's vote of no confidence by parliament.

He was dismissed on 3 February 2021 with the abolishment of his position. On 29 March, he became the new Chief of the General Staff. On March 31, he was promoted to major general (the highest rank in the Armed Forces of Kyrgyzstan).