Aksy is a small town in southern Kyrgyzstan which gaine notoriety in 2002 when police and militia fired into a crowd of unarmed demonstrators, killing six. The demonstrations were triggered by a political dispute between a local member of the national parliament, Azimbek Beknazarov, and Kyrgyz President Askar Akayev over an agreement with China that ceded some territory in the high Tien Shan range to China. Local officials and police officers suspected of being involved in the shootings were later acquitted or pardoned.