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Kyrgyzstan muscles up ... but for
whom?
By Sergei Blagov
MOSCOW
- Citing concerns over perceived terrorist threats, the
former Soviet republic of Kyrgyzstan has pledged to
strengthen and professionalize its small army. However,
few in this once-tranquil Central Asian nation are
missing the message: by forming new elite armed units,
Kyrgyz authorities may well be also bearing in mind
domestic opposition, ethnic minorities or potential
conflicts with neighbors.
Earlier this month
Kyrgyz Defense Minister Esen Topoyev announced that
Kyrgyzstan had started on the creation of an elite rapid
reaction force to tackle a terrorist threat from
Afghanistan as well as "local outbursts of extremism".
Topoyev refrained from revealing the size of the
would-be rapid reaction force, but stated that it would
only consist of officers and warrant-officers. He added
that they would be paid some US$150 a month, roughly
three times the current average salary of Kyrgyz
officers.
Kyrgyz authorities have legitimate
security concerns, mainly in the wake of the so-called
"Batken wars". In August 2000, well-armed Islamic rebels
crossed into Kyrgyzstan and engaged government troops.
As the insurgents - mainly mercenary snipers, according
to Kyrgyz officials - penetrated into Kyrgyz territory,
the hostilities widened as fighters attacked the Batken
district of Kyrgyzstan located near the Tajik-Kyrgyz
border.
The rebels were reported to be part of
the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU), once led by
Jumaboi Namangani. The fighters were understood to be
seeking to enter Uzbekistan from the north through
Kyrgyzstan. It was even claimed that 1,000 of
Namangani's fighters were able to occupy Kyrgyzstan in a
week or so. Subsequently, Namangani was reported to have
been killed in the course of the Taliban demise, yet
these reports are yet to be confirmed.
The IMU
were fighting for the release of religious Muslims in
Uzbek prisons whom they believed to be falsely charged,
as well as the establishment of Sharia law in the
country. The movement opposed Uzbek President Islam
Karimov, who had clamped down on what he saw as a threat
to his country's security from Islamic extremism.
This was the second time that political violence
had seized the mountains of Central Asia. In August
1999, dozens of gunmen crossed into Kyrgyzstan from
neighboring Tajikistan, seized a village and took at
least six hostages, including four Japanese geologists
and a Kyrgyz major general, Anarbek Shamkeyev, commander
of interior ministry troops.
It was in no way a
coincidence that the Batken wars took place in August;
many mountainous routes in Kyrgyzstan become passable by
late summer only. On August 2 Topoyev claimed that small
groups of extremist fighters might be trying to
infiltrate from neighboring Afghanistan, where the
international anti-terrorist operation has yet to be
completed, and pledged that the Kyrgyz army would not
let any rebel groups cross.
On the other hand,
Topoyev also pledged to reform the Kyrgyz armed forces.
However, he conceded that no less than eight years would
be needed to stop conscription and to turn the Kyrgyz
army into a professional force.
Currently, the
Kyrgyz army includes some 12,000 personnel organized
around the nexus of what used to be the 288th infantry
division of the former Soviet army based in Kyrgyzstan.
The Kyrgyz national army has been severely underfunded
as the government has allocated less than $20 million a
year as the country's military budget.
Moreover,
the Batken wars also dealt the Kyrgyz armed forces some
financial blows. In 1999, the Kyrgyz army spent about
$30 million, or roughly one sixth of the country's total
budget, to combat rebels in Batken.
Not
surprisingly, Kyrgyzstan has sought outside aid to
strengthen its army. Kyrgyz President Askar Akayev has
long urged Moscow to strengthen the country's military,
notably air force, which had just one Mi-8 helicopter,
obviously not enough to fight well-armed rebels in
mountainous terrain.
Last June, Russian Defense
Minister Sergei Ivanov traveled to Kyrgyzstan and
pledged to boost military ties with the Central Asian
state as the two countries inked a few security deals.
On June 13, Ivanov and Topoyev signed an agreement on
the status of Russian military personnel in Kyrgyzstan,
as well as a memorandum on the lease of military
facilities by the Russians.
Russia and
Kyrgyzstan have maintained close political and military
ties, and Akayev has tended to support the Kremlin's
policies in the region. In response, Moscow has backed
Akayev's regime and warned against interference in
Kyrgyz internal affairs.
However, Topoyev's
referral to "local outbursts of extremism" arguably
indicates that Kyrgyz authorities could also use the
rapid reaction forces against domestic opposition,
notably in the wake of recent mass protests in Southern
Kyrgyzstan. Protests have been provoked by a
controversial border treaty under which Kyrgyzstan
transfers some 95,000 hectares of its territory to
China.
Since earlier this year, the Akayev
administration has faced criticism over the border deal.
Last March, 5,000 people gathered in the Jalal-Abad
province of impoverished southern Kyrgyzstan, and in the
ensuing rioting, five protesters were killed and dozens
of civilians and police injured.
It has been
claimed that rivalries between the country's clans also
contributed to recent tensions. Notably, southern Kyrgyz
clans have grown increasingly discontent with the
reluctance of Akayev's northern clan to share the power.
Moreover, there is a large ethnic Uzbek minority in
southern Kyrgyzstan, while some Uzbeks feel that the
Kyrgyz government discriminates against them.
Southern Kyrgyzstan is home to a large ethnic
Uzbek minority, while opposition to the Akayev
government has been manifested through unsanctioned
religious groups, notably the Hizb-ut-Tahrir. It has
been argued that southerners, Kyrgyz and Uzbeks, have
banded together in their aim of ending the northern
clans' stranglehold on power.
On the other hand,
Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan have been at odds over water
resources. The downstream Uzbekistan requires more water
for its growing agricultural sectors and rising
populations, while the economically weaker upstream
Kyrgyzstan wants to use more water for electricity
generation.
Uzbekistan has carried out military
exercises that look suspiciously like practice runs at
capturing by force the Toktogul water reservoir in
Kyrgyzstan. Hence, with a backdrop of competition for
water, it's not hard to see why Kyrgyzstan might want
some better protection for its resources.
Ironically, Kyrgyz authorities are eyeing a
stronger army at the very moment some 2,000 American
personnel are occupying the Manas air base near the
Kyrgyz capital of Bishkek, where up to 5,000 coalition
soldiers are expected to be based eventually. Although
this force could help Kyrgyz authorities to deal with
terrorist threats, coalition troops are unlikely to back
the government in disputes with the opposition.
Therefore, although Kyrgyzstan explains its
drive towards a stronger army by a mantra of "terrorist
threat", the brand new Kyrgyz elite forces could
eventually have other targets as well.
(©2002
Asia Times Online Co, Ltd. All rights reserved. Please
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