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Gathering of troops in
Kyrgyzstan
By Zamira Eshanova
PRAGUE - After leaving in mid-1999, Russian
military units are returning to Kyrgyzstan in the name
of fighting terrorism and maintaining regional
stability. Russian military jets have begun landing at
Kant airport, about 20 kilometers from the capital,
Bishkek.
Kyrgyz Defense Minister Esen Topoev
said that the Russian air base was being set up in
accordance with the Collective Security Treaty
Organization of the Commonwealth of Independent States
(CIS). Topoev says that some 20 jets and around 700
Russian military personnel are expected to be stationed
at Kant.
Topoev said that the Russian military
presence in Kyrgyzstan was aimed at fostering peace and
stability in the region, which he said was faced with
the threat of Islamic extremism. "There is a need [for a
permanent Russian military base], dictated by those
threats and challenges to the Central Asian region. And
it is a component of building up a collective
rapid-reaction force. It will conduct two tasks: One is
purely on the united air defense system, which
[includes] SU-27 [aircraft], and the other is on
securing land forces. These are army aviation, or attack
planes, as we call them, which are SU-25s, and they will
be deployed here starting next year."
According
to Topoev, the Russian air base at Kant will be
permanent and will be gradually expanded. The exact
number of aircraft and military staff stationed there
will be decided during a CIS summit in April.
Meanwhile, some 25 kilometers from Kant, 3,000
troops from the US and other Western nations are
deployed at Kyrgyzstan's Manas airport. These forces
share the same objective - to fight terrorism and
Islamic extremism and provide stability in the region.
Observers believe that the return of Russian
troops to Kyrgyzstan is a strong sign that a new rivalry
is developing between Moscow and Washington in Central
Asia - a rivalry whose ultimate aim is to establish
political and economic control over the region, rather
than merely fighting terrorism.
Aleksei
Malashenko is a professor at the Moscow Institute for
International Relations. He said that efforts to set up
a permanent Russian military base in Kyrgyzstan are
taking place as a political crisis grips the country.
Akaev has accused opposition protesters of trying to
destabilize the country, and has indicated that he has
no intention of responding to calls for his resignation.
The comments come amid regular protests from opposition
members demanding that Akaev resign and that authorities
responsible for the deaths of protestors in the spring
be brought to justice.
Malashenko said that the
Russian military presence in the country would serve -
first and foremost - to maintain the rule of Akaev, who
is considered to be pro-Moscow. "The kinds of
developments that have taken place in Kyrgyzstan in
October and November, in my point of view, exactly point
out that the current Kyrgyz political elite is very much
interested in cooperation with Moscow. At least
cooperation with Moscow, including military cooperation,
gives some confidence [to Akaev's regime], while the
American military presence, in my opinion, in no way
influences its stability or its future."
Kyrgyzstan is unique in the region in that it is
hosting both US and Russian bases on its territory. In
addition, some reports say that China has also asked to
locate its troops in Kyrgyzstan within the framework of
the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.
Alisher
Abdimomunov, a deputy in the Kyrgyz legislative assembly
and head of the parliamentary committee of international
relations, said that turning Kyrgyzstan into a military
base for world powers such as the US, Russia and China
poses dangers for the whole region. "I think this future
is very dangerous because we do not know how the
countries and organizations which are chasing different
geopolitical interests in the region will co-exist with
each other, or better to say, whether they will they
co-exist peacefully."
On December 9, Tajik
President Imomali Rakhmonov is due to meet with US
President George W Bush at the White House. Media
reports say that the creation of a permanent US military
base in Tajikistan will be among the main issues
discussed at this meeting. Tajikistan, although it hosts
some 25,000 Russian border guards on its soil, is also
searching for more support and economic aid from the US.
Malashenko said that Putin's visit to Kyrgyzstan
and Rakhmonov's reception at the White House are
indirectly connected and indicate that the process of
the military reapportionment of Central Asia is under
way, with the US and Russia as the main players. "I
think that these visits and these cross-negotiations and
cross-actions in the direction of creating military
bases in Central Asia do not mean that the Russian
military presence in Central Asia is simply being
replaced by an American one. It means that there are
attempts to adjust or provide political stability from
the outside."
Uzbekistan is hosting some 3,000
American troops on its territory. And Kazakhstan has
offered its airport in the southern city of Shimkent to
US-led coalition forces. Of the five Central Asian
states, only Turkmenistan, which declared its neutrality
after its independence, has remained apart from these
military developments.
Malashenko said that he
believes that both Russia and the US are interested in
stability and peace in the region, and that the military
presence of these two nations in the region may, in the
end, actually serve this goal.
Other observers
worry, however, that the US and Russian military
presence may serve to prolong the rule of the
authoritarian leaders in the region who allowed such
deployments in the first place, and who they say are
blocking democratic and economic development in the
region - the only real guarantee of stability.
Copyright (c) 2002, RFE/RL Inc. Reprinted
with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio
Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave NW, Washington DC
20036.
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