New Kyrgyz base plans fuel neighbors’ ire

Bishkek’s recent agreement with Moscow to create a new military base in southern Kyrgyzstan is complicating relations among Central Asian states, as Uzbek and Tajik leaders are questioning the logic behind the Kremlin’s decision.

Tashkent and Dushanbe also warn that a new base could turn into a source of regional instability, reported EurasiaNet on its Web site.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev agreed in early August that the base would be situated in southern Kyrgyzstan, operating under the auspices of the Moscow-led Collective Security Treaty Organization, or CSTO. The two leaders are expected to sign a final agreement spelling out specific conditions by Nov. 1.

The move provoked an angry response from Tashkent with Uzbek Foreign Ministry saying the facility could help fuel “all kinds of nationalistic confrontations.” In Tajikistan, the official reaction to the CSTO base announcement was not as alarming. But some prominent political figures, such as Rahmatullo Zoyirov, chairman of the opposition Social Democratic Party, have suggested that a new military facility would not benefit the region strategically.

“There is no need for a Russian base in Central Asia,” Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty quoted Zoyirov as saying. “If regional states cannot come to terms with each other in jointly ensuring Central Asian security, they risk disintegrating and disappearing as a result of rivalry between the big powers.”

Explosive region:

In Bishkek, Kyrgyz officials and political analysts stressed internal political instability and security risks as reasons to proceed with the base. “South Kyrgyzstan is part of the Ferghana Valley, and this region is indeed very explosive,” Kyrgyz political scientist Marat Kazakpayev said in an interview with Deutsche Welle. “One can see signs of religious extremism, political extremism and, possibly, international terrorism there.”

In Osh, one possible location for the base, a Kyrgyz military official told EurasiaNet that hosting the facility is a domestic issue, and not subject to regional discussion. “Kyrgyzstan is a sovereign country that can choose its own policies and its partners. The decision on the base is our internal matter, whether neighboring countries like it or not,” the official said.

Others believe Uzbekistan is simply playing its customary role of spoiler. “Uzbekistan has always had a special [contrary] opinion in all post-Soviet integration matters. Frankly speaking, Uzbekistan enters regional organizations and begins the disintegration process,” Kazakpayev said. “What should Kyrgyzstan do in such situations? I think that it should not pay attention to such a demarche by Uzbekistan and move forward keeping in mind its own national interests.”

Uzbek, Kyrgyz row:

Meanwhile, the Kyrgyz-Russian base agreement came about amid a political dispute between Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan, stemming from militant attacks in May in the Ferghana Valley city of Andijan and in Khanabad, an Uzbek village not far from the Kyrgyz border. In recent weeks, Uzbekistan has strengthened its border fortifications, and has threatened to cut gas supplies if Bishkek does not immediately pay off its $18 million debt.

Uzbekistan has also announced plans to build a base of its own near Khanabad. Analysts say the Uzbek move may have more to do with internal security rather than serving as a response to the Russian-Kyrgyz base plans. Uzbek observers tend to view the CSTO base agreement as “a Kremlin effort to punish President Islam Karimov’s administration for straying from Moscow’s preferred policy line.”

According to local media reports, officials representing Batken, Jalalabad and Osh – the three southern Kyrgyz provinces within the Ferghana Valley – are now said to be lobbying to have the base located in their respective home regions.

Local residents told EurasiaNet they were eager to see the base built, voicing support for a stronger bilateral relationship between Bishkek and Moscow. "If the base is going to deepen relations with Russia, I am all for it," one retired Osh resident told EurasiaNet. “Russia has been helping us for so long. My son works [as a labor migrant] in Russia. Many others also depend on Russia for a living.”

Besides Russian plans for a base, the United States already has a military airbase on Kyrgyz soil, crucial to American military operations in neighboring Afghanistan. During a visit to Moscow, Bakiyev had announced that the base would close, just as Russia said it would offer $2 billion in crisis aid to the impoverished former Soviet Central Asian state. Moscow denied any links between the events. The base lease was extended after Washington agreed on a $180 million payment to Bishkek and subsequently renamed the base as a transit center to supply troops battling the Taliban in Afghanistan.