PSALM 106
41 He split the rock, and water gushed forth; it flowed through the
desert like water
42 For he remembered his sacred word to Abraham his servant.
ABRAHAM IS THE FATHER OF ALL THE MONOTHEISTIC FAITHS. GOD WILL TIRE OF
POEPLE USING HIS NAME TO JUSTIFY CONQUEST, OPPRESSION, AND MISERY. SO
IN THE FINAL BATTLE, WHEN THOSE WHO CLAIM TO ADHERE TO HIM WILL USE HIS
NAME FOR CONQUEST AND OPPRESSION, HE WILL MAKE SURE THAT ALL OF THESE
UNBELIEVERS ARE DRAGGED INTO IT.
US MILITARY BASE IN KYRGYZSTAN COMES INTO PLAY AS DOMESTIC POLITICAL
CONFRONTATION BREWS
4/20/06
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As President Kurmanbek Bakiyev prepares to visit Moscow, there are
increasing signs that Kyrgyzstan is moving away from a foreign policy
that balances Russian and US geopolitical interests. Bakiyev, facing
increasingly determined opposition in Bishkek, appears prepared to move
firmly into the Kremlin's camp in an attempt to reinforce his
domestic political position.
Bakiyev's Moscow trip on April 24-25 will feature a meeting with
Russian President Vladimir Putin. The hastily arranged visit,
Bakiyev's first foreign foray since becoming president, appears
connected with a brewing confrontation in Kyrgyzstan pitting the
president against a coalition of opposition politicians and
non-governmental organization activists. Presidential critics have
planned a mass demonstration in Bishkek for April 29, and have
threatened to launch a prolonged protest initiative unless Bakiyev
takes immediate measures to curb organized crime and corruption in
Kyrgyzstan. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive].
Talks on April 19 between the president and his opponents failed to
defuse the brewing crisis, and instead appeared to add to the
acrimonious atmosphere. Commenting on the discussions, an opposition
coalition leader, MP Melis Eshimkanov, complained to local journalists
that "we thought our demands would be understood, but he [Bakiyev]
seems not to know reality." Bakiyev, meanwhile, castigated his
opponents, saying he would not allow protests to upset the executive
branch's ability to function. "Holding these various rallies and
pickets will not contribute to attracting investment," the AKIpress
news agency quoted Bakiyev as saying.
The embattled Kyrgyz leader is expected to seek Russian political
support in order to blunt the pressure being exerted on him by his
domestic political foes. In return, political analysts in Bishkek
believe, Putin is expected to press Bakiyev to choose Russia as
Kyrgyzstan's chief security guarantor. Kyrgyzstan is home to both a
US and a Russian military base. [For background see the Eurasia Insight
archive]. Since Uzbek leader Islam Karimov expelled US forces from an
air base in Uzbekistan last summer, Moscow has not concealed a desire
to push the Americans out of their sole remaining strategic foothold in
Central Asia - the Ganci air base at Manas, outside the Kyrgyz
capital of Bishkek. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive].
Bakiyev helped fuel such speculation when, during a televised interview
April 19, he demanded a 100-fold increase in the rent that the United
States pays for access to the Ganci base, which is used primarily to
support ongoing military operations in Afghanistan. [For background see
the Eurasia Insight archive]. According to the president, current
American annual payments for the base total roughly $2 million, and the
presidential administration is seeking an increase in rent to just over
$200 million per year.
The Kyrgyz president threatened to cancel the Ganci base lease if the
two sides could not agree on new terms by June 1. Bakiyev said he first
raised the rent issue during a visit to Bishkek by Defense Secretary
Donald Rumsfeld in July 2005. He expressed annoyance that the United
States had yet to respond to his repeated overtures, claiming that US
silence "causes concern for the Kyrgyz public due to the lack of
clarity on this [base] issue."
Both the US Embassy in Bishkek and the Pentagon have expressed a desire
for US forces to remain in Kyrgyzstan, and to negotiate a solution to
the rent dispute.
"The United States and Kyrgyzstan have agreed to examine the issue of
compensation for use of the airbase," Pentagon spokesman Lt. Commander
L. Joe Carpenter said in written answers to questions posed by
EurasiaNet. "The US side is committed to an expeditious conclusion of
these negotiations for the purpose of determining fair market value for
the goods and service used by the base. Successful conclusion of these
talks will require determination and flexibility by both sides."
Carpenter said the existing leasing agreement stipulates that either
side can terminate the agreement with six months notice. He stressed
that the United States does not currently pay rent to the Kyrgyz
government for use of the base itself. "The United States does have
some commercial lease arrangements for use of various privately owned
facilities and land areas in the vicinity of Manas. The rent paid under
such arrangements is based on an assessment of the fair market rental
value of the property, and is a matter between the United States and
the property owner," Carpenter stated.
Bakiyev has previously stated that "US and Coalition forces are welcome
at Manas until operations in Afghanistan are complete," Carpenter
noted. He went on to say that Manas base operations would continue
"only with the support of the Kyrgyz government and the Kyrgyz people."
Bishkek political analyst Alexander Knyazev characterized the Manas
base as "Bakiyev's trump card." If Washington balks at meeting
Bakiyev's terms, he could cancel the lease agreement and "obtain
economic preferences and benefits from Moscow," Knyazev said.
Beyond the president's base comments, there are several indicators
that Kyrgyzstan is tilting toward Russia. For example, following talks
with Kyrgyz officials in Bishkek, Sergei Kiriyenko, a former Russian
prime minister and current head of Russia's Atomic Energy Agency,
predicted that bilateral trade would double within the next few years,
the Itar-Tass news agency reported April 20. Kiriyenko said that
Russian-Kyrgyz trade had risen 40 percent during the first quarter of
2006, compared with the same period during the previous year, which was
a time of tremendous upheaval in Kyrgyzstan. Bilateral trade turnover
in 2005 amounted to just over $542 million, Kiriyenko said.
In addition, on April 18, the Kyrgyz Foreign Ministry reacted
vehemently to comments made the previous day by US Ambassador Marie L.
Yovanovitch suggesting that Kyrgyzstan join the Heavily Indebted Poor
Countries (HIPC) Initiative, a program managed by the World Bank and
International Monetary Fund that helps poor countries manage their
global debt. In late March, Prime Minister Feliks Kulov said in a
letter to IMF and World Bank officials that Kyrgyzstan was interested
in joining the program. Despite this, Itar-Tass quoted a Kyrgyz Foreign
Ministry statement as saying Yovanovitch's comments went "beyond the
scope of diplomatic relations."
"The way the ambassador chose to express her view on this issue is not
the best one," the statement said. "Any public statement made by
foreign diplomats on domestic political and economic issues is taken as
interference in internal affairs and certain pressure on the Kyrgyz
leadership."
Russian ambassador in Bishkek Yevgeniy Shmagin heaped additional
criticism on Yovanovitch when he told AKIpress that "unlike some of my
counterparts in the diplomatic corps, I would not comment on this or
that activity in Kyrgyzstan."
In commenting on the HIPC debate on April 19, Bakiyev said that
Kyrgyzstan was shouldering an international debt of roughly $2 billion,
AKIpress reported. He indicated that Kyrgyzstan would reject joining
the HIPC group if "conditions are humiliating for Kyrgyzstan," adding
that the debate on the merits of membership was on-going. "People are
working, all alternatives are being discussed," AKIpress reported
Bakiyev as saying.
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