BISHKEK: As the only country in the world to provide bases both to Russian and US forces, balancing external relations was always going to be a delicate task for Kyrgyzstan.
Kyrgyzstan is a Central Asian republic of five million with China to the east, Kazakhstan to the north, Uzbekistan to its west and Tajikistan to the south. It won independence from the former Soviet Union 14 years back. About 75 per cent of the population is Muslim, and 20 per cent Russian Orthodox Christian.
While Kyrgyzstan balances relations between the United States and Russia, it looks also to dealing with difficult situations in its neighbourhood.
Former president Aksar Akaev, who was ousted by the pro-democracy Orange Revolution in March, had paid more attention to the country’s international standing than its economic betterment. But since the revolution, Bishkek’s diplomatic relations with its neighbours has steadily worsened, especially with Uzbekistan.
Soon after the Kyrgyz revolution, disturbances broke out in Uzbekistan’s Andijan region in May last year. Hundreds died in clashes between the police and demonstrators. The troubles poured into Kyrgyzstan when fleeing Uzbek citizens demanded refugee status.
In a report to the Uzbek parliament, the public prosecutor accused foreign countries of destabilising the situation in Andijan.
“The territory of Kyrgyzstan was used as a bridgehead for preparing acts of terrorism,” the prosecutor said in a report in September.
“The Kyrgyz revolution and the Andijan revolt have the same roots — poverty and despair,” Kyrgyz political commentator Almaz Kenenbaev told IPS. “A lot of Uzbek people work in Kyrgyz plantations to feed their families.”
Kyrgyzstan has to deal with Uzbekistan better, Kenenbaev said. “America is far from Kyrgyzstan. Uzbekistan is near and has a 24 million population, when a five-million Kyrgyzstan tries to follow the rules of international conventions.”
A US military base was opened in Bishkek in 2000 for supporting ‘Operation Indestructible Freedom’ in Afghanistan. The United States had a base in Uzbekistan too but after the United States demanded an international investigation into the Andijan killings, the Uzbek government asked the US forces to clear out.
“President Islam Karimov’s failure to democratize Uzbekistan has drawn him closer to China and Russia,” says Aleksey Makarin, director-general of the Russian Centre of Political Science. In January Uzbekistan joined EurAsEc (Eurasion Economic Community). The organization now has six members: Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Belarous and Uzbekistan.
Last summer, Uzbekistan officially asked Washington to vacate the airbase in Uzbekistan. The unexpected request was connected with Washington’s demand for an international investigation into the Andijan incident.
While Uzbekistan seems to have moved closer to Russia away from the Americans, Kyrgyzstan has managed to maintain good relations with both. Russia has always had a special place in Kyrgyzstan’s foreign policy, given 125 years of joint development.
Russian is the official language of Kyrgyzstan and is used as the language for international communication.
Trade continues to cement old ties. Besides, about 500,000 Kyrgyz migrants work in Russia, with many privileges.
Russia has a military airbase in the small town Kant near Bishkek. According to a bilateral agreement, Russia can use this territory for an unlimited period of time, while the US airbase has a temporary status.
The US-Russian balance has been working, but issues have arisen with China.
Public concern arose in 2004 that Kyrgyzstan plans to offer a military base also to China. Former acting minister of foreign affairs Roza Otunbaeva denied that. “Kyrgyzstan does not have any intentions to provide the Chinese facilities to construct an airbase,” she said. “We don’t have any intentions of turning the country into a crowd of military airbases.”
China, with whom Kyrgyzstan shares a 1,200km border, was among the first countries to recognize the independence of Kyrgyzstan. The general commodity trade between Kyrgyzstan and China has been rising every year. In 2001 it was 118 million dollars; in 2005 it had reached 623 million dollars. About 80 per cent of commodity goods sold in Kyrgyzstan are made in China.
But China is keen also to develop diplomatic relations with Kyrgyzstan. Kyrgyzstan borders the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR) of China. The region has seen a separatist movement for years. The Chinese fear that instability in Central Asian countries could affect this region.
Kyrgyzstan with its raw agrarian economy poses little threat to its neighbours, least of all to China or the rapidly growing Kazakhstan with its rich natural resources. It is in fact attracting Kazakh investment; last year 71 per cent of all investment came from Kazakhstan.
“The Kyrgyz revolution was for the benefit of Kazakh businessmen,” says Kazakh political scientist Erlan Karin. “The March revolution opened the doors of the Kyrgyz economy for Kazakh capital in bank services, media and other enterprises.”
Kyrgyzstan needs strong regional cooperation as it needs air. It faces difficulty keeping people supplied with essentials such as natural gas and solid fuel, and providing transport corridors and other infrastructure. As these problems grow, so does Kyrgyzstan’s need for others around it.—Dawn/IPS News Service
