President of Kyrgyzstan publicly refused to promise to withdraw the US air base
During his official visit to Turkey, Kyrgyz President Almazbek Atambaev put forward a proposal to reformat the US Transit Center, located at Manas Airport near Bishkek, after 2014, into the Civil Transit Center. According to Rosbalt, the Kyrgyz president invited Turkey and Russia to join the project, as well as other states that wish to join this project.
In fact, this statement negates the pre-election statements of Atambayev, who in December 2011 of the year said that in 2014, the US base would be withdrawn from Kyrgyz territory.
Commenting on the proposal of the president, Ruslan Kazakpayev, the head of the Foreign Ministry of Kyrgyzstan, told reporters that it in no way contradicts the new agreements concluded within the framework of the CSTO.
Recall that at the end of 2011, the CSTO member countries signed an amendment to the organization’s charter, which contains the requirement to coordinate with other CSTO members the deployment of third-party military bases on its territory. "In the CSTO charter, it used to be that the CSTO members need to hold agreements and consultations when they open bases of third countries on their territory," said Kazakpaev. "It’s just that an addition was made in which it is written" if not by the CSTO member countries official objections. "At the same time, Kazakpayev noted that this does not apply to the agreements signed earlier.
Perhaps this statement is due to other factors. In the Kyrgyz parliament, there were dissatisfied with the signing of agreements on the CSTO. A source in the country's parliament told Rosbalt that, Omurbek Tekebayev, head of the Ata Meken party, in a circle of close friends said that "Atambayev bent Kyrgyzstan under neighboring autocrats." In addition, according to Tekebaev, Atambayev creates a threat to the sovereignty of Kyrgyzstan by his actions.
Many members of the Ata Meken are confident that the president has redeemed the decision on military-technical cooperation of the CSTO, more precisely, Russia. Also, because of agreements with the Collective Security Treaty Organization, the position of Kyrgyzstan, in Tekebayev’s opinion, will be greatly shaken in the eyes of the United States and democratic Europe.
In addition, Ravshan Dzheenbekov, a deputy of the Kyrgyz parliament from the Ata-Meken faction, in an interview with Nezavisimaya Gazeta, stated that, according to the new constitution, the president cannot sign international agreements. “President Atambayev overstepped his powers when signing an agreement that did not meet the national interests of Kyrgyzstan,” Jeenbekov said. “Suppose that Europe or the United States tomorrow will offer the country 1 a billion dollars in assistance for deploying the base, and CSTO will decide for us. It will be much better if Atambayev withdraws his signature. "
Jeenbekov also believes that Atambaev has exceeded his powers, and this question, in his opinion, “pulls on impeachment.”
All disputes are going on around the military base at Manas airport in 30 km from the Kyrgyz capital. It was opened in 2001 for one year. From the Ganci military base in 2009, it was renamed the Transit Center. The main objective of the base is to supply military operations in Afghanistan. In addition, some experts report that there is the largest of those. knot conducting radio intelligence in Central Asia.
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