US May Revive Security Ties With Uzbeks
US May Revive Security Ties With Uzbeks
A recent visit by a top American general suggests the United States and Uzbekistan may be about to repair their damaged relationship on security matters.
General David Petraeus, who is in charge of the US military’s Central Command, met President Islam Karimov in Tashkent on February 17.
The state-controlled Uzbek press carried little coverage of the event, but media in other Central Asian states and in Russia suggested that General Petraeus was there to discuss the possibility of locating a military base in Uzbekistan.
Kyrgyz president had earlier announced that the US base in his country, set up to assist the military operation launched in Afghanistan in late 2001, had to close. On February 9, the country’s parliament approved a bill to denounce the agreement underpinning the existence of the airbase.
Some analysts say the base could relocate to Uzbekistan, which was home to a US presence between 2001 and 2005. Uzbek leaders demanded the closure of that airbase, located near the southern town of Karshi, after the Americans called for an international investigation into the Andijan violence of May 2005 in which security forces shot down hundreds of protestors.
The German military still has the use of a base at Termez on Uzbekistan’s border with Afghanistan.
NBCentralAsia observers say Tashkent now seems keen to restore security ties with the West.
One prime motive for doing so could be to cash in on rental payments from the Americans. When the Karshi-Khanabad base first opened eight years ago, the US was reportedly paying an annual fee of two million dollars, and there might be many times that amount on the table for any new deal.
“The rental money is needed for the ailing Uzbek economy,” explained Tashpulat Yoldashev, a political scientist now living outside Uzbekistan. “Karimov is anticipating that the West will ask for the use of military airstrips and other infrastructure.”
In addition, the Uzbek government is also keen to restore its tarnished reputation in the international community. Efforts to achieve this have been going on at least since last year, when Karimov attended a NATO summit in Bucharest and offered his own proposal for sorting out Afghanistan’s problems.
Other analysts, however, believe that the bitter experience of being ejected from the Karshi base will deter Washington from seeking a military presence in Uzbekistan.
“Karimov is an unreliable partner – first he lets you in, and then he kicks you out,” said a locally-based analyst, who believes Petraeus was merely sounding the Uzbek leader out about how possible defence cooperation might be.
At the same time, the analyst said the combination of Tashkent’s newly cooperative attitude and the undoubted advantages offered by its military facilities was likely to lead to some kind of security relationship.
“Uzbekistan will most probably agree some time soon to expanding the military presence at the Termez base,” he said. “That would be of particular relevance for the transit of non-military, humanitarian freight.”
(NBCentralAsia is an IWPR-funded project to create a multilingual news analysis and comment service for Central Asia, drawing on the expertise of a broad range of political observers across the region. The project ran from August 2006 to September 2007, covering all five regional states. With new funding, the service has resumed, covering Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan.)
General David Petraeus, who is in charge of the US military’s Central Command, met President Islam Karimov in Tashkent on February 17.
The state-controlled Uzbek press carried little coverage of the event, but media in other Central Asian states and in Russia suggested that General Petraeus was there to discuss the possibility of locating a military base in Uzbekistan.
Kyrgyz president had earlier announced that the US base in his country, set up to assist the military operation launched in Afghanistan in late 2001, had to close. On February 9, the country’s parliament approved a bill to denounce the agreement underpinning the existence of the airbase.
Some analysts say the base could relocate to Uzbekistan, which was home to a US presence between 2001 and 2005. Uzbek leaders demanded the closure of that airbase, located near the southern town of Karshi, after the Americans called for an international investigation into the Andijan violence of May 2005 in which security forces shot down hundreds of protestors.
The German military still has the use of a base at Termez on Uzbekistan’s border with Afghanistan.
NBCentralAsia observers say Tashkent now seems keen to restore security ties with the West.
One prime motive for doing so could be to cash in on rental payments from the Americans. When the Karshi-Khanabad base first opened eight years ago, the US was reportedly paying an annual fee of two million dollars, and there might be many times that amount on the table for any new deal.
“The rental money is needed for the ailing Uzbek economy,” explained Tashpulat Yoldashev, a political scientist now living outside Uzbekistan. “Karimov is anticipating that the West will ask for the use of military airstrips and other infrastructure.”
In addition, the Uzbek government is also keen to restore its tarnished reputation in the international community. Efforts to achieve this have been going on at least since last year, when Karimov attended a NATO summit in Bucharest and offered his own proposal for sorting out Afghanistan’s problems.
Other analysts, however, believe that the bitter experience of being ejected from the Karshi base will deter Washington from seeking a military presence in Uzbekistan.
“Karimov is an unreliable partner – first he lets you in, and then he kicks you out,” said a locally-based analyst, who believes Petraeus was merely sounding the Uzbek leader out about how possible defence cooperation might be.
At the same time, the analyst said the combination of Tashkent’s newly cooperative attitude and the undoubted advantages offered by its military facilities was likely to lead to some kind of security relationship.
“Uzbekistan will most probably agree some time soon to expanding the military presence at the Termez base,” he said. “That would be of particular relevance for the transit of non-military, humanitarian freight.”
(NBCentralAsia is an IWPR-funded project to create a multilingual news analysis and comment service for Central Asia, drawing on the expertise of a broad range of political observers across the region. The project ran from August 2006 to September 2007, covering all five regional states. With new funding, the service has resumed, covering Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan.)
