Russian Troops Back in Uzbekistan

As the trial of 15 men accused of responsibility for the May violence in Andijan got under way in Tashkent late last month, Uzbekistan hosted joint military exercises with Russia, in a continuation of the foreign policy realignment prompted by western criticism of the killings.

The September 20-24 training session involved 400 soldiers, and was not only the first of its kind between the two countries; it was the first time Russian troops had been present in force in Uzbekistan since the break-up of the Soviet Union.

The manoeuvres came in the wake of the killing of anti-government protesters in Andijan in May, an event widely condemned by President Islam Karimov’s one-time European and American allies, who called for an international investigation. Earlier this week, the European Union imposed an arms embargo on Uzbekistan and banned travel of those involved in the crackdown to the EU.

In response to such criticism, Uzbekistan has moved closer to Russia, ordering the Americans out of the airbase they have occupied since 2001. It has also taken a more active role at meetings of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, a security grouping which also includes Kyrgyzstan, Kazakstan and Tajikistan, as well as the regional powers Russia and China.

The military exercises were conducted at the Farish training ground in the Jizzakh region, and used the scenario of an operation to neutralise insurgents who had crossed the border from nearby Tajikistan.

For four days, Uzbek special forces and Russian paratroopers pursued their imaginary enemy using artillery and attack helicopters as well as light weapons.

In the past, members of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, IMU, have operated out of the mountains that flank Uzbekistan's southern rim, while today the government says drug traffickers and "terrorists" are still active, moving through the mountains of Central Asia.

“In this region, where the Uzbek and Tajik population is intermingled, inter-ethnic conflicts are possible. In this context, the manoeuvres of Russian soldiers here are a kind of additional stabilising factor,” said an Uzbek human rights activist.

The exercises were somewhat marred by the death of a young soldier, 22-year-old Farhad Jalilov from Andijan, who was run over by an armoured personnel carrier on September 18.

After the training, Russian defence minister Sergei Ivanov signalled that more joint sessions were likely, telling journalists, “These should not be the only Russian-Uzbek exercises. These joint military exercises should be conducted regularly, and made an integral part of our military cooperation.”

The Uzbek news programme Akhborot broadcast an interview with Ivanov on September 21 in which he expanded on the theme, saying, “The nature of new challenges and threats are roughly the same for Uzbekistan and for Russia. The flow of drug trafficking from Afghanistan is increasing, and the money that drug traffickers make comes to 30 billion US dollars a year. It is clear where this money goes, including feeding terrorism and religious extremism.”

That same day, Ivanov and his Uzbek counterpart signed an agreement on further military cooperation.

The two countries have agreed numerous cooperation and partnership treaties since the collapse of the Soviet Union, including one in 1999 in which Russia promised to provide arms to Uzbekistan, following reported lack of equipment during the military's operations against IMU rebels at the time.

However, the relationship cooled from late 2000 when Uzbekistan reached out to the US, China and Turkey, Russia’s rivals in Central Asia. The US relationship became especially important after the September 2001 attacks on New York and Washington – almost immediately, the Uzbeks offered the use of their Khanabad air bases for operations over Afghanistan.

It was only in May 2004, almost exactly one year before the events in Andijan, that cooperation resumed with a visit to Uzbekistan by Ivanov, who was followed several days later by the secretary of the Russian Security Council Igor Ivanov.

The anti-government protest in Andijan in May led to relations improving further when Russia supported the Karimov regime’s crackdown.

Meanwhile, the body of young Farhad Jalilov has been returned to his parents in Andijan.