Military Cooperation between the United States and Kyrgyzstan: The Case of the Manas Airbase
MILITARY COOPERATION BETWEEN THE UNITED STATES AND KYRGYZSTAN: THE CASE OF THE MANAS AIRBASE Since gaining independence in 1991 Kyrgyzstan has officially been globalized. The relations of the United States (U.S.) with Central Asia commenced in the early 1990s, entailing diplomatic recognition and opening of embassies. According to the agreement between the governments of the U.S. and Kyrgyzstan regarding cooperation to facilitate the provision of assistance signed in 1993, the U.S. has been providing financial and humanitarian aid and non-lethal military assistance to the country to elevate sovereignty and to achieve economic progress and democratic governance. By joining the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s (NATO) Partnership for Peace in 1994 Kyrgyzstan has gained an opportunity to engage in a number of training exercises in the fields of defense, security and civil emergency planning cooperation. The purpose of the Partnership for Peace was to increase stability and to reduce the threats for peace in the region.
The stable relationship between the two states reached another level right after the September 11 terrorist attacks. It was a wakeup call which was considered as a life changing moment for the regional politics, as in 2001 the U.S. has changed its foreign policy of providing mainly humanitarian assistance through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to a security-oriented policy in Central Asia. At that point, under the Pentagon's Global Defense Posture Review (GDPR), the U.S. has offered Kyrgyzstan to host the U.S. International airbase at the ex-Soviet civilian Manas International Airport. Kyrgyzstan was provided with a military aid for support of the Operation Enduring FreedomAfghanistan (OEF), which was coordinated under the U.S. and the U.K. joint partnership and the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) operation of the NATO nations, in the period of 20012014. The Manas Airport, which was constructed in 1970, was the largest civilian international airport located 25 km northwest of Bishkek. It had a long (4,200 meters) exiting airstrip suitable for jet bombers and cargo planes. However, as the infrastructure was neglected after the collapse of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) the airport was witnessing steady decline. In spite of being distant from Afghanistan, the Manas Airport was selected as the best option by the U.S. Military due to its technical and infrastructural specifications. The Manas Airbase was opened as a center for deployment and transit of military forces during the U.S. military operation in Afghanistan on December 16, 2001. Yet, as the country was already coping with energy shortage, the worsening global economic crisis affected Kyrgyzstan in 2008. Under these circumstances, the Kyrgyz Government accepted Russia’s offer to provide a $2.15 billion credit which later caused a transformation in the country's foreign policy towards a Russian oriented one. Hence, the President of Kyrgyzstan, Kurmanbek Bakiyev, has announced intention to close the Manas Airbase in 2009. However, after long negotiations the U.S. Government has convinced the Kyrgyz Parliament to extend and to reform the base lease. This was a new step in formation of the new status of the Manas Airbase. The new official bilateral agreement on the U.S. Manas International Transit Center was ratified on June 25, 2009. The new function of the airport was to serve as a transportation hub. Through protracted negotiations on reforming the status of the Manas Airbase, the U.S. Military has significantly escalated annual fee for utilization of the airbase from $17.4 million to $60 million. That was not the first time when the U.S. officials had increased fee for exploitation of the airport. The first increase was made in 2005, when the President Kurmanbek Bakiyev demanded substantial increase of the yearly payment for leasing the airbase from to $2 million to $17.4 million.
In spite of the fact that the Kyrgyz Parliament was in favor of the U.S. investment into the Kyrgyz economy at the time of economic stagnation, the Manas case was becoming a questionable issue. However, Almazbek Atambayev, who won the presidential elections in 2011, finally brought the issue of the Manas Airbase to the conclusion.
The Kyrgyz Parliament refused to extend its military agreement with the U.S. in 2014 based on the desire to improve its relations with Russia and on Kyrgyzstan`s plans to be accepted to the Eurasian Economic Union in 2015. After long negotiations on the U.S. military base in Central Asia, the U.S. Manas Airbase was decided to be closed in June 2014.
The new policy of Kyrgyzstan contradicted the plan of the U.S. military established in 2012 to withdraw its troops and equipment from Afghanistan. The problem was that closing the Manas Transit Center was scheduled ahead of the drawdown of the U.S. anti-terrorist operations in Afghanistan at the end of 2014. After the decision of the Kyrgyz authorities to cancel the Manas air lease agreement, it became even more difficult for the U.S. military to act according to the plan, as it had to withdraw more than 90,000 troops and a number of enormous depots of military gear. The Manas Airbase was a reverse transit point of the new Distribution Channel route which was established to avoid nonstable routes through Pakistan. After closing the Manas Transit Center in 2014, the bilateral collaboration agreement between the two states was relevant until the denouncement of the treaty in July, 2015 prompted by the U.S. Government human rights defender award which was given to an activist who was involved in the revolution and ethnic clashes in Kyrgyzstan.
To conclude, it should be noted that during the 13 years of utilization of the Manas International Aiport, the Airbase transported over 5.3 million military servicemen from 26 ISAF member states and more than 33,000 refueling missions on their way in and out of Afghanistan. The U.S. Military Forces had a huge impact on the Kyrgyz economy by investing more than $318 million on the utilization of the airport. Therefore, even though the cooperation treaty was suspended in 2015 and the Manas Transit Center was closed in 2014, the U.S. still remains the major humanitarian partner of Kyrgyzstan.
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According to the National AntiTerrorism Committee of Russia, a regime of counter-terrorism operation was introduced in the Tabasaransky district of Russia’s North Caucasus Republic of Dagestan. x x x x x Economy, Finance and Energy x During the meeting between the Prime Minister of Georgia, Giorgi Kvirikashvili, and the Executive Director of the British Petroleum (BP), Robert Dudley, in Davos, the parties discussed the BP’s suggestion to allocate $150 million for modernization of the Baku-Supsa oil pipeline and for improvement of ecological standards in Georgia. According to x the Executive Director of the BP, the projects would be completed by 2018.
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Moreover, Kazakhstan increased gas production by 5.2% and reached 45.713 billion cubic meters (bcm) in 2015 compared to 45.462 bcm in 2014.
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Prepared by Lidiya Parkhomchik, Hayal Ayca Simsek, Saule Akhmetkaliyeva, Dinara Taldybayeva.
