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Uzbekistan Against New Russian Military Base In Kyrgyzstan

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  • Uzbekistan Against New Russian Military Base In Kyrgyzstan

    UZBEKISTAN AGAINST NEW RUSSIAN MILITARY BASE IN KYRGYZSTAN

    RIA Novosti
    Aug 3, 2009

    TASHKENT, August 3 (RIA Novosti) - Uzbekistan is against the
    deployment of a new Russian military base in southern Kyrgyzstan,
    the Uzbek Foreign Ministry said Monday.

    The ministry said that "implementation of such projects" could
    "reinforce militarization processes" as well as "seriously destabilize
    the situation in the vast region."

    Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and his Kyrgyz counterpart Kurmanbek
    Bakiyev signed on Saturday a memorandum on Russia's military presence
    in Kyrgyzstan.

    Kyrgyzstan already hosts a Russian airbase in Kant and four other
    Russian military facilities. The airbase in Kant, some 20 kilometers
    (12 miles) outside the capital, Bishkek, was opened in 2003.

    Some 250 Russian officers and 150 enlisted personnel from Russia's
    5th Air Army are deployed at the base, as well as Su-25 Frogfoot
    strike aircraft and Mi-8 transport helicopters.

    In line with the memorandum, the republic will also host an additional
    Russian military contingent up to battalion size and a training center
    for both countries' service personnel.

    Russia earlier offered to deploy a battalion-sized unit as part of
    the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) rapid reaction
    force in Kyrgyzstan's southern Batken region.

    The post-Soviet CSTO security bloc comprises Armenia, Belarus,
    Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan.
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