Tag Archives: military bases

Russia strengthens base in Armenia

FEB. 23 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Russia has reinforced its base in Armenia with four of its latest MiG fighter-jets and a new helicopter, media reported quoting the Russian military. The reinforcements come at a time of increased tension and militarisation between Azerbaijan and Armenia over the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh. Russia’s military base in Armenia is one of its largest over- seas bases. It considers it essential for maintaining the balance of power in the region.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 269, published on Feb. 26 2016)

Soldier pleads guilty in Armenia

JAN. 22 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Valery Permyakov, a Russian conscript soldier, pleaded guilty to assaulting and killing a family of seven in the Armenian town of Gyumri last year. The murders triggered anti-Russia protests outside Russia’s military base, its biggest in the South Caucasus, and threatened to damage bilateral relations.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 265, published on Jan. 29 2016)

Germany leaves UZ base

DEC. 15 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – The German military closed its base at Termez, Uzbekistan, near the border with Afghanistan. Rent costs for the base had increased to €16m ($17.3m) per year, up from €2.9m ($3.15m) per year in 2002. Germany had used the base as part of a logistics route into Afghanistan.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 261, published on Dec. 20 2015)

Russia beefs up Armenian base

DEC. 8 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Russia deployed seven attack helicopters to an air base outside Yerevan, Russian media reported, strengthening its operations in Armenia. Russia has a large garrison based at Gyumri, Armenia’s second city. Russia didn’t specify why it had strengthened its base.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 260, published on Dec. 11 2015)

Russia pulls out of Tajikistan base

NOV. 19 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Media in Tajikistan reported that the Russian military had started to pull out of its base in Kulyab, near the border with Afghanistan, a potentially destabilising move in a fragile border region.

There was no explanation as to why the Russian military would pull out of Kulyab but relations have become increasingly strained with locals.

Russian soldiers have been accused of getting drunk and fighting with locals as well as not paying local workers their full salaries, an accusation the Russian base has refuted.

Still, whatever the underlying reason for the withdrawal, Kulyab is one of three bases that Russia uses in Tajikistan and quitting it will change the dynamics.

Russia has 7,000 soldiers stationed in Tajikistan, its largest deployment outside Russia.

It has warned that Taliban activity in northern Afghanistan could threaten Central Asia and encouraged the region’s governments to strengthen their militaries.

The Kremlin, though, has ruled out taking back responsibility for patrolling Central Asia’s borders.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 257, published on Nov. 20 2015)

Kerry visits Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan

OCT.31/NOV. 3 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – US Secretary of State John Kerry visited Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan as part of a tour of Central Asia. In Bishkek, Mr Kerry wanted to persuade the government that despite quitting its airbase, the US was still interested in Kyrgyzstan. In Dushanbe, Mr Kerry told the government to ease up on its crackdown of opposition parties.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 255, published on Nov. 6 2015)

Germany quits military base in Uzbekistan

OCT. 16 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Germany will close its base in Termez, south Uzbekistan, later this year, marking the final withdrawal of Western military forces from Central Asia, media reported quoting official sources.

With operations in neighbouring Afghanistan winding down, it had only ever been a matter of time before the German base at Termez was closed, although the announcement did come just nine months after Germany said it wanted to extend the lifespan of the base.

The US-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty quoted German military spokesman Dominik Wullers: “Termez right now is just a backup. We are not effectively using it right now, that’s the reason why we are closing it. Some [personnel] will be transferred to Mazar-e Sharif in Afghanistan where we have our base, while others will relocate to Germany.”

The US closed its airbase at Manas outside Bishkek last year and the French military has wound down operations in Dushanbe.

Some Uzbek analysts, though, said the withdrawal of Germany may be linked with Uzbekistan’s demand for a higher fee to rent the base. The Uzbek government had said the rental fee would double to 70m euro in 2016. In 2005, Germany had been paying Uzbekistan only 12.5 euro.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 253, published on Oct. 23 2015)

Russia sends attack helicopters to Tajikistan

OCT. 6 2015, DUSHANBE (The Conway Bulletin) — Russia said it will station attack helicopters at its base in Tajikistan, a strong sign the Kremlin believes the threat from the Taliban in Afghanistan to Central Asia is heightening.

A Russian Defence Ministry spokesman said Mi-24P gunships, heavily used during the Soviet Union’s war in Afghanistan in the 1980s, and Mi-8 MTV transport-combat helicopters will be stationed at the Ayni airbase, 30km outside Dushanbe.

Over the past week, the Taliban and US-backed forces belonging to the Afghan central government have been fighting for control of Kunduz on the Tajik-Afghan border. And this has worried Central Asian governments throughout the year.

A Dushanbe-based analyst who wished not to be named said: “The occupation of Kunduz by the Taliban has shaken Dushanbe. Tajik authorities know that they cannot handle any threat, be it domestic or external, without the help of Russia. For Rakhmon, the Kremlin is the guarantee of stability in Tajikistan.”

Tajik President Emmomli Rakhmon had been in Moscow the day before the Kremlin said it would send attack helicopters to Tajikistan.

And most people in Dushanbe welcomed Moscow’s help. Olim Shirinov, a Dushanbe resident, said: “Every new unit of Russian military equipment on Tajik soil is one more brick in the wall that guarantees stability in the country.”

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 251, published on Oct. 9 2015)

Comment: Worry over intensifying fighting in northern Afghanistan

OCT. 9 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Russia and the US are right to be increasingly concerned about intensifying fighting in northern Afghanistan.

The question is what can they do about it, if anything?

This week, Russia said it was sending a batch of attack helicopters to its base in Tajikistan. Russia is clearly in a belligerent mood, as its air strikes in Syria have also shown.

For most ordinary Tajiks, as the Bulletin reports, the attack helicopters are welcome in the country, although it is not entirely clear when Russia would actually use them.

For the US, the priority is to protect its own. It has said it is going to spend $200m strengthening its embassy in Turkmenistan.

No doubt the current embassy needed an upgrade but don’t be fooled by the cleverly spun press releases.

The US is not spending $200m rebuilding its embassy to re-affirm its commitment to Turkmenistan. It is spending $200m rebuilding its embassy on the outskirts of Ashgabat because it is nervous and the strategy now is to prioritise protection over everything else. This will be an embassy with big walls and prison-style security cut off from the rest of Turkmenistan.

Both the Russian and the US moves are a response to the Taliban threat over the border and the radical Islamic threat internally.

These threats appear to be growing, although there is debate over just how strong IS recruitment really is in the region. Both Russia and the US and the rest of Central Asia will have to get used to them.

By James Kilner, Editor, The Conway Bulletin

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(News report from Issue No. 251, published on Oct. 9 2015)

US wants closer military ties with Georgia

SEPT. 8 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – A senior US military officer said he wanted US forces to increase the number of exercises they hold with Georgia. Media quoted Lieutenant General Ben Hodges saying he wanted to increase the “quantity” and “frequency” of drills between the two countries. The Georgia-US drills have irritated Russia.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 247, published on Sept. 11 2015)