FEB. 18 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — Russia’s military will equip its Kant airbase in Kyrgyzstan with up-to-date fighter-jets, media quoted Colonel Jaroslav Roschupkin, a Russian army spokesman, as saying. Russia has, generally, been looking to beef up its military deployments in Central Asia, especially at the Kant airbase.
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(News report from Issue No. 220, published on Feb. 25 2015)
FEB. 6 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — Russia described NATO’s move to open a training base in Georgia as a provocation. NATO intends to open the base this year. Alexander Grushko, Russia’s envoy to NATO, said: “Emergence of NATO military facilities in Georgia is a step towards escalation of tension and worsening of regional security.”
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(News report from Issue No. 218, published on Feb. 11 2015)
JAN. 30 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — The German ambassador to Uzbekistan, Neithart Höfer-Wissing, officially confirmed that Germany was going to maintain its military base near Termez, south Uzbekistan, German media reported . A deal was made between the Uzbek and German government last year, although details were kept secret.
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(News report from Issue No. 217, published on Feb. 4 2015)
JAN. 30 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — The German ambassador to Uzbekistan, Neithart Höfer-Wissing, officially confirmed that Germany was going to maintain its military base near Termez, south Uzbekistan, German media reported. A deal was made between the Uzbek and German government last year, although details were kept secret.
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(News report from Issue No. 217, published on Feb. 4 2015)
JAN. 28 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — Russian defence minister, Anatoly Anatonov, emphasised once again that Russia wanted to strengthen its garrison in Tajikistan because of a perceived increase in threat from the Taliban now that NATO forces have withdrawn from Afghanistan. Russia has around 7,000 soldiers in Tajikistan, its largest overseas base.
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(News report from Issue No. 217, published on Feb. 4 2015)
>>Russia has warned Georgia about getting too close to NATO>>
JAN. 30 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — NATO plans to open training facility in Georgia by the end of the year, a move certain to irritate Russia which has previously warned the Georgian government not to get too close to the Western military alliance.
Alexander Vershbow, NATO deputy secretary-general, announced the opening of the base on a trip to Tbilisi.
For Georgia, the decision by NATO to open a training centre is a major diplomatic coup. It is desperate to join the alliance and has been a keen supporter of its mission in Afghanistan. Georgia still has soldiers serving in Afghanistan.
As for NATO, the move is more risky. It doesn’t want to antagonise Russia but it also needs to look strong.
Over Ukraine, Russia and NATO are already engaged in something of a proxy war. NATO accuses Russia of sending weapons and soldiers to help pro-Russian rebels fight the Ukrainian forces. It is also considering arming the Kiev government forces.
It’s not entirely clear what the NATO training centre in Georgia will look like or what it will actually do. Relations between Georgia and Russia have steadily been improving since a war in 2008.
During the war, Russia forces roamed parts of Georgia and occupied military bases. Placing a base, even a training centre, in Georgia will move NATO onto the frontline.
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(News report from Issue No. 217, published on Feb. 4 2015)
DEC. 9 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Russia increased the number of military planes at its base outside Bishkek, the eurasianet.org website reported. Quoting Russian media, eurasianet.org said Russia had moved five SU-25SM ground attack jets to Kant, the airbase. The US quit its airbase outside Bishkek earlier this year.
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(News report from Issue No. 212, published on Dec. 10 2014)
OCT. 31 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Germany has agreed a deal with Uzbekistan to keep open an air base in the south of the country, media reported. According to German media, a helicopter crash a few days
before the current lease ran out at the end of October complicated the deal to extend the lease for the base which Germany took over in 2001 in the aftermath of the attack on New York by Al Qaeda and the NATO invasion of Afghanistan.
The base is important for several reasons.
After the withdrawal of the US military from their base outside Bishkek, the German base in Uzbekistan will now be NATO’s only full time base in the region. The French air force use the airport at Dushanbe but they share many of the facilities with civilian aircraft.
Uzbekistan is also an important transit country for NATO which is planning on shifting most of its kit out of Afghanistan through Uzbekistan and Russia.
For Uzbekistan, the German base is also something of a bulwark against the threat of Al Qaeda and Taliban across the border in Afghanistan.
Neither Uzbek nor German officials gave any details on the lease extension deal. Media reported that Germany stations about 300 soldiers at the base. Details of a 2011 deal showed that it paid 16m euros a year to lease the base.
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(News report from Issue No. 207, published on Nov. 5 2014)
SEPT. 24 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – The closure of the US airbase at Manas outside Bishkek earlier this year is already having a knock-on effect on the local economy, the eurasianet.org website reported. It its story, eurasianet.org reported that around 2,000 Kyrgyz truck drivers were now out of a job because of the closure.
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(News report from Issue No. 202, published on Oct. 1 2014)
AUG. 27 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Police in Tajikistan detained two Russian soldiers for the suspected murder of a Tajik taxi driver in Dushanbe, media reported. Russia maintains a major military base, its largest overseas base, in the Pamir Mountains. If the soldiers are formally accused of killing the taxi driver, it could dampen important bilateral relations.
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(News report from Issue No. 198, published on Sept. 3 2014)
