Another Ex-Soviet Republic Looks to Moscow as Elections Loom
Moscow (CNSNews.com) - On the eve of crucial parliamentary elections later this month, the government of Kyrgyzstan appears to be seeking the support of Russia, while dismissing suggestions that the central Asian republic could follow the "popular revolution" route recently taken by Ukraine.Evidently stung by its experience in Ukraine -- where the Moscow-backed presidential candidate lost to pro-Western President Viktor Yushchenko after mass protests and court intervention overturned an election result -- Russia is playing it more carefully in Kyrgyzstan.
Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said during a recent meeting with his Kyrgyz counterpart that "Russia does not take any sides in election campaigns in CIS [Commonwealth of Independent States] countries" and that it would "respect the Kyrgyz people's choice."
During a visit to Moscow, Kyrgyz Foreign Minister Askar Aitmatov said Kyrgyzstan was stable and dismissed as mere media speculation the possibility of a "revolution" there.
He also thanked Russia for "supporting free and fair elections" in Kyrgyzstan.
As was the case in Ukraine as well as in Georgia - where the 2003 "Rose Revolution" brought a pro-Western administration to power - Kyrgyzstan falls within what Russia regards as its sphere of influence.
In late 2001, the U.S. opened an air base near the capital, Bishkek, called Ganci, as part of the post-9/11 war against Islamist terror. Two years later, Russia also established a base near Bishkek, at Kant.
In an indication of the government's present priorities, Kyrgyzstan this week rejected a U.S. request to deploy AWACS reconnaissance planes at Ganci.
Aitmatov announced the decision on his return from Moscow, where he said consultations with two regional security groupings prompted Kyrgyzstan to turn down the U.S. request.
The groupings are the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, both dominated by Russia.
Aitmatov said the deployment of AWACS would "not quite fit the mandate of the Ganci air base," which was to support antiterrorism and humanitarian operations in Afghanistan. He said he hoped "our Western partners and friends" would accept the decision.
By contrast to the AWACS decision, Kyrgyzstan President Askar Akayev said during a recent visit to Moscow that Russia's military base at Kant was "a key element of security in Central Asia."
The Kant base houses a Russian task force whose aim is to provide air power for a contingent of ground forces, a group that could eventually total more than 5,000 troops from Russia and fellow CSTO members Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and Tajikistan.
The Kant deployment was seen as the most significant outside Russia's borders since the Soviet collapse in 1991.
In further signs of Russian intentions, Russian Air Force chief General Vladimir Mikhailov said late last week that the Kant runway would be extended to accommodate all types of aircraft.
Since Kyrgyzstan attained independence amid the breakup of the Soviet Union, it has maintained close political and military ties with Russia.
Akayev has tended to support Kremlin policies in the region, and Russia is understood to want to prevent a possible transition of power in Kyrgyzstan. Russian officials have been voicing support for Akayev.
The 60-year-old president has promised to leave office in October, at the end of his third term.
But his daughter, Bermet Akayev recently helped to set up a new political party, Alga Kyrgyzstan (Forward Kyrgyzstan), aiming for a strong showing in the Feb. 27 parliamentary election in order to boost their candidate in presidential polls in October.
Opposition groups charge that there are attempts to rig the parliamentary poll, and earlier threatened to stage mass demonstrations, recalling events in Georgia and Ukraine.
Last November, U.S. Ambassador to Kyrgyzstan Stephen Young offered U.S. financial aid to help ensure free and fair elections. He said that "if a peaceful transfer of power takes place in Kyrgyzstan, it could inspire the citizens of the neighboring Central Asian states."
The remarks drew strong criticism in Bishkek, and Akayev accused the West of sponsoring revolutions in Ukraine and Georgia. He vowed to prevent a similar scenario from taking place in Kyrgyzstan.
In a letter to Akayev on Monday, Human Rights Watch accused the Kyrgyz authorities of stepping up repression in advance of the elections in a bid to prevent a repeat of the "Ukraine scenario."
The group warned that a clampdown could compromise the fairness of the election, which would "test the Kyrgyz government's commitment to democracy and human
rights."
As it did in the case of Ukraine, Moscow has warned against outside interference in Kyrgyz's internal affairs.
(CNSNews International Editor Patrick Goodenough contributed to this report.)
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