Latest Articles about Kyrgyzstan
SPY CATCHING KYRGYZ STYLE
Accusations of espionage against Dzhyparkul Arykova, a consultant to the Kyrgyz parliamentary press service arrested on June 19, has thrown the national intelligence community into crisis. In recent days the authorities have tried to distance themselves from media reports that the case centers on Arykova’s... MORE
KULOV CONTINUES TO ADVOCATE RUSSIAN-KYRGYZ CONFEDERATION
On July 2 opposition leader and former prime minister Felix Kulov asked the Kyrgyz the Central Election Commission to organize a national referendum on the issue of a Kyrgyz- Russian confederation. This initiative comes a month after Kulov announced his proposal to create a new... MORE
SCO’S INTERNATIONAL IMPORTANCE SURGES AS IRAN, TURKMENISTAN WISH TO JOIN
On Monday, June 25 Iran, Mongolia, and Turkmenistan confirmed their participation at the upcoming Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit scheduled for August 16 in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. The presidents of all three countries – Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Nambaryn Enkhbayar, and Gurbanguly Berdimukhamedov – will attend as distinguished... MORE
DESPITE CORRUPTION CONCERNS, KYRGYZSTAN’S ENERGY SECTOR WILL BE PRIVATIZED
On June 19 the Kyrgyz parliament voted to privatize the 1,900 MW Kambarata-1 and 240 MW Kambarata-2 hydropower plants on the Naryn River. The two plants have annual generation capacities of 5,100 million kWh and 1,100 million kWh, respectively. The country’s largest Thermal Power Plant-1... MORE
AS SCO SUMMIT APPROACHES, KYRGYZ GOVERNMENT CAUGHT BETWEEN RUSSIA, U.S.
With two months left before the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) annual summit in Bishkek, the Kyrgyz capital, the Kyrgyz government is experiencing increasing pressure from Russia and the United States regarding the U.S. military base at Manas airport. In the past 10 days U.S. Secretary... MORE
GATES VISITS BISHKEK, BUT PRO-MOSCOW MOOD PREVAILS IN KYRGYZSTAN
On June 5 U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates visited Kyrgyzstan to discuss the status of the U.S. military base in Bishkek with Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev and Kyrgyz Minister of Defense Ismail Isakov. In the past, treating the Kyrgyz-U.S. military cooperation as an important... MORE
KYRGYZSTAN HOSTS SCO ANTI-TERRORIST EXERCISES
Kyrgyzstan hosted joint command and staff exercises of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) May 29-31. “Issyk Kul Anti-Terror-2007” included elements from the regional anti-terror structure, the Collective Security Treaty Organization, the Commonwealth of Independent States anti-terror center, alongside security agencies and special services from Kyrgyzstan,... MORE
PREPARATIONS FOR SCO SUMMIT AFFECT KYRGYZSTAN’S RELATIONS WITH THE U.S.
The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) conducted anti-terrorism training exercises in Kyrgyzstan May 28-31. The Russian-led Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) is observing the SCO drills. Both the SCO and CSTO have overlapping memberships and competing goals. However, their interests meet in Kyrgyzstan, where they compete... MORE
MANAS AGREEMENT UNDER REVIEW
The authorities in Kyrgyzstan increasingly favor the Collective Security Treaty Organization in general and the Russian air base at Kant in particular. This view is becoming more prevalent in the Kyrgyz media as well, downplaying the significance and the role played by the U.S. Ganci... MORE
KYRGYZ OFFICIALS, CITIZENS OPPOSE U.S. BASE
Following the May 21 visit to Bishkek by Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) General Secretary Nikolai Bordyuzha, Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev ordered the government to form a special commission to investigate the expediency of the U.S. military base at the Manas airport vis-à-vis Kyrgyzstan’s national... MORE