Eurasia Insight:
TRAFFIC ACCIDENT PROMPTS SCRUTINY OF US MILITARY ROLE IN KYRGYZSTAN
3/25/02

A recent road accident involving an American officer has stirred growing sensitivities in Kyrgyzstan about the presence of a US-built military base near Bishkek's airport. US officials have taken swift action to prevent diplomatic difficulties. However, the traffic incident has prompted some Kyrgyz to scrutinize the potential benefits and drawbacks of a US military presence in Kyrgyzstan.

An American military vehicle hit 35-year-old Gulmira Bektenova and 26-year-old Chynara Torjikova on the evening of March 14 as it sped through central Bishkek. Bektenova required surgery, while Torjikova sustained minor injuries, according to local press accounts. Kazakhstan's Khabar television, citing a Kyrgyz Interior Ministry source, said the US officer who was behind the wheel was "drunk." Other reports said the officer refused to take a drug and alcohol test. Under terms of the December basing agreement, military personnel living at the US base enjoy diplomatic status. The base is home to a coalition force of about 1,450 soldiers from the United States, Denmark, France, Spain and Australia.

US officials moved quickly to defuse controversy. The American embassy in Kyrgyzstan responded to an official protest note of the Kyrgyz Ministry of Foreign Affairs with an apology, while suggesting that the pedestrians themselves might have caused the accident by running into the road. The Vecherny Bishkek newspaper reported that coalition officials reportedly paid expenses of $700 and $300, in Kyrgyz soms, to the injured women. To reduce the chances of another road mishap, coalition authorities have forbidden officers from driving their own cars.

Despite the fast American response, the domestic debate on the US base is not fading. Following the bloody rioting in the southern village of Kerben [For background information see the Eurasia Insight archive], the political mood in Kyrgyzstan is extremely sensitive. Local analysts suggest the base issue has become caught up in a broader domestic political struggle between President Askar Akayev and his political opponents.

Some Bishkek city officials and public figures are concerned that the security agreement governing the coalition troops was hastily drafted, and that the Kyrgyz legislature failed to adequately analyze it. The agreement contains a provision that any criminal offense committed by US troops will be prosecuted and tried only by US authorities. Government officials, meanwhile, have sought to counter claims that the base agreement is disadvantageous for Kyrgyzstan. Ruslan Kazakbaev of the Kyrgyz Foreign Ministry announced March 20 that US investigators had arrived, and suggest that the US driver might be tried if the evidence warranted prosecution.

In the court of public opinion, concerns over the presence of the coalition military base appear to be growing. Some local newspapers reports have criticized coalition forces for being rude to locals and polluting villages near the military base. The state-sponsored Vecherny Bishkek reported a minor confrontation between US soldiers and local youth in one of the villages in February. The coalition's patrolling of neighboring villages have also irked some Kyrgyz legislators.

The negative publicity can be utilized by Akayev's opponents to discredit the government, a few local experts say. Others suggest the press reports are connected with an ongoing competition among various interest groups with ties to the administration over US military contracts.

The deployment of foreign troops has already brought economic rewards for certain sectors of Kyrgyzstan's economy. At a March 4 news conference in Bishkek, Christopher Kelly, the then Commander in Chief of allied coalition forces, and John O'Keefe, the US ambassador in Kyrgyzstan, discussed official expenditures.

Since December, when the basing agreement was signed, the coalition had spent more than $8.4 million. The bulk of these expenses have gone to jet fuel and airport fees. Other coalition expenses include: $872,000 on local construction materials; $164,000 on transportation and local drivers; and $74,000 on local translators and interpreters fees. In addition, some hotels such as Hyatt Regency and Pinara received $751,000 for accommodating a portion of the international force while base construction was going on.

Parliament members Adaham Madumarov and Satyvaldy Chyrmashev have complained that base construction and service jobs do not offer many benefits to average Kyrgyz. Madumarov implied that a company called Aalam Service, which maintains links to president's inner circle, gets a lopsided share of payments. These allegations hint at divisions over how long soldiers will or should stay in Kyrgyzstan, and how their presence should affect the Kyrgyz economy.

Meanwhile, in a report to parliament, Minister of Transport and Communications Kubanychbek Jumaliev announced that the Kyrgyz treasury received 2 million soms (approximately $40,000) in taxes from the coalition forces. Some local media outlets dubbed the coalition expenditures as "sensational" and "astronomic," and the received amount in taxes as outrageously small.

Kabay Karabekov, the chairman of the parliament's information policy committee, told Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty that he was convinced that the military presence of the US and its allies in the republic will most likely be long-term, but not permanent. He said most MPs are of the same opinion.

"The Americans and their allies are well and truly here for a long time," said a commentary on the Delo No. web site, posted March 20. "We can only … be astonished by their military might and perfection. Now even the boldest analyst will not venture to forecast the consequence of the American presence in Kyrgyzstan."

Though few want to make specific predictions, some local analysts worry that the US base could damage Kyrgyzstan's relations with regional powers, including Russia, Iran and China. Other experts believe the American presence will bring economic benefits to Kyrgyzstan that outweigh the diplomatic complications that the base creates.

Editor’s Note: Alisher Khamidov is currently a Muskie Fellow graduate student at the Joan B. Kroc Institute of Peace Studies at Notre Dame University.