Have you noticed that the speculation over the fate of Manas Transit Center has slowed down quite a bit? Stars and Stripes -- a newspaper targeted at the U.S. military -- noticed, too:
One of the first moves of Kyrgyz interim leader Roza Otunbayeva after coming to power last month was to promise renewal of the lease for the key U.S. air base near Bishkek, the country’s capital.
Days later, her foreign minister criticized Americans for worrying only about the base — officially called the Transit Center at Manas — at the expense of supporting democratic values.
Now, leaders of the new government are hesitant to say anything publicly about the base.
“We have said enough,” said interim government spokesman Edil Baisalov. “We don’t have any views on the base.”
The story goes on to note that there is a lot of public disapproval of the base, and of the interim government as well, and so the government may not be willing to stick its neck out to preserve the base.
Joshua Kucera, a senior correspondent, is Eurasianet's former Turkey/Caucasus editor and has written for the site since 2007.
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