Otunbayeva Revives U.S., Russian Counter-Terror Training Proposals

Kyrgyzstan President Roza Otunbayeva has said both the U.S. and Russia may be setting up counterterror training centers in the instable southern part of the country. From RIA Novosti:

"Two objects may be created, both U.S. and Russian," Otunbayeva said. "There is nothing bad in this, we should be pragmatists," she continued. "We are ready to get instructions on fighting terrorism, we have no experience in these issues," she added.

According to a KirTAG report (in Russian), the Russian facility would be in Osh, and the U.S. one in Batken, or the nearby town of Kyzyl-Kiya.

She didn't give too many details about the proposed centers and what they would entail, but both have been talked about (in general terms) for some time. A few points worth noting on this:

-- both of these ideas had appeared moribund -- they'd been discussed a while ago but there has been little apparent movement for some time. But the U.S. was most recently proposing to build its center in Osh, though in the past it had discussed doing it in Batken. I also recall Otunbayeva saying somewhat recently that she wanted the Russians to build their facility in Kyzyl-Kiya, but that they weren't interested. Not sure what's behind the new ideas for the placement of the centers.

-- she's presenting the U.S. and Russian centers together, and took pains to play down any sort of competition between the two: "The 'reset' of the Obama administration showed how the relationship between America and Russia is evolving. These countries understand the need to confront together the challenges facing mankind," Otunbayeva said.

-- She emphasized that the U.S.-built facility in Batken would be a Kyrgyz center; she did not seem to say the same about the Russian one in Osh.

It's also worth recalling that there is basically zero "terrorism" problem in Kyrgyzstan. When Otunbayeva was in Washington last week she reportedly discussed how the U.S. could help Kyrgyzstan combat organized crime. But military counterterror facilities don't seem to be quite the right tool to fight that, as well armed as Afghan drug smugglers may be.

Another likely, if unspoken, factor: both of these facilities would be right on the border with Uzbekistan; Kyrgyzstan retains a strong mistrust of Uzbekistan's intentions toward it and is probably calculating that Uzbekistan is less likely to cause trouble in Kyrgyzstan if the U.S. and Russia are invested in the region.