ID :
136859
Mon, 08/09/2010 - 20:22
Auther :
Shortlink :
http://m.oananews.org//node/136859
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US to build training center for Kyrgyz military - Defense Ministry
BISHKEK, August 9 (Itar-Tass) -- Kyrgyzstan's Defense Ministry has
denied foreign media reports saying a US military base is about to emerge
in the country along with the transit center at Bishkek's Manas airport.
"The foreign media rumors about the forthcoming creation of a U.S.
military base in Kyrgyzstan do not correspond to the reality. Such claims
have appeared periodically, and all of them discredit the country's
bilateral relations with the United States," the deputy chief of the
Defense Ministry's press-center, Aizada Igibayeva, told news agency 24.kg
on Monday.
A story about U.S. Defense Department's plans for building a military
base in the south of Kyrgyzstan was published in the Washington Post, and
then quoted many a time by other media. The paper quoted Assistant U.S.
Secretary of State Robert Blake, who, speaking in Washington at the
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, expressed concern about
security on the southern borders of Kyrgyzstan. He claimed that militants
from Afghanistan might try to penetrate this border.
As it has been stated by the Kyrgyz Defense Ministry press-center's
official, there are plans for constructing in the south of the country a
training center for the country's own military. The 5.5-million-dollar
project is to be entirely financed by the American side on the
disinterested basis.
In an official statement the Defense Ministry of Kyrgyzstan said that
"the center will include barracks buildings, a dining hall, classrooms, an
obstacle course, and so on. It will be used to train crack units for all
of the country's military and security forces."
The Defense Ministry stressed the idea that the construction of this
facility was not directed against any third countries. Nor does it
contradict the country's obligations within the CSTO and other
international organizations.
In March, the Pentagon announced plans for building in Batken an
anti-terrorism training center for Kyrgyz troops to undergo combat
training. This project was estimated at 5.5 million dollars. On August 7
The Washington Post mentioned a figure of 10 million dollars. The U.S.
side considers this project as part and parcel of broader cooperation
between the U.S. and the Kyrgyz Republic in the sphere of security, which
includes the recent completion of a hospital in the village of Besh-Kungei
and of a training complex for special operations forces in the town of
Tokmak.
The US Air Force Base that has existed in the territory of Kyrgyzstan
since December 2001 was renamed to the Center for Transit last summer. Its
task is to support the international coalition's anti-terrorist operation
Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan.
-0-str
denied foreign media reports saying a US military base is about to emerge
in the country along with the transit center at Bishkek's Manas airport.
"The foreign media rumors about the forthcoming creation of a U.S.
military base in Kyrgyzstan do not correspond to the reality. Such claims
have appeared periodically, and all of them discredit the country's
bilateral relations with the United States," the deputy chief of the
Defense Ministry's press-center, Aizada Igibayeva, told news agency 24.kg
on Monday.
A story about U.S. Defense Department's plans for building a military
base in the south of Kyrgyzstan was published in the Washington Post, and
then quoted many a time by other media. The paper quoted Assistant U.S.
Secretary of State Robert Blake, who, speaking in Washington at the
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, expressed concern about
security on the southern borders of Kyrgyzstan. He claimed that militants
from Afghanistan might try to penetrate this border.
As it has been stated by the Kyrgyz Defense Ministry press-center's
official, there are plans for constructing in the south of the country a
training center for the country's own military. The 5.5-million-dollar
project is to be entirely financed by the American side on the
disinterested basis.
In an official statement the Defense Ministry of Kyrgyzstan said that
"the center will include barracks buildings, a dining hall, classrooms, an
obstacle course, and so on. It will be used to train crack units for all
of the country's military and security forces."
The Defense Ministry stressed the idea that the construction of this
facility was not directed against any third countries. Nor does it
contradict the country's obligations within the CSTO and other
international organizations.
In March, the Pentagon announced plans for building in Batken an
anti-terrorism training center for Kyrgyz troops to undergo combat
training. This project was estimated at 5.5 million dollars. On August 7
The Washington Post mentioned a figure of 10 million dollars. The U.S.
side considers this project as part and parcel of broader cooperation
between the U.S. and the Kyrgyz Republic in the sphere of security, which
includes the recent completion of a hospital in the village of Besh-Kungei
and of a training complex for special operations forces in the town of
Tokmak.
The US Air Force Base that has existed in the territory of Kyrgyzstan
since December 2001 was renamed to the Center for Transit last summer. Its
task is to support the international coalition's anti-terrorist operation
Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan.
-0-str
