30 April 2008: Once hailed by the West as an oasis of democracy, the Kyrgyz Republic (more commonly known as Kyrgyzstan), may be the only Central Asian state that is openly friendly to the West. The Kyrgyz government has allowed Canada and the United States to have a dominating presence in the country for many years both militarily and commercially.
Commercially, Canada holds a huge stake in the gold markets in the country. But for the United States, recent events occurring at the U.S. military base at Manas airport, has prompted many Kyrgyz government officials and civilians to reconsider its military presence. These incidents (and the local Kyrgyz reaction to them), reflect the inevitable and oncoming breakdown of U.S.-Kyrgyz relations. It is predicted that these incidents will further contribute to the recent tensions. The breakdown of cooperation can only be disastrous for both parties: militarily and geopolitically for the United States, and economically for Kyrgyzstan.
The Manas airbase, located 30 miles North of Bishkek, serves as a strategic military outpost for the United States. It permits the United States to effectively conduct and execute military operations in Afghanistan relating to the War on Terror. The location of the airbase in Kyrgyzstan and the country’s physical geographic location permit the United States to exert political influence and foreign military dominance over the region. Occupation in Kyrgyzstan allows the United States to counter any shred of Russian influence that may endanger American interests in the region and in the Middle East. This makes the U.S. the supreme foreign power in the region, and makes Kyrgyzstan the only country with both a Russian and American military base. Now more than ever this is significant because Kyrgyzstan recently revealed the existence of three more Russian military facilities at Russia’s Kant airbase.
If the Kyrgyz government and its citizens were to act on their current feelings of disdain, Kyrgyzstan would suffer economically. The economic problem ironically stems from the Tulip Revolution. Once Askar Akayev was ousted, the United States feared that the Kyrgyz government would not extend the contract, or worse, evict the United States. Also once Bakiyev took power, rent increased: from two million annually to 150 million in assistance/compensation as of July 2006. If the airbase closed it would be disastrous considering the GDP of the country is 10.38 billion, 40% of its population lives in poverty, and the monthly income is less than $300 soms.
The Kyrgyz government and people opened their country to the United States after the tragic events of September 11, 2001 recognizing the need to combat terrorism in the Middle East. The United States had early interests in the Manas airport because of its infrastructure: fourteen thousand feet runway, and its ability to support international flights. The Kyrgyz government was more than cooperative and encouraged the United States to freely conduct operations against the Taliban and Al-Qaeda in Afghanistan. Unfortunately, events in neighboring Uzbekistan began to spill over into Kyrgyzstan. The events in Uzbekistan led to the eviction of United States forces from the Uzbek Karshi-Khanabad (K2) military installation in 2005. This was the beginning of a long chain of events that would increase tension between the U.S. and Kyrgyzstan. Most of the incidents occurred directly between United States military personnel and private Kyrgyz citizens and workers.
The first incident was something that hit the U.S. a little too close to home. Three males, later discovered to be members of Islamic fundamentalist group Hizb ut Tahrir, were arrested for attempting to bomb the airbase in 2003. On September 5, 2006, an American Air Force Major, Jill Metzger, had gone missing; her disappearance a mystery. Major Metzger reappeared three days later. She claims that she was kidnapped by three Kyrgyz men. The incident restricted military personnel to the base. Following that, a United States Air Force KC-135 Stratotanker and a Kyrgyz TU-154 passenger plane collided in September of 2006. The Kyrgyz government blamed the American personnel.
By this time, it was obvious the Kyrgyz people had begun to grow weary and had begun to express disapproval of U.S. military and American presence. In July 2006, the Kyrgyz government expelled two American envoys; the United States reciprocated the gesture. The next event facilitated a Kyrgyz response and expedited the articulation of a policy opposing the extension of the Manas airbase contract to the United States. On December 6, 2007 a Russian male trucker who was making a delivery to the base was shot dead by a U.S. soldier as he exited his cabin at a checkpoint manned by U.S. soldiers. The United States said that the soldier’s actions were “in response to a threat.” The Kyrgyz people requested that the soldier be tried either by a United States military tribunal or by a Kyrgyz court. The soldier was tried by neither, and he was not punished. This sparked outrage, which solidified mounting Kyrgyz contempt for the United States.
Kyrgyz activists seized the opportunity making their feelings clear by sponsoring a song-writing contest for Kyrgyz musicians to protest U.S. occupation at the Manas airport. The contest winner will win $1,000 dollars, and will have the opportunity to perform their song outside the airbase this month. This can be very problematic for the United States since this is an appeal to the ordinary Kyrgyz person. It allows the activists to build a populist-oriented grassroots opposition against the United States by offering a monetary incentive and a chance to influence policy.
Populism in Kyrgyzstan is a unifying force and it is on the rise. Once the Tulip Revolution ended, the number of advocacy and civic groups increased, and because of this, individuals, groups, and organizations were allowed to freely pursue their political agendas. This has empowered the Kyrgyz people and has resulted in an increased number of protests against the government. When protests are held everyone is participating. There are no political and religious boundaries separating citizens from one another.
Cohesiveness among the populace creates only trouble for a foreign power because the populace has the ability to pressure their government which has the potential to affect relations with foreign countries. In Kyrgyzstan, this is expected to happen considering that the Bakiyev Administration is very receptive to the concerns of its citizens.
Facing mass protests monthly, the government is trying to be more flexible by listening to protesters’ localized and constitutional-oriented concerns. The protesters have been relatively successful considering the instability and uncertain future of Kyrgyzstan. For about a decade, they have been protesting the commercial conduct of foreign nations and corporations.
Kyrgyz workers for a while have been protesting the Canadian Cameco’s subsidiary, Centerra Gold Inc., and its operation of the Kumtor Gold Mine located in the Tien Shan Mountains. The workers are protesting in light of serious labor and human rights violations. The current actions of the company, and their attempts to cover them up, reveal an attitude of recklessness and negligence. Two specific incidents have sparked anti-Canadian investment attitudes: a May 1998 cyanide spill in the Barskoon River, and the death of a Kyrgyz worker buried by a 200 meter pit wall that collapsed in July 2002.
The spilling of cyanide has caused irrevocable damage. The Barskoon River is still contaminated and the villagers living near Lake Issykkul, who have suffered physically, have yet to receive compensation. Cameco, owners of Centerra, claim to have paid the compensation, but the Kyrgyz people have not received it. In 2005, 300 protesters staged a protest blocking the road to Kumtor demanding compensation. Conveniently for Centerra, the documents were altered stating that the conditions suffered by residents at the time of the spill were natural afflictions. It is suspected that officials have embezzled the money or that Cameco did not pay. Also in July 1998, another chemical spill occurred when seventy liters of nitric acid along a road near Bishkek, in Tokmak were spilled. Both incidents have caused environmental damage and posed public health problems.
In 2002, a 25 year-old Kyrygz worker, Almaz Jakishev, was buried when a 200 meter pit wall collapsed. The structural and safety problems of Kumtor were evident, but Centerra gold continued to mine anyways. Centerra’s sheer disregard for labor rights and safety revived anti-Western sentiment and in May 2007, workers stormed the mine and protested mining activities citing more labor violations. Centerra’s refusal to be audited by an independent agency concerning Kumtor raises issues of trust and transparency, which have lead to increased suspicions of foreign investors.
With the reopening of the mine in mid-April, the future of Kyrgyzstan’s foreign investment is unclear. The exploration of the gold mine, Jerooy, by Canadian Oxus Gold is also a growing cause for concern. Already, Oxus Gold has failed to honor its contract obligations, further delaying exploration. The exploration of Jerooy has been met with resistance and advocacy groups assert that it will result in ecological and environmental problems.
So what is the future for Kyrgyzstan and the West? Recent visits by U.S. officials at Manas airbase have begun to ease tensions. However, Kyrgyzstan’s membership and participation in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization has shifted Kyrgyzstan away from the West and into the arms of Russia and China. The outcome of the struggle of the United States and Canada to regain the confidence of the Kyrgyz people and officials will be determined by their future activity and actions in the country. Perceived poorly, the United States and Canada have to do a lot of damage control to regain their foothold in the region. The winner of the song-writing contest has yet to be announced but the winning song will unveil the true feelings of the Kyrgyz people, whose voices otherwise would be ignored about this issue. |
