Tag Archives: military bases

Georgian soldiers killed in Afghanistan

JUNE 6 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili has made joining NATO, the US-led military alliance, one of the cornerstones of his foreign policy.

Mr Saakashvili has vigorously supported NATO’s war in Afghanistan. There was no internal threat to Georgia from Islamic radicals trained by the Taliban, the initial reason for Western armies to march into Afghanistan. Mr Saakashvili’s motive was purely geo-political.

Georgia has 1,600 soldiers in Afghanistan, the highest number of all non-NATO members, stationed mainly in Helmand province, one of the more restless areas. Considering the commitment, Georgian casualties had been relatively light. That, though, has changed.

On June 6, a suicide bomber blew himself up outside a Georgian military base, killing seven soldiers. This was the largest single loss of life to NATO forces this year. Last month three Georgian soldiers died in a similar attack. Since 2010, 27 Georgian soldiers have died in Afghanistan, according to the website icasualties.org.

The official reaction was one of defiance and Georgia’s defence minister Irakli Alasania broke off a trip to Brussels to visit soldiers in Afghanistan. On the streets of Tbilisi support for the war is still strong too but this may be beginning to change.

ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved

(News report from Issue No. 138, published on June 10 2013)

Kazakh presidents attends military parade

MAY 7 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Wearing camouflaged military uniform, Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev took the salute at the largest parade by Kazakhstan’s military. Increasingly wealthy, Kazakhstan wants to show off its military might. Over 7,000 soldiers, 400 vehicles and 80 aircraft paraded in front of Mr Nazarbayev at a military base.

ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved

(News report from Issue No. 135, published on May 20 2013)

US plane crashes in Kyrgyzstan

MAY 3 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) – A US refuelling aircraft crashed in Kyrgyzstan, killing all three crew members. The aircraft had taken off from the US airbase outside Bishkek. Some media reports said the plane exploded in mid-air before crashing into the ground near the border with Kazakhstan in the north of the country.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 134, published on May 6 2013)

Tajikistan wants Russia to fund hydropower

MARCH 19 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) – The Russian newspaper Kommersant reported that Tajikistan wants Russia to guarantee funding for hydropower equipment in return for extending the lease on its military base. Last year Russia and Tajikistan agreed a 40 year extension to the Russian military base, an issue that had strained relations.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 128, published on March 22 2013)

US pays $200m for Kyrgyzstan’s Manas

JAN. 17 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) – The US paid Kyrgyzstan $200m last year for use of an airbase outside Bishkek to support their military in Afghanistan, US assistant secretary for Central Asia Robert Blake told media in Bishkek. The US rental fee makes the Manas airbase one of Kyrgyzstan’s biggest foreign income earners.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 120, published on Jan. 18 2013)

US pays $200m for airbase in Kyrgyzstan

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 120, published on Jan. 18 2013)

Russia’s base remains in Kyrgyzstan for another 15 years

DEC. 13 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kyrgyzstan’s parliament ratified an agreement to allow Russia’s airbase to remain for another 15 years with an option for a possible 5 year extension, media reported. Under the agreement, Russia will pay $4.5m per year for the airbase, a torpedo testing site on the shores of Lake Issyk-Kul and a seismology centre.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 117, published on Dec. 14 2012)

Russia to close its radar in Azerbaijan

DEC. 13 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – In the end, years of on-off negotiations came to nothing when Russia walked away from talks with Azerbaijan on an extension on its lease of a radar station.

Officially, the Qabala radar station in northern Afghanistan was deemed surplus to Russian military requirements. Unofficially, and perhaps more plausibly, the main reason for Russia walking away from a potential deal was its refusal to pay the $150m annual rent that the Azerbaijani government had, apparently, asked for.

That’s what Russian news agency Interfax reported. It said that Russia had been prepared to match an initial fee of $7m a year but that it considered the Azerbaijani demand excessive.

Certainly, the Qabala radar station had been important to the Russian military. It has a range of 6,000km and could detect missiles being fired across the Middle East, a useful thing when tension in the region is rising.

Now though, Russia will have to do without the Soviet-era radar system that only a few years ago it had offered to the US as an alternative to a proposed missile defence system in eastern Europe.

And if the reason touted by the Russian media is true — that Azerbaijan simply pushed up the price too high — it must be another indicator of Azerbaijan’s rising fiscal powers.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 117, published on Dec. 14 2012)

Putin extends military base lease in Tajikistan

OCT. 5 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – Russian president Vladimir Putin signed a deal with his Tajik counterpart, Emomalii Rakhmon, to extend Russia’s lease on a military base in the Pamir mountains. The deal extends Russia’s tenure on the base until 2044. In return, media reported that Russia had agreed to supply modern weapons.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 108, published on Oct. 12 2012)

Putin visits Tajikistan

OCT. 4 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – Russian president Vladimir Putin flew into Tajikistan for the start of a two-day visit which is expected to culminate in a deal to extend Russia’s lease on a military base. The base is Russia’s largest overseas mission and is considered a vital component of its military strategy.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 107, published on Oct. 5 2012)