MOSCOW, May 19 (RIA Novosti) - The situation in Uzbekistan did not affect the Russian military bases in Central Asia, chief of the Russian General Staff Yuri Baluyevsky told journalists in Moscow.
In the small hours of Friday, May 13, militants seized the local prison and a number of administrative buildings in Andizhan (Uzbekistan). The troops entered the town afterwards and liberated the administration premises.
On Saturday public disorders spread to Karasu on the Uzbek-Kyrgyz border where the insurgents burned down some administrative buildings. They did not put forward any political demands.
The events in Andizhan and Karasu made many people flee Uzbekistan to Kyrgyzstan where Russia has a military base.
Russia has two military bases in Central Asia. In October 2003, an air base was deployed in Kant (Kyrgyzstan). This is a base of the collective rapid deployment force of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO: Russia, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Armenia). According to Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov, the Russian leadership plans further development of this base.
The other base is located in Tajikistan. The agreement to transform the Russian 201st motorized rifle division into a Russian military base was signed during Russian President Vladimir Putin's visit to Dushanbe in October 2004. This base also includes an air base at Aini, 20 km away from Dushanbe. The base is an important element of Central Asian security.
Moreover, Tajikistan handed the Okno (window) optic and electronic complex in Nurek (the Pamir mountains) to Russia to repay its debt. The complex comprises a unique system of detecting and tracking space targets at a distance of up to 40,000 km. Only the United States possesses a similar complex.
