#12
strana.ru
September 18, 2001
Opinion differs in Central Asian countries on
cooperation with United
States in fight against terrorism
Not everybody in CIS Central Asian countries supports U.S. action
By Vitaly Ponomarev
In the course of his meeting with U.S. envoy to Turkmenistan Eric Schultz
President Saparmurat Niyazov said he understands "the importance of uniting
efforts in the struggle with international terrorism" and supported the
initiative to create an international anti-terrorist coalition.
That remark, however, was largely of an unbinding nature. In an effort to
preclude an incorrect interpretation pro-government sources stressed later
in the day that no "concrete forms" of Turkmenistan's participation in
the
coalition had been discussed. Turkmenistan's foreign ministry issued a
statement saying the anti-terrorist coalition should be formed as "a
permanent organ under the United Nations." All official reports made it
clear that Turkmenistan was a neutral country, which ruled out its
participation in any military-political blocs. Unofficial sources at
Turkmenistan's foreign ministry said even if the UN Security Council adopts
a relevant resolution, "only information and humanitarian cooperation could
be considered, not the deployment of foreign troops."
This stand has several reasons, notably the country's close political and
economic links with the Taliban and its inability to take the Afghan border
under effective control following the withdrawal of Russian border guards
in 1999.
Turkmen opposition spokesmen accuse top Turkmen officials of involvement in
drug-trafficking from Afghanistan. Besides, the presence of foreign troops
in Afghanistan would be in conflict with Turkmenistan's policy of
restricting access tothe country, which is an important instrument of
ensuring internal political stability.
As past experience shows, if the conflict gets underway, refugees from
Afghanistan are expected to be blocked in the border area, with the
authorities trying to prevent large groups of Afghans from entering the
country.
Against the background of unfolding events Niyazov might come up with
"peace initiatives" to suggest Ashkhabad as the venue for
negotiations.
A few days ago Uzbekistan's Foreign Minister Abdulaziz Kamilov said his
country was ready to allow theStates to use the country's territory and
airspace for strikes against the Taliban and discuss any forms of
cooperation in the fight against terrorism. This unambiguous statement
reflects Tashkent's desire to take advantage of the situation in order to
wipe out the threat coming from Uzbekistan's Islamic movement whose leaders
have the support of the Taliban. Kamilov made the statement despite
Moscow's clear stand that it does not want to have an American military
presence in the former Soviet republics of Central Asia.
The statement is indicative of a change in Tashkent's policies: it has
repeatedly said in the past that "foreign (Russian) army servicemen"
could
not be deployed in Uzbekistan.
Tashkent regards itsrole in the anti-terrorist operation (whether active or
passive) as the opportunity to restore its geopolitical influence in the
region which has been undercut by Dustum's defeat in the north of
Afghanistan, the failure of an anti-government rebellion in Tajikistan and
the start of armed struggle by Islamic insurgents.
Tajikistan is the country which is dependent on Russia more than other
countries, and it is obvious that a decision on its participation in an
American operation in Afghanistan will be made in Moscow, not Dushanbe.
So far Dushanbe has been at pains to deny the possibility of its territory
being used for strikes against the Taliban.
However, it is likewise clear that troops of the anti-Taliban northern
alliance are being supplied with weapons and other essentials via Tajik
territory. An air base of the alliance is situatedhere (in Kulyab). Given
that troops of the northern alliance will almost certainly be involved in
the forthcoming fighting, Tajikistan's territory will in one way or another
be used for carrying supplies to anti-Taliban forces.
