Donald Lu, Assistant to the US Department of State for South and Central Asian Affairs, visited Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Kazakhstan between 23-27 May 2022, respectively. In a statement made before the visit, the ministry stated that the purpose of these contacts is to “advance joint efforts to strengthen the United States’ relations with the region and to build a more connected, prosperous and secure Central Asia.”
The delegation chaired by Lu consists of Eric Green, Chairman of the US National Security Council for Russia and Central Asia, Rebecca Zimmerman, Assistant Secretary of Defense for Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Central Asia, and Anjali Kaur, Deputy Director of the Asia Bureau of the US Agency for International Development and Naz El-Hatib, Vice President of Policy at the US Development Finance Corporation.
The main objective of the US delegation’s visit to Central Asia is to enhance cooperation in the security and economic fields and to reinvigorate the C5+1 format. The C5+1 format, established during the Obama period, envisages increasing collaboration between the parties in areas such as security, energy, economy, transportation, infrastructure, and environmental protection. According to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, the actual purpose of the C5+1 project is to weaken the ties of the countries of the region with Moscow and redirect them to cooperation with their southern neighbors, Afghanistan and Pakistan.[1] Therefore, according to Moscow; The USA is again engaged in geopolitical struggle in Central Asia.
The second visiting point of the American delegation was Kyrgyzstan. Kyrgyzstan is essential for Washington and US Delegation Chairman Lu in several respects. Kyrgyzstan is important for Washington and US Delegation Chairman Lu in several respects. First, Lu was Ambassador in Bishkek until 2021. Therefore, Lu is closely acquainted with Kyrgyzstan and its problems. The second is Kyrgyzstan; Like Tajikistan, it economically depends on Russia and China. Economic sanctions against Russia affect the Kyrgyzstan economy more Economic issues in the country can lead to political instability. In addition, the business world in the country has very close relations with China. It may depend more on China to protect its commercial interests and prevent economic instability. Third, it may need Russia or China more to ensure its security in the face of threats originating from Afghanistan, as it is one of the weakest countries militarily.
Considering the strategic position of Kyrgyzstan, the USA is trying to re-establish previously weakened relations. It tries to re-establish its relations in return for providing support in solving the problems of Kyrgyzstan.
On May 23, 2022, Lu, during his meeting with the representatives of the Kyrgyz authorities, said that they discussed a new cooperation agreement between the two countries; Kyrgyzstan invited the new Foreign Minister Jeenbek Kulubayev to Washington for the signing of this agreement, Foreign Minister Antony Blinken is looking forward to this meeting, and lastly, he wanted to establish a high-level relationship between governments.
In his meeting with Kulubayev, Lu announced that they agreed to work together to ensure security and stability in Central Asia and improve the investment environment in Kyrgyzstan. In the statement made by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Kyrgyzstan, it was stated that the parties discussed regional and global issues as well as current issues.[2]
Lu served as the US Ambassador to Bishkek until 2021. After the end of his diplomatic mission in Kyrgyzstan, Lu, in his statement in May 2021, said that he had been working on the adoption of a new agreement between Kyrgyzstan and the USA for almost three years and that the negotiations on technical issues had been completed, and that the political will of Bishkek and Washington was needed to sign the agreement.[3]
Uzra Zei, the US Assistant Secretary of State for Civil Security, Democracy, and Human Rights, met with Kyrgyzstan Deputy Prime Minister Edil Baisalov in Bishkek on April 15, 2022, during his visit to Central Asia. During the negotiations, cooperation on strengthening democracy, fighting corruption, and simplifying visa requirements was discussed, and Zei said that the United States is ready to sign a new cooperation agreement with Kyrgyzstan.[4] Baisalov took a similar stance and stated that his country would be pleased to intensify its cooperation with the United States.
President of Kyrgyzstan Sadir Caparov, who called for the issue not to be politicized, said in his statement on April 25, 2022, that Kyrgyzstan should sign an economic cooperation agreement with several countries, including the USA, to ensure economic growth. Kasparov said, “Kyrgyzstan carries out the same foreign policy with all the countries of the world. We need to think about the measures to be taken to country’s economy and pay off foreign debts. Therefore, we need to sign an economic agreement not only with America, but with all countries.”[5]
The foundations of cooperation between Kyrgyzstan and the USA are based on the cooperation agreement signed in Washington in 1993. After the US operation in Afghanistan in 2001, bilateral relations were raised to a “strategic partnership” level. In 2001, the USA established an air base near Bishkek. But later, when relations started to deteriorate, Kyrgyzstan tried to close the American base in the country. Because the worsening of the US-Kyrgyzstan relations began in February 2009, when the President of Kyrgyzstan, Kurmanbek Bakiyev, announced that the US military base in Manas would be closed during his visit to Moscow. According to Bakiyev, the reason for this decision was issued as economic compensation for the presence of the American base on the territory of Kyrgyzstan and the case of the murder of a Kyrgyz citizen by an American soldier, which has not been resolved in recent years. Although Kyrgyzstan wanted to close the military base because of internal issues, the pressures of Russia and China on Bishkek in this direction were also influential.
Resisting the pressures of Kyrgyzstan, the USA could extend the base’s license period until 2014 due to the strategic location of the “Manas Transit Center,” playing a decisive role in bilateral relations and being the only military base in Central Asia. However, on July 11, 2014, Kyrgyzstan announced that it had terminated the agreement on the operation of the said military base. In 2015, the Bishkek administration announced that it unilaterally terminated the basic cooperation agreement signed with Washington in 1993. This decision was taken to protest the awarding of the US State Department Human Rights Award to human rights activist Azimjan Askarov, who was sentenced to life imprisonment in the south of Kyrgyzstan in June 2010 for organizing mass uprisings in the country and complicity in the murder of a law enforcement officer.
With the withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan in August 2021, Washington became interested in re-increasing its military presence in the Central Asian region. Russia has declared that it is against the efforts of the USA to re-establish activity in the region. On the subject, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on August 24, 2021, that he does not want to see American soldiers in Central Asia, that this region constitutes a common security area and this area is under his obligations, and that the issues related to the deployment of foreign armed forces on its territory are discussed in the Collective Security declared that the Treaty Organization was based on the consent of all its allies.[6]
After the US withdrawal from Afghanistan and the Taliban came to power, Russia deployed a brutal military force in the region, especially in Tajikistan, and strengthened the existing ones. After the Ukraine intervention, Russia’s military and the political focus shifted to the West. This has also impacted the foreign policies of Central Asian countries. In addition, the sanctions against Russia negatively affected the region’s countries.
The USA started to look for ways to increase its influence in the region by considering both the relations of the countries in the region with Russia, the situation in which Russia fell, and the economic problems of the countries in the region.
Kyrgyzstan is at least as necessary as other countries in the region. The USA aims to solve the problems of previous years and rebuild the broken relations. Kyrgyzstan primarily needs new partners to find solutions to its economic problems. The traditional multi-dimensional foreign policy principle allows for developing relations with the USA as well as with Russia. The relations it has established with global and regional powers since its independence contributed to the increase of Kyrgyzstan’s importance in the eyes of these actors. Thus, the Bishkek administration has practised that it can establish relations with any actor who wants to cooperate with it. Considering the economic situation of Russia, Kyrgyzstan needs more foreign support.
As well as the economic expectations, Kyrgyzstan aims to gain an advantage in its competition with the region’s countries by getting support from the great powers. While the Taliban issue remains uncertain, border disputes with Tajikistan continue. Fo Kyrgyzstan is more likely to conflict with Tajikistan in the current conjuncture. Russia considers Tajikistan more important than Kyrgyzstan because It is on the border with Afghanistan. Due to threats from Afghanistan, Tajikistan is gaining significant foreign support because of the anti-Taliban stance it has adopted. On the other hand, Kyrgyzstan remains in the background in this process and is uncomfortable with it.
Kyrgyzstan needs more foreign support to solve its economic problems and ensure its national security; The USA’s desire to be active by re-developing its relations with Central Asia ensures that the interests of both countries overlap. The signing of a dysfunctional cooperation agreement between Kyrgyzstan and the USA will bring a significant success in the US’s regional policy.
Bilateral relations with Kyrgyzstan has a strategic value for the United States due to factors such as Tajikistan’s getting closer to Russia and then China, Uzbekistan’s non-bloc policy, and Kazakhstan’s fear of Russia and therefore not being able to get far from Moscow and Turkmenistan’s neutrality status. The USA’s developing relations with Kyrgyzstan and then increasing its dialogue with other countries in the region will prepare an important ground for it to compete in the region against Russia and China.
[1] “Центральной Азии протянули руку помощника”, Kommersant, https://www.kommersant.ru/amp/5369342, (Date of Accession: 27.05.2022).
[2] “Помощник госсекретаря США рассказал, о чем беседовал с главой МИД Кыргызстана”, 24 KG, https://24.kg/vlast/234419_pomoschnik_gossekretarya_ssha_rasskazal_onbspchem_besedoval_snbspglavoy_mid_kyirgyizstana/, (Date of Accession: 27.05.2022).
[3] “Новое соглашение о сотрудничестве США и Кыргызстана готово к подписанию”, 24 KG, https://24.kg/vlast/234951_novoe_soglashenie_osotrudnichestve_ssha_ikyirgyizstana_gotovo_kpodpisaniyu/, (Date of Accession: 27.05.2022).
[4] “США готовы подписать с Кыргызстаном новое соглашение о сотрудничестве”, 24 KG, https://knews.kg/2022/04/15/ssha-gotovy-podpisat-s-kyrgyzstanom-novoe-soglashenie-o-sotrudnichestve/, (Date of Accession: 27.05.2022).
[5] “Киргизия хочет подписать соглашение об экономическом сотрудничестве с США”, Nezavisimaya Gazeta, https://www.ng.ru/cis/2022-04-25/5_8426_news1.html, (Date of Accession: 27.05.2022).
[6] “Россия не хочет видеть военных США в Центральной Азии, заявил Лавров”, Ria Novosti, https://ria.ru/20210824/aziya-1747032227.html, (Date of Accession: 27.05.2022).
