RUSSIA TO FORTIFY KYRGYZ BASE IF CENTRAL ASIA GETS TENSE – MINISTER

ITAR-TASS news agency, Moscow
23 Oct 04

Bishkek, 23 October: The number of staff and the technical equipment
of Russia’s air base in the Kyrgyz town of Kant will be increased if
the situation gets tense in Central Asia, the (first) deputy
commander-in-chief of the Russian Air Force, (Col-Gen) Anatoliy
Nogovitsyn, said in Kant (at the first anniversary of the air base)
today.

However, he said a decision to fortify the base will be made within
the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO; members are
Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Russia).

“So far, there is no prerequisite for the situation in the region to
destabilize and the Kant air base is being equipped as planned,” he
said.

(Passage omitted: the air base was opened on 23 October 2003)