Russia concerned over situation in security partner Kyrgyzstan
Agence France Presse — English
March 23, 2005 Wednesday 2:03 PM GMT
MOSCOW March 23 — Russia’s Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov said
Wednesday that Moscow was concerned over the situation in Kyrgyzstan
and reminded the opposition that Bishkek was a member of a collective
security agreement with Moscow.
“Kyrgyzstan is our ally in the agreement on collective security,”
Ivanov said in televised comments.
“I think that the so-called opposition will have enough brains to
find the strength to calm down and turn the situation into a political
dialogue,” he said.
“In all, we are concerned about the development of the internal
situation in the country,” he said. “What is happening in the south
of the country has long been outside a lawful framework.”
Supporters of Kyrgyzstan’s disjointed opposition have been staging
demonstrations since the results of an election held on March 13
were announced, virtually shutting the opposition out of the nation’s
parliament.
The opposition charges that President Askar Akayev’s administration
had helped fix the vote in order to pack the 75-seat chamber with
supporters ahead of presidential elections in October.
Russia signed a collective cooperation security treaty with five
ex-Soviet republics in 1992 — Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan
and Tajikistan. The treaty calls for a united effort by its members
in the fight against terrorism, drug trafficking and organized crime.
Kyrgyz authorities have on several occasions charged that the protests
that have roiled Kyrgyzstan’s south over the contested legislative
poll were linked to criminal and radical Islamic groups.