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Russia concerned over situation in security partner Kyrgyzstan

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  • Russia concerned over situation in security partner Kyrgyzstan

    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.
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