#13 - RW 269
Nezavisimaya Gazeta
August 12, 2003
RUSSIAN AND AMERICAN INTERESTS CLASH IN TAJIKISTAN
Tajikistan's military infrastructure will depend on the US dollar
Author: Vladimir Mukhin
[from WPS Monitoring Agency, www.wps.ru/e_index.html]

RUSSIAN DEFENSE MINISTRY SOURCES SAY THAT FOLLOWING PRESIDENT PUTIN'S VISIT TO TAJIKISTAN, TALKS ON THE STATUS OF THE 4TH MILITARY BASE TO BE ESTABLISHED IN TAJIKISTAN HAVE STALLED. ANOTHER DIFFERENCE OF OPINION BETWEEN MOSCOW AND DUSHANBE CONCERNS THE OKNO SPACE TRACKING STATION.

Tajikistan remains unyielding on the status of Russian military facilities

Differences over Russian military facilities in Tajikistan have been exacerbated. Reports came in the other day, citing Russian Defense Ministry sources, that the government of Tajikistan is demanding a write-off of Tajikistan's state debt to Russia ($300 million) as a preliminary condition for establishing the 4th Military Base. Officials at the Foreign Ministry and Defense Ministry in Moscow are declining to comment on the report. Tajik Defense Minister Sherali Khairulloyev has denied the report on behalf of the Tajik government.

All the same, there must be something to it. Russian Defense Ministry sources say that following President Vladimir Putin's visit to Tajikistan (his schedule included visiting the 201st Motorized Infantry Division base), talks on the status of the 4th Military Base to be established in Tajikistan have stalled. Defense analysts attribute this to several factors. They believe that when Putin showed interest in continuing the presence of Russian military facilities in Tajikistan, he made it possible for the Tajik government to become much more demanding in the negotiations.

The 201st Motorized Infantry Division is an indicator of the effectiveness of the military reforms underway in the Russian Armed Forces. Despite all difficulties, the division covers eleven sectors of the Tajikistan-Afghanistan border, and is the major barrier to drug traffickers and terrorists. Having such a capable unit always close at hand is very convenient for the government of Tajikistan. Defense analysts say this is why Dushanbe came up with the idea that the unit should be commanded by the Defense Ministry of Tajikistan for the duration of the so-called "special" period (i.e. for the duration of any armed conflict, civil war, and so on). But Moscow recalls the 1991-93 civil war in Tajikistan all too vividly, and refuses to tolerate the idea of having its division commandeered.

The other difference of opinion between Moscow and Dushanbe concerns the facility known as Okno [Window]. This a space tracking station, an element of Russia's missile defense system, built in the Soviet era. The installation has been modernized over the past several years, particularly when the United States quit the ABM Treaty of 1972. Tajikistan is proposing to turn the installation over to Russia permanently (its current status is indeterminate) in return for state debts being written off. In other words, Khairulloyev was not lying when he said that the 201st Division would not be transformed into the 4th Base "in return for debts". Dushanbe has another facility to bargain with. It seems the leaders of Tajikistan know what they are doing, because Okno is a strategic facility and the Russian Federation relies on its defense capacities.

The Tajik government is being so intransigent on the status of Russian military facilities in Tajikistan at a time when the United States is trying to build up its military infrastructure in Tajikistan. According to unofficial reports, Washington has allocated $2.4 million to reconstruct the Dushanbe airport. The Pentagon and NATO states are paying Tajikistan between $3,000 and $5,000 for every landing and takeoff from that airport. There are already plans to reconstruct the military airfield near Kulyab using American money. Under pressure, the headquarters of the 201st Division and other units are moving from central Dushanbe to the city's outskirts. Meanwhile, Washington is starting construction of a diplomatic office complex worth $63 million in central Dushanbe. The Tajik government has already denied reports that Washington offered President Emomali Rakhmonov $1 billion in long-term loans for "not establishing" the Russian 4th Military Base in Tajikistan. But regardless of denials, the rumors persist; and the lack of progress in the talks on the status of Russian military facilities in Tajikistan shows that the Tajik government is standing firm. The United States will give Tajikistan $108 million in aid this year alone; while Russian-Tajik trade turnover amounts to only about $100 million a year.

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