Kyrgyzstan will not be big powers’ pawn, says newly elected president

KYRGYZSTAN’S new president has said the Central Asian country will pursue an independent foreign policy, and will not be “a place for the fulfilment of someone else’s geopolitical interests”.

Kurmanbek Bakiyev, a former opposition leader who has been acting president since coming to power during a March 24 popular uprising, won a landslide victory in a July 10 presidential election and was inaugurated Sunday as the new leader of the former Soviet republic.

Kyrgyzstan hosts about 1,000 US-led troops to support combat operations in Afghanistan - a presence which became particularly important after neighbouring Uzbekistan demanded the withdrawal of US troops within 180 days.

Bakiyev had said after his election that the necessity of the US base in his country should be discussed, but Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld later won Kyrgyz assurances that American troops can stay in Kyrgyzstan as long as they are needed to bring stability to Afghanistan.

Kyrgyzstan also hosts a Russian military base 20 miles from the US base.

“Kyrgyzstan won’t become a place for the fulfilment of someone else’s geopolitical interests,” Bakiyev said in his inauguration speech.

“We respect the interests of other nations, but the interests of our own people and state, freedom and independence of Kyrgyzstan are predominant for us.”

Western observers praised the Kyrgyz presidential vote, saying it was an improvement over parliamentary elections earlier this year that triggered the uprising that ousted longtime President Askar Akayev who fled to Russia.

“We have defended and consolidated democracy,” Bakiyev told a crowd of about 5,000 after taking presidential oath at the Kyrgyz capital’s central square. “It’s your victory, the victory of the entire people.”