Eurasia News Week in Review - April 4, 2014 Share This /

The main security and political alliances in the region held high-level meetings this week to prepare for NATO’s withdrawal from Afghanistan, while NATO-Russian cooperation on Afghan security operations felt the consequences of the crisis in Crimea. Below is a roundup of these stories and some of the other top articles and news highlights from around Central Eurasia over the last week:

Top stories from Central Asia and the South Caucasus:

• U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Nisha Desai Biswal visited Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan this week to discuss bilateral cooperation and to affirm the United States’ support for the countries’ “sovereignty and territorial integrity.” On Tuesday, Biswal and the Prosecutor General of Kazakhstan discussed security-related issues, most notably an expansion of cooperation in criminal law enforcement. On Thursday, Assistant Secretary Biswal met with Kyrgyz President Almazbek Atambayev, where she confirmed the U.S. will withdraw from the Manas Transit Center in July, but noted, “our friendship extends far wider than the connection with Afghanistan.”
• Three of the main security and political alliances in Eurasia – the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) – held high-level meetings to address security along Central Asia’s border with Afghanistan. On the sidelines of the SCO meeting, Chinese Defense Minister Chang Wanquan announced that his country was providing Tajikistan with “hundreds of millions of dollars” in military assistance and training in a rare public acknowledgement of China’s security activities in the region. The SCO also reportedly discussed working with ethnic leaders along the border to create buffer zones as a way to stem violence coming from Afghanistan.
• NATO announced this week that it was suspending civilian and military cooperation with Russia. However, it remains unclear whether this suspension includes NATO-Russian cooperation in Afghanistan, particularly along the Northern Distribution Network transit routes.  While Russian news agency ITAR-TASS reported that the suspension included “the cargo transit project for NATO forces through Russian territory,” both Stars and Stripes and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reported exactly the opposite. Russia’s actions in Ukraine have also led NATO to propose stronger military ties with Armenia, Azerbaijan and Moldova, according to a confidential paper leaked by a German news agency and picked up by The Guardian.

Quick hits from Central Asia and the South Caucasus:

• On Monday, the State Department clarified the process for donating excess military equipment currently in Afghanistan. You can read analyses on the impact of the donations process on Central Asia on our blog and on the Bug Pit.
• Deputy Commander of U.S. Special Operations Command Central (SOCCENT), Brigadier General Kurt Crytzer, visited Tajikistan on Wednesday to meet with Tajik and American officials. The two sides discussed military cooperation between the United States and Tajikistan, including SOCCENT’s relationship with Tajik Special Operations Forces.
• Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan conducted joint anti-terrorism exercises in Uzbekistan, during which the participants worked on “planning, preparation and execution” of anti-terrorist operations, as well as identification of “terrorist groups” and release of hostages. Delegations from other SCO member countries were invited as observers.
• Secretary General of the CSTO Nikolai Bordyuzha stated that he was “confident” Afghan militants are attempting to breakthrough into neighboring Central Asian countries, pointing to the increase of clashes on the Tajik-Afghan border over the last six months.
• Borzhyuna also criticized the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan this week for not tackling drug trafficking operations in the country and allowing a “drug mafia” to develop.
• Tajikistan and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) held an annual forum to discuss past cooperation and priorities for the upcoming year. The head of the OSCE office in Tajikistan noted: “For 2015, the OSCE Office in Tajikistan will support the government in addressing the expected changes in the security environment of the country after the drawdown of NATO forces from Afghanistan.”
• Kazakhstan reshuffled its cabinet on Wednesday, with a former prime minister being reinstated and the outgoing prime minister assuming the role of Defense Minister. President Nursultan Nazarbayev said he appointed a civilian to the Defense Ministry’s top post in order to better manage Kazakhstan’s developing defense industry.
• Less than 100 days before the end of U.S. operations at the Manas Airbase in Kyrgyzstan, the 376^th Expeditionary Maintenance Group wrapped up its service on Saturday after twelve and a half years at the base. 
• Georgia participated in the Viking 2014 international exercise on Monday alongside Bulgaria, Ireland and Serbia and led by Sweden.  The exercises served to improve coordination between troops, law enforcement and the civil sector in crisis conditions.