Uzbek refugees at the Suzak camp in Kyrgyzstan in June Kyrgyzstan has faced a dilemma since hundreds of Uzbek refugees crossed into the country to flee violence in May. Uzbekistan wants the remaining refugees back and strongly criticized the United Nations' transfer of more than 400 of the refugees to Romania in late July. Fifteen more now await a decision by Kyrgyzstan as to whether they will be allowed to follow the earlier group. The UN says they should be permitted to leave, but Tashkent claims that the 15 refugees are criminals and is demanding their return. Stuck in the middle is Kyrgyzstan, whose new government is fearful of Uzbek authority but equally concerned about maintaining good ties with the international community.
Uzbek refugees bound for Romania (file photo) 2 August 2005 (RFE/RL) -- The United Nations refugee agency, the UNHCR, today reiterated its call --> /featuresarticle/2005/7/FE03822F-9C1B-4BE4-9E05-17F57FF793FD.html on Kyrgyzstan to not to hand over to Uzbek authorities 15 Uzbeks who fled a military crackdown in Uzbekistan in May.
2 August 2005 (RFE/RL) -- Russia and China will hold their first-ever joint military exercises later this month.
Uzbek President Islam Karimov (file photo) Uzbek authorities asked the United States to pull all military forces out of the Karshi-Khanabad air base in the country’s south. The decision comes a few days after U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld visited neighboring Kyrgyzstan and received assurances from Bishkek officials that the U.S. air base can remain there as long as needed.
Namazbek Uraliev (left) and Sylvian Roy find a common language Artists trying to preserve Europe's ancient music traditions have gathered at the St. Chartier Festival in central France for the past 30 years. In July, their knowledge of ancient music was illuminated by Central Asian masters -- both performers and instrument makers -- who were guests of the festival. RFE/RL reports on the recent meeting of two ancient musical traditions.
U.S. troops at Kyrgyzstan's Manas airfield (file photo) 1 August 2005 (RFE/RL) -- The U.S. military said today that Uzbekistan's decision asking Washington to vacate the base at Khanabad --> http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2005/7/F30BA0CE-CE97-47A1-9116-E27D25BBCE8A.html will not affect operations in Afghanistan.
1 August 2005 (RFE/RL) -- Uzbekistan today denounced last week's UN airlift to Romania --> /featuresarticle/2005/07/b68641bf-faf2-4c08-a68e-67337c8df838.html of 440 Uzbek refugees who had been staying in Kyrgyzstan after fleeing repression in eastern Uzbekistan in May.
Uzbek soldiers on the Kyrgyz border (file photo) 1 August 2005 (RFE/RL) -- The Prosecutor-General's Office in Kyrgyzstan says 15 Uzbek refugees detained in the southern Kyrgyz city of Osh should be deported to Uzbekistan.
Anti-government protestors in Tashkent (file photo) On 29 July, Uzbek President Islam Karimov informed the United States that it has 180 days to vacate the Karshi-Khanabad air base it has used to support operations in Afghanistan since late 2001. Initial reactions linked the move to worsening U.S.-Uzbek relations in the wake of the reported massacre in Andijon and increasing coziness between Tashkent, Peking, and Moscow. These are relevant, but secondary factors. The primary driving force behind Karimov's initiative is his belief that the United States has gone from a useful strategic partner to a meddlesome plotter that threatens his hold on power.
31 July 2005 -- U.S. officials have confirmed that they have been asked to withdraw all U.S. military forces from the Karshi-Khanabad air base in southern Uzbekistan, which has served as a hub for U.S.-led coalition missions in Afghanistan since shortly after the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001.
Uzbek refugees in Osh before the UN-backed transfer to Romania United Nations, 30 July 2005 (RFE/RL) -- The United Nations' top human rights official has appealed to Kyrgyzstan not to hand over to Tashkent refugees who fled after Uzbek troops crushed an uprising in the east of the country in mid-May, suggesting they could face torture if they are repatriated.
Yakubzhanov was in Uzbekistan to cover events connected with the mid-May violence 30 July 2005 (RFE/RL) -- Kyrgyz officials said today that Uzbekistan has released a Kyrgyz journalist detained earlier this month after he was sent to report on unrest in the city of Andijon.
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