Kyrgyz -U.S. Relations
Asia Society Texas’ Annual Ambassadors’ Forum & Corporate Conference
“U.S. – Asia Relations: The next four years”

H. E. Baktybek Abdrisaev
Ambassador of the Kyrgyz Republic to the United States

Texas, February 11, 2005

Dear Chairman!
Excellencies!
Ladies and Gentlemen!

Thank you for the invitation to take part at your gathering and to speak before this eminent audience about relations of my country with the United States. It is my third time attending this wonderful event organized by the Asia Society of Houston and I would like to express my deep appreciation for your warmth and traditional hospitality.

After 13 years of independence in the Kyrgyz Republic we have had fundamental changes not only in our life, but also in our psychology due to a policy of active engagement with the world community and western democracies, including the United States. Have we achieved the set goals? What are our prospects? What do we expect from our cooperation with the USA and the West? These questions permanently concern our society. I am glad that they are resonating in this audience, too.

At the initial stage, two vectors had a key significance for Kyrgyzstan - building a democratic society and establishing a liberal economy.

The United States was among the first foreign countries that recognized our independence and opened its Embassy in Bishkek. And the USA was one of the first countries that began providing comprehensive assistance to the young Kyrgyz nation facing the new historical opportunities and challenges in its independent development.

In the area of democratic development the United States helped and continues to help Kyrgyzstan to create a strong democratic and civil society. From the very beginning Kyrgyzstan has chosen the democratic way of its development. It was a natural choice given our history and today’s aspirations. As a result of our genuine efforts and ongoing assistance from the United States and other countries Kyrgyzstan has now about 3000 non-governmental organizations, independent mass media, a great number of strong political parties, constantly reforming judiciary, and many other democratic achievements. Kyrgyzstan is also a leader among CIS countries in decentralization reforms, has a strong independent parliament, and a growing number of political parties. This year we will hold elections for our Parliament as well as our presidential. In this connection, we appreciate the support of our friends from the western democracies and the United States in conducting them in a fair and transparent way.

We cannot but mention here the assistance of the United States in the economic transformation of Kyrgyzstan from the first moments of our independence. If we look at what was done during this short transition period, you will see that among other many things Kyrgyzstan was the first country in the region which introduced its own currency; Kyrgyzstan from the very beginning was an active partner of international financial organizations such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund; Kyrgyzstan was the first country which introduced private land ownership. And it was not a surprise that Kyrgyzstan in 1998 became a member of WTO and in 2000 Kyrgyzstan was granted by the U.S. Congress a normal trade regime with the United States. And we are glad that the last two facts serve as proof and recognition by the United States of our economic efforts and achievements. Today for us the key issue is to develop trade and economic cooperation with the United States. Its implementation depends also on building a direct partnership with the individual American states. So, with this policy Kyrgyzstan has built close direct relations with such states as Montana, Utah, Pennsylvania. These relations have culminated in historical visits to Montana, Utah and Massachusetts of our President Askar Akaev. We have a very productive partnership with all these states in economic, business, educational, and many other spheres. With great assistance of our Honorary Consul in Texas Mr. Darell Luthi we develop our ties in many areas with your great state too.

We have also a very fruitful and productive partnership with the United States in educational sphere which is no less important than political and economic relations in terms of its impact on the future of our ties. One of the important examples and highlights of this cooperation is an American University in Bishkek, which since its opening has become one of the leading modern universities in Central Asia. It was established in 1993 during the visit of Vice President Al Gore under his joint with our president initiative, and it entirely functions in accordance with the American democratic system of education on a truly independent basis. The increased prestige of this university has transformed it into the regional university and now it is called the American University in Central Asia attracting students not just from Central Asian countries but also beyond our region.

So, one can see how the United States began playing a significant role in our new steps in this rapidly changing world after the collapse of the Soviet Union. But the world has changed once more and this time more dramatically, when it became evident that the Cold war gave the way to emergence of new global challenge – international terrorism. So the test of the depth and strength of our relations with the United States came at the moment when global terrorist activities had significantly increased and ultimately culminated into the tragic events of September 11th.

Our country has long called on world leaders to pay closer attention to the problem of international terrorism even before the tragic events of September 11 th in New York and Washington. The real dangers of international terrorism materialized in 1999 and 2000, when, during these two years, Islamic militants from the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) invaded the southern part of the country in their attempts to reach the territory of neighboring Uzbekistan. This caused devastating damage to security and the peaceful lives of ordinary citizens. At the cost of lives of Kyrgyz soldiers and ordinary citizens and huge military expenditures, those militants were expelled and thus were not allowed to penetrate the territory of Ferghana Valley Uzbekistan from Kyrgyzstan.

In this context it is necessary to remind you that bilateral Kyrgyz-American cooperation in the military sphere was started a long time before these incursions, when Kyrgyzstan decided to participate in different military and security programs with the United States, such as IMET and Centrazbat, joint U.S. with U.N. initiative to create peacekeeping battalion, comprised of military units from three countries in the region: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan, which were aimed at contributing to peace and stability in the region. Kyrgyzstan also benefited from the participation in programs of NATO’s Partnership for Peace initiative.

From the moment after the horrific attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon on September 11, 2001 when the President of the United States made an appeal to the world community to create an international antiterrorist coalition, leadership of the Kyrgyz Republic actively took part in joint efforts directed to eradication of the roots of terrorism. Initially this was connected with the provision of the air corridor for the airplanes of the coalition, participation in transportation of humanitarian supplies to the northern Afghanistan and exchange of intelligence information. In December of 2001 our country made a very significant decision, to provide our largest international airport for the deployment of military forces of the antiterrorist coalition, with the express purpose to conduct military and humanitarian operations in Afghanistan.

For Kyrgyzstan as one of the smallest countries in the region it is important to have in its soil concord between the great powers. Of course, it does not necessarily mean that interests of regional powers are always identical and do not have any dividing lines. Today in these conditions of global antiterrorist operation Kyrgyzstan finds itself in a cross point of interests of three great powers - USA, China and Russia. Fortunately, the national interests of Kyrgyzstan do not intercross with interests of these great powers. On the contrary, we would like to be a useful connecting link and some kind of moderators in balancing the interests of these powers in the region. It is remarkable that despite the presence of some old stereotypes, our American friends support our sincere desire to turn Kyrgyzstan into place of accommodation among great powers.

In conclusion, one can see that our bilateral relations with the United States are not just enlarging but also deepening at the same time. And the above mentioned directions will play a priority role in development of further relations. As a young nation that is actively building its future through historical challenges and opportunities Kyrgyzstan can not be more grateful to the United States for its ongoing support and assistance. As it was described, we feel that support in every way and we are confident that this closeness has an irreversible nature.