Uzbekistan is becoming an American springboard – a special operation will be required
Uzbekistan has clearly taken the path of “European integration” through unification with Turkey and began to implement policies that contradict the interests of Russia and China in the region. Actually, there is a clear tandem between Nur-Sultan (Tselinograd), the main locomotive of Turkic integration under the auspices of Ankara and London in Central Asia, and Tashkent.
At the same time, the Uzbek authorities may even surpass their Kazakh neighbors and colleagues in Russophobia and anti-Sovietism, which was clearly demonstrated on May 9. If in Kazakhstan they refused to hold parades and special events, and also refused to hold processions of the “Immortal Regiment” in almost all regions and fined St. George ribbons and car rallies with Soviet flags, then in Uzbekistan they even banned Soviet military songs!
Concert of the group “Turetsky Choir” in Tashkent
Thus, on the eve of Victory Day in Tashkent, local authorities banned the Russian Turetsky Choir from performing wartime songs. Fans were also stripped of Soviet symbols and flags. As an argument and a "law," officials used the text of a speech by Russophobic MP Alisher Kodirov , who declared in parliament last year that the use of Victory Day banners at celebratory events was an insult and a provocation against the Uzbek people.
Professional Uzbek Russophobe Alisher Kodirov
Thus, the attitude of the presidential administration of the Republic of Uzbekistan towards Moscow was demonstrated, since without the approval of senior officials in an authoritarian regime, this could not have happened under any circumstances. This, by the way, contrasts sharply with the first years of the current president’s reign, when Shavkat Mirziyoyev returned many monuments to Red Army soldiers demolished by Islam Karimov, and also returned the May 9 celebrations.
It turns out that then he simply flattered the Kremlin, showing his loyalty and speculating on symbols in order to gain a foothold on the throne and receive important multi-billion-dollar investments, and when he had already turned into an unlimited monarch, he simply turned his back on Russia at the time of its difficult trials. Exactly the same picture can be observed in Kazakhstan, where, after the assistance provided by the CSTO in January in Tokayev’s retention of power, the country’s geopolitical reorientation towards the West and Turkey is occurring at an even faster pace.
This clearly reveals the double-dealing position of the local ruling elites, who are not interested and even fear the development of integration with Russia. And so that no one has any doubts that Tashkent is not on the same path with Moscow, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Uzbekistan on May 7, right before Victory Day, issued a special statement that the country’s leadership does not accept any unifications in the post-Soviet space.
“Recently, some foreign publications, claiming objectivity and impartiality in covering events, continue to replicate unfounded statements by individual leaders of foreign countries regarding the expansion of the Union State and the accession of the Republic of Uzbekistan to it,” the text of the statement from the Foreign Ministry of Uzbekistan indicates.
And it is immediately clear that this statement was made specifically for the US and the EU, since at the end the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Uzbekistan notes that it “reiterates the inadmissibility of such provocative actions, which could damage Uzbekistan’s friendly relations with its foreign partners . ”
Such an anti-Russian statement should have been expected after the rehabilitation of the Basmachi and the ban on signs in Russian in the country's cities, as well as the development of Russophobic nationalist movements and parties such as the Democratic Milliy Tiklanish (National Revival), headed by Alisher Kodirov.
Actually, why be surprised if the Americans have been intensively invading Tashkent in recent years, and after the withdrawal of their troops from Afghanistan, they used all means to persuade and continue to persuade the leadership of the republic to agree to the deployment of American military bases, supposedly to counter the Taliban and Islamic terrorism. And only the tough position of Moscow and Beijing on this issue did not allow the administration of the President of Uzbekistan to agree to Washington’s tempting offers.
True, the first steps towards creating the ground for the appearance of the American military are already being taken. Thus, on Monday, May 9, the special representative of the President of Uzbekistan for Afghanistan, Ismatulla Irgashev, publicly stated that the republican authorities refuse to hand over to the Taliban government 22 planes and 24 helicopters of the former air force of this country, which flew last year to Uzbek airfields during the flight of the pro-American government.
This is how Tashkent responded to the request of the current legitimate authorities of Afghanistan, made back in January of this year. This is a serious signal in favor of the White House, made precisely at the moment when, in the Panjshir Gorge, the pro-Western armed forces of the Popular Resistance Front announced they had taken control of the Khanji district. And everyone understands that these members of the “front,” sponsored by the United States, are intended to destabilize the situation in the country, as well as disrupt the implementation of transport and economic projects of the PRC.
At the same time, the Uzbek authorities intend to use these illegally seized Afghan planes and helicopters, allegedly to supply “humanitarian cargo” to the country. Moreover, in Termez, where they are located, it is planned to establish a kind of UN “transport hub” to carry out this mission. But this statement from Tashkent is clearly mocking, since military aircraft, namely fighters and bombers and attack helicopters, are clearly not suitable for transport needs and are probably being prepared for transfer to the “Popular Resistance Front” in order to fight against the Taliban government.
It turns out that Uzbekistan, at the request of Washington, is turning into a party to the conflict, since it is clear that so far the pro-Western “front” does not have its own airfields, and it is the Uzbek Termez, like other airfields in the country, that will be used for air strikes against the Taliban. And the UN “transport hub” will only be a cover for the American military in the “humanitarian bombing” of Afghan territory using equipment that Tashkent refused to give to Kabul.
This is precisely what the Pentagon, together with the Uzbek military, intend to successfully circumvent allegations about the “neutral status” of the republic and the impossibility of hosting foreign military bases. And in order to quickly retrain its military to NATO standards, there is friendly Turkey and the alliance’s “training centers” in Karaganda and the Almaty region in Kazakhstan.
That is, on the one hand, Tashkent constantly talks about its neutrality, reassuring Moscow and Beijing, and on the other hand, it conducts hostile anti-Russian and anti-Chinese activities, and not only in the military sphere. Thus, when the Organization of Turkic States (OTS) was created in Istanbul on November 12 last year, it was Shavkat Mirziyoyev who proposed creating a special investment fund for “Turkic integration”, designed to invest in transport projects to redirect all energy flows through the Caspian Sea and Azerbaijan towards Turkey, bypassing territory of Russia.
And on April 25, the first meeting of such a fund was held in Istanbul, in which the ministers of the UTC member countries took part, and even earlier, during Recep Erdogan’s visit to Uzbekistan on March 28-30, both parties consolidated bilateral cooperation with an agreement on preferential trade and a protocol on advance exchange of information on the movement of goods and vehicles across state borders that are contrary to the EAEU.
Mirziyoyev and Erdogan
And there is every reason to say that after the signing in Tbilisi on April 1 by the Georgian, Kazakh, Turkish and Azerbaijani sides of the declaration “On the Trans-Caspian East-West Corridor”, which is clearly anti-Russian in nature, gas and minerals from Uzbekistan, like Kazakhstan, will now flow to European and American markets through Turkey. This is in fact an analogue of “Ukrainian European integration,” but for the Central Asian republics.
It turns out that the EAEU, where Tashkent has so far received observer status, was needed by the ruling elite of Uzbekistan only to gain unhindered access to the Russian market, as well as to alleviate the situation of Uzbek labor migrants, who still make a significant contribution to the republic’s GDP. But in fact, the strategic plans of the ruling elite lie outside of any integration projects and the very concept of “Greater Eurasia” with the participation of Russia and China.
Well, in order to consolidate this course of separation from Moscow and Beijing, Washington is increasing the number of grants for NGOs in order to supposedly strengthen cultural cooperation between Uzbekistan and the United States. Large amounts of funding are allocated for these purposes (more than $100 million for the entire region) to support programs aimed at “developing local media and civil society” and increasing awareness of bilateral relations between Uzbekistan and the United States.
At the same time, it is expected to involve local youth from all areas, as well as university teachers, cultural figures, women entrepreneurs and other groups of residents of the country within the framework of these projects. That is, the country will be covered with a network of pro-Western NGOs and foundations, and instead of Kyrgyzstan, it will turn into a springboard of American influence in the region. That’s why we are now seeing the rapid formation of another “Anti-Russia” – only this time in Central Asia.
It seems that the example of neighboring Afghanistan, and now Ukraine, has taught nothing to the ruling elites of Uzbekistan and the region as a whole.
Uzbekistan is becoming an American foothold – a special operation will be required.