DUSHANBE, July 17, 2012, Asia-Plus — Tajik Foreign Minister Hamrokhon Zarifi told journalists in July 16 in Dushanbe that no talks are being held with Washington on a possible military base on Tajik territory.
Radio Liberty’s Tajik Service reports Zarifi’s statement comes less than two weeks after one of the heads of a visiting U.S. congressional delegation to Tajikistan, Dan Burton, said that Washington views Tajikistan as a possible alternative to Kyrgyzstan”s Transit Center at Manas, which has been used for providing NATO troops in Afghanistan with nonlethal supplies for years.
The transit location at Manas is scheduled to be closed after NATO troops’ withdrawal in 2014.
Tajikistan has also been at odds with Moscow lately on the issue of the prolongation of the Russian military base’s presence in the country.
