DUSHANBE, July 22, 2015, Asia-Plus — Kyrgyzstan on July 21 formally terminated a 1993 agreement on cooperation with the United States.
The agreement will be rescinded as of August 20, 2015.
Reuters
reports the agreement provided for U.S. aid to Kyrgyzstan to be brought into and out of the country without the levying of taxes, customs duties or any other payment.
U.S. personnel located in Kyrgyzstan in connection with aid programs, both civil and military, were reportedly granted near-diplomatic status under that agreement.
According to
Radio Liberty
, the move comes days after Bishkek protested a U.S. decision to grant a prestigious human rights award to a jailed Kyrgyz journalist and rights activist Azimjon Askarov.
Azimjon Askarov is serving a life sentence in a Bishkek prison on charges of “creating a threat to civil peace and stability in society.”
Askarov, an ethnic Uzbek, was convicted following interethnic clashes in southern Kyrgyzstan in June 2010 when more than 400 people were killed.
The United States said on Wednesday it was disappointed by Kyrgyzstan”s decision to cancel a cooperation treaty, but it would continue to provide assistance to Kyrgyzstan despite a diplomatic row over a jailed dissident, according to
Reuters
.
“At times, we disagree, as we clearly have on this issue, but it is our ability to talk about our differences of opinion that have made the relationship strong,” the U.S. government said in a statement published by the U.S. Embassy in Bishkek.
The U.S. has provided nearly $2 billion in assistance since the country”s independence in 1991 “to support and strengthen Kyrgyzstan’s democratic transition,” it said.
The cancellation of the treaty threatens U.S.-funded programs in Kyrgyzstan, the statement said, but added: “We will continue to engage with and support the people of Kyrgyzstan.”
