BISHKEK. May 2 (Interfax) - Kyrgyzstan and the United States are discussing the future of the U.S. Transit Center at Manas Airport, but no specific agreement has been reached yet, U.S. Ambassador to Kyrgyzstan Pamela Spratlen said.
A group of experts visited Bishkek last week, she said in an interview with the Kyrgyz-language website, Barakelde, on Monday.
We clearly heard what President Almazbek Atambayev said about the Transit Center, and we would like to single out two things that he said: the Transit Center will operate until 2014, until the end of the agreement, and the second thing, which the president said more than once, is that discussions should be held about the future of the Transit Center, the U.S. ambassador said.
Discussions have just begun, the situation in Afghanistan is fluid and will eventually be among the main factors, Spratlen said.
So far, it is difficult to say anything definite about the Transit Center beyond 2014. On May 20-21, 2012, NATO is holding a summit in Chicago. After the summit, the international community will know for sure what is required of it and what to do with Afghanistan, Spratlen said.
Each month the Transit Center transits 45,000 U.S. soldiers and coalition troops to and from Afghanistan, she added.
This partnership is very important for the United States. Afghanistan's stabilization is a long process where we must work together with the whole world and also in the Central Asian region. It is a very big job in regional terms and Kyrgyzstan will be directly involved in it, the ambassador said.
The U.S. Transit Center at Manas Airport has operated since July 2009 instead of an air base under a five-year intergovernmental agreement.
Kyrgyz President Atambayev stated repeatedly that once the agreement expires in July 2014, U.S. troops will have to leave Kyrgyzstan, and "there should be no military at the civilian airport." At the same time, he proposed to open an international civilian transit center at Manas Airport.
Meanwhile, the U.S.-Kyrgyz agreement on the Transit Center signed in June 2009 stipulates that the agreement cannot be reviewed for five years after its signature (June 2009). It also says that Kyrgyzstan allows the U.S. to renew this agreement beyond the five-year term after reviewing the terms of the agreement and due fee payment.
Each year Kyrgyzstan receives $60 million from the U.S. for hosting its Transit Center.