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Newly elected President: Kyrgyzstan’s partnership with Russia comes from national interests

Kyrgyzstan Materials 21 November 2011 18:06 (UTC +04:00)
Kyrgyzstan’s Partnership with Russia is based on the strategic interests of the country, Almazbek Atambayev
Newly elected President: Kyrgyzstan’s partnership with Russia comes from national interests

Azerbaijan, Baku, Nov. 21 / Trend V. Zhavoronkova/

Kyrgyzstan's Partnership with Russia is based on the strategic interests of the country, Almazbek Atambayev, Kyrgyz newly elected President, Prime Minister said in his interview with Russian Izvestiya newspaper.

"We are guided only by Kyrgyzstan's national interests in our foreign policy," Atambayev said. "These interests make strategic partnership with Russia necessary."

The partnership is actively developing and the application for joining the Customs Union (CU) demonstrates this process clearly.

"I see the future of our country not only in the CU, but in the Eurasian Union which was proposed by Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin," Atambayev added.

He also voiced a desire to see a common economic space among the post-Soviet states, including Kazakhstan, Belarus and Russia, while keeping the independence of Kyrgyzstan.

Atambayev said for Kyrgyzstan it is important to abandon the reexport in order to develop national economy, the goods under "Made in Kyrgyzstan" trademark become more and more popular.

It is also important to fight with corruption in Kyrgyzstan, Atambayev added, because this destructive element affects the development of energy and mining industries.

In his interview the newly elected president mentioned the presence of foreign military bases in Kyrgyzstan. Atambayev said the Russian Kant military base will remain in the country.

As for U.S. Manas base Kyrgyzstan is not going to prolong the agreement on its presence after its expiration in 2014 and proposes to transform it into a civil transit centre, he noted.
Transit Center at Manas, formerly Manas Air Base, is a United States military installation at Manas International Airport near the capital of Kyrgyzstan, primarily operated by the US Air Force. The base was opened in December 2001 to support U.S. military operations in the ongoing war in Afghanistan.
Atambayev was officially recognized the winner of the Kyrgyzstan's Presidential elections of Oct. 30. The elections were the first since the shift of power in the country in April 2010.

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