President: Kyrgyzstan to cooperate with those who offer real help to country in economic development

Kyrgyzstan will cooperate with those who offer real help to the country in economic development, Kyrgyz President Roza Otunbayeva said at a news conference at the UN headquarters in New York on Tuesday, KyrTAG reported with reference to the Voice of America.

Speaking about the Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's proposal to establish Eurasian Union, Otunbayeva said that her country will cooperate with those who offer real help to Kyrgyzstan in the economic development and strengthening of security, whether Russia or the United States.

"Geopolitical calculations concern analysts who sit in their offices. When I headed the country, I needed a real help in solving specific problems. When there was a tense situation in Osh, I called Mr Medvedev and asked him to send troops, because I was not able to stop the bloodshed," Otunbayeva said.

However, according to the Voice of America, neither Russia nor the Shanghai Cooperation Organization sent troops to Kyrgyzstan in the summer of 2010, when there were clashes between the Kyrgyz and Uzbeks in the south of the country, which led to many casualties.

"If Russia is strong enough to offer economic assistance, of course, we will cooperate with Russia. We have already appealed to the Customs Union, because a significant part of the capital, resources and manpower of the country tied up to Russia. Half a million Kyrgyz citizens work in Russia. These are objective factors that can not be denied," Otunbayeva said.

At the same time, President Otunbayeva expressed interest in developing relations with China, on which, she says, "we still do not know much".

"Today the annual trade turnover between Kyrgyzstan and China is about $2 billion. Now not many countries have free resources. China is one of those countries. China is willing to grant us loans for infrastructure development," Otunbayeva said.

It should be recalled the Kyrgyz President Roza Otunbayeva is on a visit to New York, where she is attending high-level events of the United Nations Peacebuilding Fund.