At a press conference in Bishkek, Foreign Minister of Kyrgyzstan Erlan Abdyldaev told that Russian President Vladimir Putin accepted the proposal of President Sooronbay Jeenbekov and will soon pay an official visit to the republic.
The Foreign Minister also said that more than 10 documents will be signed during the official visit to Bishkek. But he did not disclose the exact date and the details of the visit.
To find out about the possible purposes of the visit to Kyrgyzstan and why Russia needs it, Kabar News Agency asked political scientist, member of the Kyrgyz Council on Foreign Relations and Security Edil Osmonbetov to comment on this issue.
The political scientist believes that the visit of the Russian leader to Kyrgyzstan has a special geopolitical significance for Russia and the entire Central Asia.
Osmonbetov said that the reason of it is the geopolitical turbulence taking place in the world - Syria, Ukraine, Russian-British relations, the last transformations in the entire space of Central Asia. In addition, the political scientist says, Russia was busy with issues of confrontation with the West, the European Union, sanctions from the US, and some issues with Turkey.
"In fact, in 2018, the Central Asian region and Kyrgyzstan fell out of the attention of Russia," he said.
The Kyrgyz expert added that in 2018, major political and geopolitical events took place throughout the Central Asian region, such as the Consultative Meeting in Astana in 2018, the meeting of the heads of Turkic-speaking countries - the Sixth Summit of the Cooperation Council of Turkic Speaking Countries (CCTS) within the framework of the World Nomad Games in Kyrgyzstan, the TURKPA meeting, and other similar events that were held without global and regional players, and without the participation of Russia.
This, he said, demonstrates that Central Asia, on the one hand, is emerging as a new geopolitical region. An example of this is also the arrival of presidents of Azerbaijan and Turkey in Kyrgyzstan in early autumn. "No one canceled the geopolitical struggle for influence in the region. And therefore Putin's visit should demonstrate in such a difficult situation that Russia needs in partners, friends and support, so that in a difficult geopolitical situation it could defend its interests on international platforms and in international organizations," the political scientist believes.
In addition, Osmonbetov points to the need to understand that Kyrgyzstan today has formed as a significant state. First, the republic has become a geopolitical center in Central Asia, due to the fact that in the past year there have been many significant events in the region. Second, the increased attention to the region on the part of Russia may be due to the fact that 2019 will be special for the countries of Central Asia - Kyrgyzstan will preside in the SCO, at present the country chairs the Turkic Council, the representative of Uzbekistan will be the Secretary General in the SCO, and Kazakhstan is a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council. "And for this reason, Russia should talk with partners and with Kyrgyzstan about all these events. First of all, these are views on regional, common problems, to find points of mutual understanding," the expert on international affairs added.
Osmonbetov thinks that one of the most important goals of Putin's visit to Kyrgyzstan is to raise the level of bilateral relations to a new higher level. And the most important - to find points of mutual understanding on various issues. "It can be politics, economy, membership in the EEU and even projects with China as One Belt, One Road. This is a fairly broad agenda, given that many geopolitical processes are currently taking place that were unexpected for many countries in the world," he said.
And in conclusion, the political scientist added that Putin’s visit to Kyrgyzstan is also indicated by the reason that without the republic it is impossible to either format or integrate the Central Asian region. "And Russia understands precisely the geopolitical role of Kyrgyzstan and, most interestingly, that we are pioneers in many political innovations in the region. In this respect, we are the driver of many political and geopolitical processes. And in this sense, we are a political center and therefore the leaders of the Central Asian countries arrived here this fall," Osmonbetov said.
Kabar News Agency
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