US foresees Tajikistan military presence

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=132050&sectionid=351020406

The United States is planning to build a military facility in the Central Asian Republic of Tajikistan in order to train local troops, a US diplomat has announced.

Speaking in the Tajik capital Dushanbe on Friday, the US ambassador to the country, Ken Gross, told reporters that his government is seeking to fund the construction of a $10 million training center in Tajikistan in a bid to help train Tajik soldiers.

"The plan... is almost $10 million to build this national training center for the Tajik armed forces," said the US envoy, AFP quoted him as saying.

"If requested, we might have people come in to help in training missions," he added, suggesting the involvement of American military personnel on Tajik soil.

The new facility, which is to be called the "Karatag National Training Center," will be located about 45 km from the capital and is scheduled to open in 2011, he said, noting, however, that no related contracts have so far been inked between the two countries.

The US has, in the wake of the collapse of the former Soviet Union, shown significant enthusiasm in finding a foothold in both Central Asia and the Caucasus.

It has built training facilities, financed military programs and established airbases in a number of the former Soviet republics.

The US has established military bases and centers or has run military programs in Georgia, Azerbaijan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan.

Uzbekistan, however, ended the US military presence in the country by shutting down its military airbase in 2005, following a diplomatic row with Washington over what Uzbek authorities described as America's interference in the central Asian state's internal affairs.