"This is an ideal location to monitor Chinese territory"

Russia's "Independent" recently published an article by Vladimir Mukhin, saying that the United States and Turkey are considering using Almaty as a military base to cobble together an "anti-China fortress" in the former Soviet Union. The full text is excerpted below:

In the SCO "Peace Mission-2021" military exercise, Kazakh pilots performed well. Together with Russian pilots, they flew Su-25 strikers to suppress imaginary enemies. Unlike its partners in the Collective Security Treaty Organization, Kazakhstan is also involved in NATO operations. Experts believe that after the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan, Washington and Nur-Sultan reached an agreement on the deployment of US troops in Kazakhstan.

More than a week ago, a meeting of the chiefs of the general staff of the countries of Central and South Asia (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan) was held in Nur-Sultan, attended by The Commander of the United States Central Command, General Frank Mackenzie.

MacKenzie met with the military and political leadership of Kazakhstan. It is reported that the two sides discussed the regional security situation, including the situation in Afghanistan. Subsequently, the country's President Tokayev proposed at a joint meeting of the CSA and SCO member states held in Dushanbe on the 17th that almaty's "regional hub" (that is, the airport) be used to "build a humanitarian bridge to help the Afghan people". Judging from the post-session summary document, this proposal was not supported. Of course. Almaty is more than 1,000 kilometers from Afghanistan. Since many members of the SCO and CSTA border Afghanistan, why create a "hub" in Almaty?

In June, U.S. Special Envoy for Reconciliation in Afghanistan, Zalmay Khalilzad, arrived in Almaty. "The United States is holding talks with Central Asian countries, including Kazakhstan, to discuss the possibility of the United States having military power in the region after the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan," he told reporters.

The "humanitarian bridge" can be built now, but why was Almaty Airport chosen? According to President Tokayev, this is due to the temporary presence of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan in Almaty at the request of the United Nations leadership. However, the Mission's presence is clearly temporary. Moreover, concentrating humanitarian supplies in Almaty and then transporting them to Afghanistan, 1,000 kilometres away, is not cost-effective for the United Nations.

Russian analyst Aliya Kaminskaya gave an explanation for this. She believes that the possibility that the Pentagon intends to use Almaty airport as a "reconnaissance aviation and military transport aviation base" is not ruled out. She noted that Almaty International Airport was no longer practically part of Kazakhstan. Kaminskaya noted: "It was learned in May 2021 that 100% of the shares of Almaty International Airport were acquired by TAV Airport Holdings Company of Turkey. TAV bid $365 million for the acquisition, even though Almaty International Airport has been considered a loss.

Russian military expert Shamili Galeev said: "There are two things that are disturbing. First, Turkey is an active nato activist. He noted that the international airports in Tbilisi and Batumi (Georgia) will also belong to TAV. In addition, TAV is the owner of almost all airports in Turkey and also owns international airports in Tunisia, Saudi Arabia and Croatia. Galev pointed out: "Second, Almaty airport is the closest to China. For the United States and Turkey, this is an ideal location for aerial surveillance of Chinese territory. ”

At the same time, according to the Associated Press, Mark Milley, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Valery Gerasimov, chief of the general staff of the Russian Armed Forces, met for 6 hours in Helsinki on the 22nd to "try to sign an agreement on the stationing of US troops in Neighboring Afghanistan." The Associated Press explained that "the United States and its allies want to sign agreements on residency and flight rights and expanded exchange of intelligence information with Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan." Kazakhstan is not on the list. Indirectly, this suggests that the issue of U.S. military deployment in the country has been almost solved.

Why did the US side meet with Gerasimov? Just look at the map and you'll see it at a glance. To reach Almaty, U.S. military aircraft need to travel through Russia or their Central Asian allies, and they will not allow the U.S. Air Force to fly in its airspace. Come to think of it, the Russian side said "no" to this plan in Helsinki. But in order to achieve geopolitical goals in Central Asia to fight a hybrid war with China, the United States may not be content with the status quo.

Russian military expert and retired Lieutenant General Yuri Netkachev said: "Of course, Russia and China do not need to see Kazakhstan as enemies. It is an important economic partner and SCO ally of China, and for Russia, it is an ally of the SCO and the CSTA. The U.S. and Turkey's concern about Kazakhstan has to do with the fact that the country owns about 40 percent of the world's uranium feedstock. Ankara's overtures to Nur-Sultan are likely because Turkey dreams of becoming a nuclear power. ”

Column Editor-in-Chief: Zhang Wu Text Editor: Lu Xiaochuan Caption Source: Visual China Photo Editor: Xu Jiamin

Source: Author: Informational Messages