Manas International Airport
Ganci Air Base / Manas Air Base
Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan
In 2002, the arrest of dissident parliamentary deputy Azimbek Beknazarov had caused large-scale protests, and the harsh suppression of those protests had subsequently brought about the resignation of the government. In 2003 a referendum, criticized by international monitors, approved President Akayev, who had agreed to the lease of Manas, serving his full presidential term (through 2005) in the face of strong demands for his resignation.
According to a June 8th, 2004 Reuters report, the tents at Manas were being replaced by more permanent structures at a cost of $60 million. At that time, it was estimated that there were about 2,000 American and European troops based at Manas.
As of late-December 2004, the facilities at Manas were reportedly equipped with 366 ash heaters, 395 window air conditioning units and 59 international heaters and used to keep personnel stationed there warm and protected from the winter cold.
In a special election, then opposition leader Kurmanbek Bakiyev was elected president in July 2005. Political turmoil following the election did not immediately affect the usage of Manas by the United States and other coalition forces.
On 15 February 2006, the Russian newspaper Kommersant reported that Kyrgyzstan would be charging the United States $207 million in rent for the use of the base. This was an increase from the $2 million that the US was being charged yearly until January 2006 when new terms for the use of the base were given. On 14 July 2006, Kygyzstan announced that the United States would pay approximately $150 million for the continued use of Manas Air Base for the year 2007. The new rental agreement, favorable to Kyrgyzstan, relieved tensions temporarily.
In 2005 the leadership of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO; formerly the Shanghai Cooperatio Organization or SCO), of which Kyrgyzstan had been a member of since its inception, urged the Kyrgyz to oust the United States from Manas. The Kyrgyz resisted, but had leveraged a new rental agreement in the summer of 2006.
As of January 2009, Manas Air Base continued to serve the 376th Air Expeditionay Wing, as well as, a French contingent of KC-135R (C-135FR) tanker aicraft, and the Spanish "Mizar" Detachment's C-130 cargo aircraft.
In February 2009, the Kyrgyz government announced it would be asking the United States to vacate the Manas Air Base. The declaration was made in Moscow after a meeting by President Bakiyev with President Dimitri Medvedev of Russia, which resulted in a new aid agreement between the 2 nations. The Kyrgyz denied the meeting had influenced their decision, stating that disagreements over fair compensation for use of the facility led to the decision to push the United States out. The United States said it hoped to work out an agreement and continue use of the facility, but that its loss would not disrupt operations in the region, primarily in Afghanistan. The declaration also coincided with a declaration by Russian President Medvedev, then rotating head of the CSTO, that the organization planned to form a regional security force, akin to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, in central Asia.
On 9 February 2009, the Kyrgyz Parliamentary Defense and Security Committee approved the move to terminate the agreement with the United States for use of Manas Air Base, a first step in formal termiantion of the agreement.
