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. On February 19, 2009, Kyrgyzstan's parliament approved, by a vote of 78-1 and 2 abstentions, to cancel the US' lease on Manas Air Base. The Kyrgyz President declared that the United States would be asked to leave Manas Air Base as a result of disputes concerning compensation for the use of the facility. The United States said it hoped to retain use of the facility, but that its loss would not disrupt operations in Afghanistan. The Kyrgyz government on 20 February 2009 gave the United States six months to vacate the facility.
On 23 June 2009, it was reported that the US and Kyrgyz governments had reached a last-minute accord that could allow US troops to continue using Kyrgyzstan's Manas air base to resupply troops in Afghanistan. A text of the deal had reportedly passed through several parliamentary committees and could be adopted in a plenary session within days. On 25 June 2009, the Kyrgyz parliament ratified an agreement between the United States and Kyrgyzstan to extend US access to Manas Air Base, a key logistics hub that supplies troops in Afghanistan. On 7 July 2009, Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev signed into law the agreement allowing the US to continue using its Manas airbase for the transit of troops and supplies to Afghanistan.
On 8 April 2010, US officials stated that operations at the transit center at Manas Air Base, Kyrgyzstan, were delayed, but had not adversely affected the supply mission in Afghanistan. This announcement came after a revolt against the Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiev, which led to the formation of an interim government on 6 April 2010. Also on 8 April 2010, the interim government announced that Manas would remain open to US forces. On 4 May 2010, it was reported that the United States would transfer $15 million to the Kyrgyz provisional government as rent for the Pentagon's transit center at Manas, according to a statement by the U. president's special assistant for national security Michael McFaul.
Following the result of Kyrgyzstan's October 2011 Presidential elections, former Prime Minister and president-elect Almazbek Atambayev announced that he had informed the United States of his intention to have Manas Air Base close once the facility's lease expires in mid-2014. While Kyrgyzstan would honor the lease, Atambayev said he had no intention of extending it. Whether or not Atambayev would have the authority to unilaterally make such a decision under Kyrgyzstan's post-Bakiyev constitution was unclear. According to Article 64 of the constitution, which demarcated presidential authority, the president was declared to have no political power to determine foreign policy. Such a decision on the future of the Manas facility would require a concensus in Kyrgyzstan's parliament.
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