Kyrgyz President Almazbek Atambayev has announced during a recent meeting with a US delegation headed by Susan Elliott, Deputy Assistant US Secretary of State for South and Central Asia, that all foreign troops must be withdrawn from the Manas International Airport by summer 2014. This is not the first time the Kyrgyz president called for withdrawing US military forces from Kyrgyzstan.

Almazbek Atambayev, President of Kyrgyzstan:
- We know that the United States of America is often involved in various military conflicts. This was the case with Iraq, now Afghanistan, and now there’s a tense situation in Iran. And I don’t want any of these countries to attack the military base one day. The civil airport should be a civil airport.

Right after this, Washington stepped up and the press started citing US officials saying that there was no need jump to conclusions based on the statement. Iranian Ambassador to Kyrgyzstan eased the situation a bit by stating that Bishkek does not have to worry about a possible backlash on behalf of his country.

Manouchehr Moradi, Iranian Ambassador to Kyrgyzstan:
- We don’t think that the Kyrgyz authorities would allow the United States to use the Transit Center at Manas to attack Iran. Apart from that, our country has a strong scientific and technological base, technologies, and a strong army. We don’t think that it is necessary to consider the issue of military intervention in our country at all.

President Atambayev said that cooperation with the United States will be built around national interests of Kyrgyzstan in the future. However, the US administration still has time for political maneuvering. According to the signed intergovernmental agreement, the term of the US’s military presence in Kyrgyzstan expires in summer 2014.