26.01.2016-01.02.2016 • No: 52

MILITARY CONFLICTS IN AFGHANISTAN AND ONGOING IMPORTANCE OF TERMEZ AS A SPRINGBOARD The necessity for a comprehensive review ly the Petersburg - Tashkent - Termez - stan several times. During the first Soviet- of armed conflicts that lasted in Afghani- Kabul - Delhi railway project was devel- Afghan campaign of 1929 the northern stan for centuries is caused by the need to oped by Ferdinand Marie Vicomte de Afghanistan has been occupied for a short identify both the current situation and the Lesseps, widely known as the designer of period of time. However, the second possible prospects of development in the the Suez, Corinth and Panama canals Soviet-Afghan campaign of 1979-1989 region. Being a strategic springboard on projects, in the early 1870s. Despite the transformed into a largescale war which the Amu Darya’s shore the Termez city, fact that during the mentioned historical led to the collapse of the Soviet Union. located on the most southern border of period the construction of such a railway Thus, plan of the invasion of Afghanistan Uzbekistan, has always played an im- was not economically feasible, the mili- via Termez developed in the late 19th portant role in shaping Afghanistan’s tary-political significance of this project century A.D. was implemented only geopolitical agenda both in the ancient outweighed the possible economic costs. during the Soviet period. and in the modern history. However, the Russian authorities failed to Since the beginning of the war with inter- Established 2500 years ago, Termez is the complete the project in accordance with national terrorism declared by the U.S. administrative center of the Surkhandarya the initial plan. Therefore, construction of and the beginning of the NATO operation region of the modern Uzbekistan. It was the railway was finished only in 1916 and in Afghanistan operated by the Interna- originally founded as a strategic crossing its final destination was Termez. tional Security Assistance Force (ISAF) point over the Amu Darya River. Located As the Russian outpost, Termez served as the world community, once again, has on the most convenient transportation an essential part of the Great Game be- focused its attention on Termez. At the route between India and Central Asia, tween the British Empire and the Russian beginning of the 21st century A.D. the Termez became an important part of the Empire for the supremacy in Central Asia. main outpost of the Republic of Uzbeki- Great Silk Road. Thus, since the 2nd According to 1898 Plan, which was de- stan on its southern borders became a century B.C. the city has provided caravan signed to put forward the details of the stronghold of the ISAF. During the period trade on the largest transcontinental route invasion of Afghanistan, Termez was of 2002-2015 the NATO used the facili- protecting crossing point over the Amu elected as the main operating base of the ties of the airport located near Termez for Darya. forces of the Turkestan Military District providing technical and logistical support Throughout its long history, Termez that aided in providing military operations for its military divisions in Afghanistan. suffered from a long list of conquerors against the Anglo-Afghans and in cross- The decision to close the landmark corre- who came to the region from the West, ing over the Amu Darya. However, de- sponded with the provisions of the For- the East, the North and the South, namely, spite the fact that the last Emperor of eign Policy Doctrine of the Republic of the Achaemenid Persians, the Greeks of Russia, Nicholas II, encouraged the Uzbekistan adopted in 2012, according to Alexander the Great, the Tochars and strengthening of the Russian influence in which, the country prohibits dislocation of other tribes. Since the Muslims occupied the East, it was decided not to implement any foreign military bases and armed the region in the 7th century A.D. Termez the aforementioned plan because of its forces on its territory. has become an essential part of the Islam- high economic costs. Moreover, the Rus- Since Uzbekistan got its independence, ic culture. sian authorities had to postpone any plans Termez has retained its traditional im- Since the Russian conquest of the Central of the invasion of Afghanistan after Rus- portance and inherent functions, as well as Asia in the second half of the 19th century sia recognized the protectorate of the acquired new ones, successfully moving A.D. the tsarist policy has promoted a Great Britain over Afghanistan and agreed on to the next stage of development. largescale colonization of the region. not to enter into direct relations with the Termez became the industrial, agricultur- Therefore, in 1884 the Russian Empire Afghan Emir in 1907. Significantly, al, educational and cultural center of the established the Turkestan Military Dis- weakened Russia made such a decision Sukhandarya region. In addition, after trict, which included Termez as a strategic after the defeat in the war with Japan in launching the 75 km long Hairaton - outpost. Its construction started in 1894 1904-1905. Mazar-i-Sharif railway constructed in and over the next few years the Russian However, after the October Revolution of Afghanistan by Uzbekistan in 2010-2011, authorities created a new settlement in the 1917 in Russia, Afghanistan joined the so- Termez has significantly increased its role city. Moreover, construction of the port, called Eastern Front of the world com- in the transformation of Afghanistan into which had both commercial and military munist revolution. The agents of the a docking port of the European-Middle importance, launched the regular naviga- Communist International from Termez Eastern, former Soviet and Indo-Pakistani tion on the Amu Darya River. founded the Central Committee of Revo- rail systems. It was decided to implement a largescale lutionary Council in Afghanistan in 1920. railway project running through Termez During the Soviet period the city became due to its strategic importance. So, initial- the stronghold of the invasion to Afghani-

Written by Jaloliddin Mirzayev, Termez Archaeological Museum, Uzbekistan

Trade, Economic, Scientific and Politics, Foreign Affairs and Security signed. In particular, the parties reached an agreement on purchasing Technical Cooperation held in Cairo,  Kazakhstan’s ruling Nur Otan party Kazakhstani Alan armored vehicles. the parties signed a Memorandum of

unveiled its election program. The Economy, Finance and Energy Understanding (MoU) on the estab- main objectives of the program are lishment of the Russian industrial further economic integration and  The Parliament of Russia ratified the zone in the area of the Gulf of Suez. strengthening national interests of protocol to the Agreement between Moreover, the sides inked a MoU be- the country in the Eurasian Econom- the governments of Russia and China tween the Russian Direct Investment ic Union and the World Trade on cooperation in the implementation Fund (RDIF) and a number of Egyp- of the Yamal LNG project. The Organizaion. tian commercial banks as part of the  During his working visit to China, Yamal LNG is a largescale project project to set up the $5 billion in- the Minister of Foreign Affairs of on creating a liquefied natural gas vestment fund of Egypt. Uzbekistan, Abdulaziz Kamilov, met (LNG) production facility with a ca-  According to the Director of the with his Chinese counterpart, Wang pacity of 16.5 million tons per year. Iranian Railroads International Af- Yi. The parties discussed bilateral The project involves the creation of fairs, Abbas Nazar, Iran and Azer- co-operation, issues of international transport infrastructure, including a baijan signed an agreement to launch and regional policy, paying special seaport and an airport near the a railroad transit system from Tehran attention to the cooperation in the Sabetta village at the Yamal Penin- to Nakhichevan. The agreement was framework of the Shanghai Coopera- sula. The launch of LNG production inked during the Baku Summit re- tion Organization. is scheduled for 2017. cently held between Iran, Azerbaijan,  During the working visit to Ash-  According to the Ministry of Oil and Georgia, and Ukraine on the issue of gabat, the Minister of Foreign Af- Gas of Turkmenistan, Turkmengaz creation of a composite transit route fairs of Russia, Sergey Lavrov, met State Concern announced its plans to from the Persian Gulf to the Black drill and to complete the construction with the President of Turkmenistan, Sea and Europe. of nine new wells at the Turkmeni- Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov and  According to the Ministry of Eco- stan’s largest field Galkynysh in his Turkmen counterpart, Rasit nomic Development of Russia, a pre- 2016. It is expected that the extrac- Meredow. The sides exchanged liminary draft of the anti-crisis plan tion of natural gas from these wells views on the key issues of the inter- of the Russian government for 2016 will ensure further increase in pro- national agenda, the cooperation of implies expenditures of 750 billion duction of natural gas as part of the the two countries in the framework rubles ($9.8 billion) with extra- first stage of the Galkynysh field de- budgetary funds totaling to about of the United Nations, the Caspian velopment. Five and the Commonwealth of In- 210 billion rubles ($2.7 billion). It  According to the Ministry of Nation- dependent States. was stated that the draft contained 96 al Economy of Kazakhstan, the  During the 43rd meeting of the preliminary approved initiatives that country has reduced the oil export worth about 500 billion rubles ($6.4 Special Working Group on the de- customs duty from $60 down to $40 velopment of the Convention on the billion), 310 billion rubles of which per ton since January 1, 2016. More- would be directed to support of the legal status of the Caspian Sea held over, the Ministry of Economic De- in Ashgabat, the Deputy Ministers of regions, while 200 billion rubles velopment of Russia announced that were to support non-financial sector Foreign Affairs of the Caspian litto- the oil export customs duty on Rus- ral states, namely, Turkmenistan, of the economy, primarily engineer- sian oil exports dropped by $21.3 ing. Russia, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan and from $73.3 in January to $52 per ton Iran, discussed positions of the Society and Culture in February 2016. coastal states regarding the protec-  The Minister of Energy and Water  According to the Ministry of Health tion of marine biological resources Resources of Tajikistan, Usmonali and Social Development of Russia, an of the Caspian Sea. Usmonzoda, stated that Moscow and outbreak of the swine flu, subtype  The self-proclaimed Donetsk Peo- Dushanbe agreed on the supply of H1N1 of the influenza A virus, has ple’s Republic submitted draft 830,000 tons of petroleum products spread across many regions of the amendments to the Ukrainian Consti- to Tajikistan with no export tax in country and has already killed 126 tution to the Contact Group for con- 2016. According to the Minister, Ta- people. sideration. The draft provides real jikistan imported 576,000 tons of  The Parliament of Kazakhstan ratified guarantees for special status of Don- Russian petroleum products in 2014 the grant agreement on the Youth bas, and political rights of the peo- and 560,000 tons in 2015. Corps Development Project between ple.  Azerbaijan’s state oil company Kazakhstan and the International  According to the Speaker of the SOCAR announced its plans to pro- Bank for Reconstruction and Devel- Parliament of Russia, Sergey duce about 9,500 tons of oil per year opment (IBRD). Under the agree- Naryshkin, the country is planning to after it commissioned a well at the ment, the IBRD allocates a grant hand over the unused military train- offshore field Sangachal-Duvani- worth $21,763 million to assist the fi- ing grounds leased from Kazakhstan Khara-Zira. SOCAR is currently im- nancing of the project on the devel- in order to save approximately $4 plementing a program to increase oil opment of the youth corps. million annually. production. The company produced  According to the Russian state-owned  During the visit of the Minister of 7.58 million tons of oil from the agency, Roscosmos, the Proton-M Defense of Kazakhstan, Imangali country’s offshore and onshore fields launch vehicle has lifted off from the Tasmagambetov, to Jordan, the in January-November 2015, com- Baikonur Space Center in Kazakhstan agreement between the governments pared to 7.7 million tons produced in with an European telecommunications of Kazakhstan and Hashimite King- the same period of 2014. satellite aboard. dom of Jordan on military and mili-  During the 10th meeting of the joint tary-technical cooperation was Russian-Egyptian Commission on

Prepared by Lidiya Parkhomchik, Hayal Ayca Simsek, Saule Akhmetkaliyeva, Dinara Taldybayeva.