The Senate of Uzbekistan voted 93-0 to support the government's decision to give the United States six months to vacate an airbase at Karshi-Khanabad, in the southern Kashkadarya region of the country.
In July, President Islam Karimov issued an executive order requesting that American troops within six months. The tensions between the U.S. and Uzbekistan began when Uzbekistan used force against civilians in an uprising in Andijan last May 13. Most of the civilians were unarmed. Rebel groups say 750 people were killed in the incident while government forces place the number at 187. Either way, the United States was highly critical of the government's actions.
The United States and other nations requested an independent inquiry into the matter but Karimov has refused those requests. He blamed the violence on Islamic extremists. Both Russia and China have supported Karimov, in part to keep the United States outside of the region and to limit its influence.
'We know that fundamentalist moods arise wherever U.S. bases appear,' Kashkadarya governor Nuritdin Zainiyev said before the vote. 'Enemies of the United States appear wherever there is a U.S. military presence, and we don't want to be caught in-between.'
Zainiyev also complained that Uzbekistan paid $160 million to maintain the infrastructure of the Karshi-Khanabad base since American troops arrived there and that the U.S. 'didn't pay anything' towards it.
The base is a key location for the U.S. in the war in Afghanistan. It provides re-fueling for transport ships, humanitarian aid for the region and helps move troops throughout the country.
The Senate vote was not even necessary under the laws of Uzbekistan but was conducted to show strong popular support for the removal of American troops.
