Asian alliance ditches Moscow

DUSHANBE: Russia’s hopes of international support for its actions in Georgia were dealt a sharp blow Thursday, when an Asian security alliance denounced the use of force and called for respect for every country’s territorial integrity.

A joint declaration from the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, or SCO, deepens Russia’s international isolation over its military action, which was blasted in the West for being disproportionate.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev had appealed to the alliance—which consists of Russia, China, and four Central Asian countries of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan—for unanimous support of Russia’s response to Georgia’s “aggression.”

The statement did not mention Georgia by name, but Russia—in recognizing the independence of two separatist Georgian regions—has said it no longer respects Georgia’s territorial integrity.

“The presidents reaffirmed their commitment to the principles of respect for historic and cultural traditions of every country and efforts aimed at preserving the unity of a state and its territorial integrity,” the declaration said.

“Placing the emphasis exclusively on the use of force has no prospects and hinders a comprehensive settlement of local conflicts,” it said.

Georgia launched a military offensive into its rebel-held region of South Ossetia on Aug. 7. Russia in response sent hundreds of tanks rolling into Georgia’s breakaway regions, long allied with Moscow.

Russian troops pushed out the Georgian army and then swept deeper into Georgia proper, where hundreds still remain.

The South Ossetian capital of Tskhinvali was heavily damaged by the Georgian assault, and Georgian towns and villages in South Ossetia and in Georgia proper were hit by air raids and extensive looting by South Ossetian militias.

In his speech to the security organization Thursday, Medvedev once again blamed Georgia for the conflict, and said the alliance’s support for Russia would serve as a “serious signal for those are trying to justify the aggression.”

Medvedev’s appeal came in the midst of Western furor over what it sees as Russia’s excessive use of force.

Europe and the US have also criticized Russia’s stationing of troops in what it has called security zones near South Ossetia—and another rebel province, Abkhazia—as well as Moscow’s formal recognition of those two separatist regions of Georgia.

Russian leaders, meanwhile, have blamed NATO expansion and Western support for Georgia for raising the specter of a new Cold War.

China has traditionally been wary of supporting separatist movements, mindful of its own problems with Tibet and Muslims in the western territory of Xinjiang.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang was quoted by state news agency Xinhua as saying “the situation in the region … should be resolved in dialogue.”

The four Central Asian members of the group—Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan—were all likely reluctant to damage their relations with Europe and the United States.

Kazakhstan enjoys significant Western investment in its rich hydrocarbon sector and impoverished Kyrgyzstan hosts a US air base on its territory for an annual return of US$150 million in the form of aid and rent.

Kazakhstan’s Deputy Foreign Minister Nurlan Yermekbayev told Russia’s RIA-Novosti agency that his country was undecided on the status of Georgia’s rebel regions.

“It is still too early to talk about that,” Yermekbayev said in Astana.

Uzbekistan came under severe Western criticism after the government’s violent crackdown on a 2005 uprising in the eastern town of Andijan, but the country has recently made tentative moves to mend its ties with the United States.

The SCO was created in 2001 as a forum for its members to improve regional coordination on terrorism and border security.