German military proposes new Afghan rail link Aug 30, 2008
The proposed 67 km (42 mile) stretch would link the northern city of Mazar-I-Sharif with the Uzbek town of Termez, where the German air force has a base, Der Spiegel magazine reported. Germany currently has an agreement with Moscow permitting it to transport supplies via rail through Russia to Afghanistan. (International Herald Tribune -- Arts)
West takes softer stance toward Uzbekistan May 29, 2008
Though there are not yet plans for the base to reopen, the Uzbeks have allowed the Americans limited access to a German base at Termez, and Uzbekistan recently granted NATO the use of its railroad to ship goods to Afghanistan. That highlights the difficult questions that relations with Uzbekistan raise for American foreign policy: How much influence, if any at all, should the United States try to exercise over another country's behavior. (International Herald Tribune)
Fickle West: Remember Andijan? May 10, 2008
No doubt because of Berlin's support for the regime through the leaner times, German troops have been stationed in the Uzbek town of Termez for years. Now the regime has made a deal to allow other NATO forces to use the base, too. (International Herald Tribune)
Uzbekistan: Karimov Approves Overland Rail Re-Supply Route for Afghan Operations Apr 8, 2008
Karimov indicated that Tashkent was agreeing to a transit corridor -- in which the Uzbek border city of Termez would serve as the hub -- mainly out of a desire to keep NATO engaged in Afghanistan. During the run-up to the Bucharest summit, some NATO member states indicated that they might consider pulling their troop contingents out of Afghanistan if no steps were taken to reinforce the war effort. (EurasiaNet.org)
Russia and NATO: A Meeting of the Minds on Afghanistan? Apr 3, 2008
Russia s offer to facilitate a transit corridor stretching from Europe to Afghanistan stands to revive a long planned railway that would connect the Uzbek city of Termez and the strategically important settlement of Mazar-i-Sharif in Afghanistan, via a rail bridge over the Amu Darya River, which serves as the Uzbek-Afghan border ... It is worth noting that US forces now have access a NATO base near Termez. (EurasiaNet.org)
* World News Quick Take Mar 7, 2008
"Individual Americans attached to the NATO international staff can use the German airbridge from Termez to Afghanistan on a case-by-case basis," an official from the US embassy in Tashkent said. UNITED KINGDOM. (Taipei Times, Taiwan -- World)
Stealth Move: American Troops to Return to Uzbekistan amid Thaw Mar 6, 2008
The announcement came in a roundabout manner, with Robert Simmons, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization s special envoy for the Caucasus and Central Asia, telling Russian journalists during a Moscow news conference March 5 that troops from NATO countries would soon have access to a military airbase at Termez, on the Uzbek-Afghan border ... "As far as I understand, the United States is beginning to use this facility [at Termez]." ... The Termez facility, like the K2 base in the past, is used to... (EurasiaNet.org)
US troops return to Uzbek bases Mar 6, 2008
US troops attached to Nato forces would be allowed to use Termez airbase if travelling on German planes, the US military told the BBC. ... German forces were allowed to continue using the airbase at Termez, on the border with Afghanistan ... Uzbekistan has made no comment on the new arrangement, but a US military spokesman said US troops "can use the German air-bridge from Termez to Afghanistan on a case-by-case basis". (BBC News -- Asia-Pacific)
Islamic militants tied to bomb plot Sep 12, 2007
The ministry said the attacks were aimed at pressing Germany to close its air base in Termez, Uzbekistan. The base near the Uzbek-Afghan border provides logistical support for some 3,000 German soldiers serving in the international security force in Afghanistan. (Boston Globe)
Europe on high alert six years after 9/11 Sep 12, 2007
Federal prosecutor Monika Harms said that the cell, made up of two German converts to Islam and a Turk, was planning "massive" attacks, which the group hoped would put pressure on Germany to withdraw its soldiers stationed at the Termez base in souther Uzbekistan. Germany uses the Termez base for its military operations in Afghanistan, where it has about 3000 troops serving in the NATO-led force. (Melbourne Herald Sun)
Trio linked to jihadist training camps Sep 6, 2007
Declan Walsh in Karachi and Luke Harding in MoscowThursday September 6, 2007. The trio arrested in Germany allegedly attended training camps in Pakistan run by an obscure group called the Islamic Jihad Union, a little-known offshoot from an Uzbek Islamist grouping called the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) that fought alongside the Taliban during the US-led invasion in 2001. (Guardian Unlimited)
EU Slightly Softens its Stance Toward Uzbekistan May 16, 2007
Berlin has solid military ties with Uzbekistan, revolving mainly around the German base near the Uzbek city of Termez. . (EurasiaNet.org)
Germany pushes for lifting of sanctions on Uzbekistan May 14, 2007
Germany was the only EU or Nato country allowed to keep a military base, at Termez on the Afghan border, and despite the visa ban, it allowed the Uzbek police chief into Germany for medical treatment. Related articles. (Guardian Unlimited -- World)
Big powers jockey for oil in Central Asia Mar 28, 2007
And Germany stations 300 troops with helicopters at Termez, in next-door Uzbekistan. Page 1. (Christian Science Monitor -- World)
Uzbekistan: Is Tashkent's Foreign Policy Going Multivector? Mar 11, 2007
Germany has managed to keep a small military facility running in the Uzbek city of Termez despite Tashkent s eviction of U.S. forces at the Karshi-Khanabad airbase in 2005. And it was German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, speaking after the EU foreign ministers meeting on March 5, who pointed to an Uzbek promise of further talks about the May 2005 killings in Andijon and the plight of rights activists in Uzbekistan as positive signs. (EurasiaNet.org)
EU Quest for Central Asian Oil and Democracy is Risky Feb 12, 2007
Germany has established an airbase to supply its armed forces in Afghanistan in the Uzbek provincial capital of Termez. However, Berlin and Brussels face some uneasy conflicts in the region. (Ocnus.net)
