Islam Times - Kyrgyzstan terminates cooperation deal with US

Islam Times - Kyrgyzstan terminates a long-running cooperation agreement with the United States over Washington’s decision to grant an imprisoned ethnic Uzbek a human rights prize.

According to the Kyrgyz government’s press service, Prime Minister Temir Sariyev signed a directive terminating an agreement on Cooperation to Facilitate the Provision of Assistance on Tuesday.

The agreement is expected to be officially terminated by August 20.

The move by Kyrgyzstan comes a day after Washington warned that an escalation in tensions in the country and the termination of the agreement could jeopardize assistance programs "that benefit the Kyrgyzstani people."

The agreement was signed in 1993.

On July 17, Kyrgyzstan’s Foreign Ministry protested the decision by the US to award rights activist and journalist Azimjon Askarov, who is currently serving a life sentence for “creating a threat to civil peace and stability in society” in 2010.

Askarov was convicted after ethnic clashes in southern Kyrgyzstan in June 2010, which left hundreds of people dead.

Kyrgyzstan has been under domestic and international pressure to release Askarov.