Joint anti-terrorism exercises.

Nethappy

NO WAR PLS
VIP Professional
BEIJING (Reuters) - China, Russia and four Central Asian states have agreed to hold anti-terrorism drills in Russia next year, China's official Xinhua news agency said on Wednesday, underlining the group's efforts to bolster its regional clout.

The six nations of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) announced the exercises after a one-day meeting of their defence ministers in Beijing.

The SCO groups the formerly Soviet-controlled states of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan with regional giants China and Russia. Mongolia, Pakistan, India and Iran are observer countries at SCO meetings.

Founded in 2001 from a looser association set up in 1996, the group is seen by some -- in Moscow at least -- as a balance to U.S. influence in the region, though Russia's defence minister on Wednesday stressed it was not a military or political bloc.

"Using arms to face terrorists is not aimed at any third country. It is to maintain regional peace and stability," Sergei Ivanov told a news conference. "The SCO is not a military alliance. But, according to its charter, it has the right to use arms to react to any challenge, like terrorism."

Niklas Swanstrom, director of the Contemporary Silk Road Studies Programme at Sweden's Uppsala University, said SCO members were divided by long-standing rivalries but united by fears of domestic threats, including militant Islamist groups.
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He said that, unlike the West, China and Russia sympathise with the problems that the region's often harshly authoritarian states face with militants.

For Beijing, the SCO has become a vehicle for bolstering its increasingly prominent security and economic interests in Central Asia while reassuring Moscow, the region's traditional patron.

Beijing's strategic stake in Central Asia is also underpinned by energy, with the region expected to supply energy-famished China with growing volumes of gas and oil.

"Central Asia is the backyard of Russia, but China is making extremely aggressive inroads," Swanstrom said.

Last year, Beijing welcomed Uzbekistan President Islam Karimov just two weeks after a crackdown against protests in his country that independent observers say may have killed hundreds.

SHOWING SOME TEETH

Member nations, except Uzbekistan, first staged joint military drills in 2003 in China's far northwestern Xinjiang region and Kazakhstan, which were also "anti-terror" exercises.

China and Russia held joint exercises in China last August, the only time the former Cold War foes' armies have cooperated on any significant scale since the Korean War in the 1950s.

Those manoeuvres -- officially aimed at quelling ethnic conflicts and resisting any interference by a "third force", an apparent reference to the United States -- were seen as a sign the SCO had begun to show some teeth after a low-key start.

The SCO has a mandate to combat "terrorism" and Islamic radicalism across the region, including opposition groups that Central Asian states treat as threats to their control.

China says it is threatened by terrorism in Xinjiang, home to over 8 million Uighurs, a largely Islamic people who share linguistic and cultural bonds with neighbouring Central Asia.

Many Uighurs resent the growing Han Chinese presence in Xinjiang, as well as strict controls on religion and culture.

"The (SCO) governments strongly support China against the Uighurs," said Swanstrom.

The London-based rights watchdog Amnesty International said two Uighur men from Xinjiang who have been detained in Kazakhstan since last year risk being tortured or sentenced to death if they are repatriated and convicted of serious crimes.

One is accused of separatism, while the other fled China after protesting against the strict family planning policy and harsh working conditions during mandatory state labour, it said.

How would these exercises would go?
How would the mixed capblitiy and equipment mixed?
Anyone has any information about Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan CT forces?
 

FreeAsia2000

Junior Member
These exercises are designed to 'encourage' washington not to attempt
any more colour revolutions in Central Asia or seperatism. They send a
message that all these countries will act in concert.

Really though I don't think any of these states have anything to worry
about. People in the region are increasingly hostile to America so the
only way that any of the Central Asian leaders could be overthrown is
by a coup...apparently the US attache to Kazakhstan did crash his car
into the Kazakhstani leaders convoy...but maybe that was just the heat
:D of course he was detained by the Nazirbayev's guard because he tried
to escape on foot...but maybe that was just nerves

The future is a NATO contingent in Afghanistan facing a hostile pashtun
Afghan majority and surrounded by SCO states.

The nearest ally is Azerbaijan which Iran has already threatened to
attack if it hosts US military bases.

Iran to Deliver a Missile Blow to Azerbaijan
Asim Oku, AIA Turkish and Caucasian section
View of Baku
View of Baku
In case of Baku's consent to the accommodation of American military bases in the republic, Iran plans to deliver a preventive missile strike on the territory of Azerbaijan, Jelal Muhammedi, a confidant of the new Iranian leader, said in his interview to the Azerbaijan newspaper, Mirror. Muhammedi, being an ethnic Azerbaijanian, in the past held the post of editor-in-chief of the Iranian periodical, "Misag" (Tabriz), and is known for his close connections with authorities.
During the elections, he actively supported Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The new president of Iran worked in the local authorities of Iranian Azerbaijan in the 1990s. At that time he got acquainted with one of the most outstanding journalists of this region, Muhammedi. Jelal, at that time played and today continues to play a rather active role in the formation of Iranian policy concerning Azerbaijan. Especially, he has proved himself adept at secret relations between Tehran and the representatives of the intellectual elite of Baku, and, primarily, with journalists.
It is highly probable that after Ahmadinejad's election, Muhammedi may become one of the key figures in formulating Tehran's policy towards Azerbaijan.
Muhammedi claims that a sharp deterioration of Iran-Azerbaijan attitudes may occur in the near future for two reasons: accommodation of the US military bases in Azerbaijan and support by Baku of separatist moods in Iranian Azerbaijan.
Muhammedi emphasized that in both cases Tehran is capable of taking not only adequate reciprocal measures, but also may be drawn to actions of a preventive character.

En Route to Baku

What might be the Iranian reaction to Ilham Aliev's consent to place a US military contingent in the republic was mentioned above. Speaking about the destructive consequences of a missile blow, Muhammedi suggested imagining "how Baku will look after two missiles strike the area". He has no doubt that the missiles will reach their target in case of the conflict, and such confidence is not baseless at all. Tehran's military is much stronger then Baku's on each and every parameter.
An extensive missile arsenal and several hundreds of warplanes allow Iran to deal a blazing air blow on the large cities of Azerbaijan.
A common border, and the complete lack of any efficient system of antimissile and antiaircraft defense of the Azerbaijan army eases this task substantially. Moreover, judging by the equipment, staff, and level of preparation, the Air Forces of the Azeri republic are incapable of withstanding the Iranians. The common 611 km long border, allows Iran to subject the southern areas of Azerbaijan to massive artillery bombardments.
In case of escalation of the conflict up to ground forces collisions, Baku also has no chance to resist. By the numbers, the Iranian Army and Pasdaran (not even counting the National Guard - Basij Resistance Forces) considerably surpass the Azerbaijanian armed forces (more than 900 thousand Iranian soldiers against 72 thousand Azeri). Also, Iranians are equipped much better technically then Azerbaijanians. The supreme command structure of the Iranian Army and Pasdaran has a rich operative experience acquired in the war with Iraq. As for Azerbaijanian officers, they proved themselves inadequate during the conflict with Armenia at the beginning of the nineties.
The strategic arrangement of forces in the Southern Caucasus and around the Caspian Sea also is adverse for Baku. Aliev has no close ally with appreciable military potential in the region. But Tehran holds close relations with Armenia. In case the conflict breaks out, Tehran can be expected to grip Azerbaijan in a "vise " from the Southeastern, Southwestern and Western directions. Yerevan does not have to conduct any military actions; it is enough to increase the concentration of its armies on the Azerbaijan border.
Counting upon the above listed strategic factors, experts on the Caucasus consider that given several days, the Iranians would manage not only to suppress the resistance of the Azerbaijan army completely, but also reach the capital of the republic. However, any such scenarios are purely theoretical. Baku, certainly, concedes to Tehran on every issue and parameter, but is protected by Ankara and Washington. Even if Iran would decide to strike Azerbaijan (which is improbable) the Americans would instantly interfere in the course of events. Though the leadership of the Azeri republic constantly increases its military expenditure (by the official data from about $74 million in 1997 up to $300 million in 2005) the true and only guarantor of Baku's security and safety is the United States. Accordingly, any "preventive measures" by Tehran may only provoke the Iranian-American conflict, which in turn is fraught with the most unpredictable consequences, not only for its participants, but also for the countries of the Caucasus, Central Asia and the Middle East.

Read in the upcoming article:

How to blow up Azerbaijan from within?
Azeri scenario of overthrowing the Iranian regime.
Prospects of relations between Teheran and Baku, and regional consequences

Related articles:
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Roger604

Senior Member
Land exercises are good. But another amphibious joint-service exercise would be even better! Oh well, I guess there won't be another one until 2008 at least. :(
 

Nethappy

NO WAR PLS
VIP Professional
Well it supposed to be a CT exercises it not going be amphibious joint-service exercise. But it be interesting to see how the CT element of each country work together.
 
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