Azernews.Az

By Viktoriya Zhavoronkova, Trend commentator

US or other foreign military bases in the Central Asian countries are likely to stay despite the statements of their leaders, a US expert on the region says.

"There probably will continue to be some airfields used for resupplying foreign forces that remain in Afghanistan after 2014," Bruce Pannier, an expert of Radio Liberty, told Azerbaijan's Trend news agency.

Kyrgyzstan has reaffirmed its intention not to extend the lease agreement with the U.S. on the Manas transit center, formerly a military base. However, the country reached agreement with Russia on the military issue.

Media reports are circulating that the U.S. will not completely withdraw from the region even after the Manas agreement expires in 2014.

Pannier believes the facilities are likely to stay and the key will be the words used for those units. "No one will call them 'bases'," he said.

Pannier added that the same thing happened at Manas when it was transformed from a base into a "transit center".

The task of the facility will probably be similar to the current one, but when referring to it any term that sounds militarily will be avoided, the expert added.

The Transit Center at Manas, formerly called a military base, was opened in late 2001 after the U.S. launched military action in Afghanistan. At present, it accommodates about 1,200 US soldiers. According to Pentagon figures, the base handles up to 15,000 coalition servicemen and 500 tons of cargo a month.