MOSCOW - Russia's Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov said Wednesday that Moscow was concerned over the situation in Kyrgyzstan and reminded the opposition that Bishkek was a member of a collective security agreement with Moscow.
"Kyrgyzstan is our ally in the agreement on collective security," Ivanov said in televised comments.
"I think that the so-called opposition will have enough brains to find the strength to calm down and turn the situation into a political dialogue," he said.
"In all, we are concerned about the development of the internal situation in the country," he said. "What is happening in the south of the country has long been outside a lawful framework."
Supporters of Kyrgyzstan's disjointed opposition have been staging demonstrations since the results of an election held on March 13 were announced, virtually shutting the opposition out of the nation's parliament.
The opposition charges that President Askar Akayev's administration had helped fix the vote in order to pack the 75-seat chamber with supporters ahead of presidential elections in October.
Russia signed a collective cooperation security treaty with five ex-Soviet republics in 1992 -- Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. The treaty calls for a united effort by its members in the fight against terrorism, drug trafficking and organized crime.
Kyrgyz authorities have on several occasions charged that the protests that have roiled Kyrgyzstan's south over the contested legislative poll were linked to criminal and radical Islamic groups.
03/23/2005 14:03 GMT