President Bakiyev says “the doors are not closed” concerning talks over the US airbase at Manas which is due to close. So claims the BBC, after an interview with the Kyrgyz president yesterday. Since the broadcast, his press office has kicked up a fuss. They are angry with the BBC for spinning the story. Presumably, President Bakiyev thinks he has been misunderstood.

Decide for yourself. Here is a transcript of voiceover provided with the edited interview broadcast on BBC World News. The BBC Central Asia Correspondent, Rayhan Demytrie began by asking the President whether there were any continued negotiations underway with the Americans about Manas.

A: There are no ongoing negotiations at the moment, but I would like to say that the door is not closed. We are ready to consider any proposals from the United States government aimed at bringing stability to Afghanistan. I am not ready to say which shape and form these negotiations would take but so far we have not had any concrete talks on the issue.

Q: Some observers say that Kyrgyzstan may be left out of the talks and that the Americans will talk directly to the Russians abouy the  future of the base. What’s your comment?

A: What does it have to do with Russia? Kyrgyztsan is a sovereign state, the decision to close has been taken independently by the Kyrgyz government and the parliament. It has nothing to do with Russia.

Q: When the US base opened agreement was signed between the United States and Kyrgystan. Why did you decide to announce the closure of the US base in Moscow?

A: Well the reason why it happened is, first of all we’ve been discussing this issue for quite some time. The Kyrgyz government’s decision to close the base coincided with my working visit to Moscow. And  journalists were asking me questions about the US base, so I had to answer it. If the question wasn’t asked in Moscow I would not have announced there.

Q: What do you say to international observers who claim that you decided to close the base in exchange for a 2 billion dollar loan from Russia?

A: First of all the discussion about the Russian loan has been going on for almost a year. Yes true, on a first glance it looks like we’ve made the decision to close the base and then came the announcement about the Russian investment but I repeat it was just a coincidence. And then I would like to point out that the 1.7 billion dollars which Russia is investing into our hydropower station is not a free gift, Russia will have a 50% stake in this joint venture.

Q: So, am I getting you right: That Kyrgyzstan is open to negotiations. The decision is not final?

A: We are only talking about a new agreement. The old one is no longer valid since the decision has been made to denounce it. Kyrgyzstan is a sovereign state and it has the right to take any decision which serves its national interests. Despite being a small country Kyrgyzstan should be respected more, our partners, be it the United States or Russia should listen to what we have to say. We decided to close the base because our proposals have been ignored for years and I don’t consider such relations as being equal.

What new agreement could be signed between the US and Kyrgyzstan? The door is not closed on what? If as is claimed by the authorities, President Bakiyev was not referring to Manas, what other metaphorical door was he talking about? Perhaps only he knows.