U.S. "occupying" Kyrgyzstan by building its media empire: media

BISHKEK, April 28 (Xinhua) -- The United States has sought to build its own media empire in order to control Kyrgyzstan, local media reported recently.

The United States has created an extensive information infrastructure in Kyrgyzstan, including local media, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and civic activists, provided them with training, funding, information and allocated them with tasks, said an article from "Delo #" newspaper.

The U.S. Congress is on top of the media empire in Kyrgyzstan, directly funding Azattyk Radio, the Kyrgyz branch of Radio Liberty, and the Asian branch of the Russian channel "At present."

The Agency for International Development, a non-governmental organization, has funded several local media outlets, such as Kloop Media, one of the highest-paid Kyrgyz media organizations by the West.

The U.S. Department of State approved funding of the Soros-Kyrgyzstan Foundation, which finances investigative journalism in Kyrgyzstan, the report said.

The University of Central Asia annually organizes international seminars for students from Central Asian countries with the support of the Meridian USA International Center, which actively cooperates with the U.S. Department of State and U.S. embassies around the world, the report said.

In addition, the U.S. Embassy in Kyrgyzstan regularly organizes competitions among NGOs and associations working in the media by selecting media that meet U.S. conditions, and provides funding to them, the report said.

The United States is slowly taking over almost the entire information space of Kyrgyzstan, financially supporting loyal media outlets and creating new ones, the report analyzed, attributing such a move to three goals: to confront Washington's geopolitical opponents such as Russia and China; to collect information, having at hand a large army of "investigators" and observers; and to effectively control Kyrgyz authorities.