BISHKEK (Reuters) - Kyrgyz President Almazbek Atambayev on Thursday blasted his opponents for demanding an escalation in a border standoff with Uzbekistan and accused them of seeking to destabilise Kyrgyzstan, Russia's closest ally in the Central Asian region.
Atambayev's comments follow a spike in tensions with its bigger neighbour after Uzbekistan deployed troops to a disputed border area last week, prompting Bishkek to call an urgent meeting in Moscow of a Russia-led security bloc.
Atambayev was also rattled by allegations from the state security service that several politicians had been planning to oust him by staging mass riots across the former Soviet republic.
Violent protests brought down two of the last four presidents in the central Asian former Soviet republic - Askar Akayev in 2005 and Kurmanbek Bakiyev in 2010.
Speaking on the anniversary of the 2005 revolt, Atambayev described the situation on the Kyrgyz-Uzbek border as "tense and unfriendly". He said some of his opponents had tried to provoke violence in the disputed area, where the border, neither clearly nor officially defined, is a constant source of bilateral friction.
"Those who say 'Let us oust the Uzbek border guards by force' are effectively calling for war," he told reporters.
"I think this has nothing to do with patriotism and is a betrayal of Kyrgyzstan's national interests, betrayal of one's own country."
Uzbekistan last week stationed two armoured personnel carriers and about 40 soldiers in an area where its Namangan region borders Kyrgyzstan's western Jalalabad region. Kyrgyzstan, in turn, reinforced its own side.
Uzbekistan has since withdrawn the armoured vehicles and both countries have withdrawn most of the deployed soldiers, leaving only a few border guards in the vicinity, according to the Kyrgyz state news agency.
Atambayev said he would cancel a planned visited to Uzbekistan in June - to attend a summit of another regional security body - unless the standoff is resolved.
Atambayev also referred to allegations made this week by the State National Security Committee of a plan to topple him.
"They must be judged according to the law," he said.
The state security service has not charged anyone in connection with its allegations.
Kyrgyzstan will hold local council elections on Sunday, while Atambayev's presidential term ends at the end of next year and he cannot run for a second one.
The mostly Muslim nation of six million hosts a Russian military air base and enjoys close ties with Moscow, but its economy has suffered from Russia's recession and slowdowns in other neighbouring countries such as China.