Uzbekistan\'s embassy in Kyrgyzstan issued a statement on 16 July saying that the issue of over 400 Uzbek asylum seekers currently in Kyrgyzstan will be resolved in \"close collaboration with appropriate Kyrgyz agencies in accordance with the principles of good-neighborliness, fraternal friendship, cooperation, and mutual assistance,\" RFE/RL\'s Kyrgyz Service reported. The statement warned, however, that \"the puppeteers who want to destabilize the Ferghana Valley by means of obedient international organizations and NGOs continue to exploit the fallout from the failed plan to bring off an armed coup in Uzbekistan in order to justify their step-by-step imposition of the so-called \'project to advance democracy.\'\" The embassy denied that Uzbekistan is exerting pressure on Kyrgyzstan. Kyrgyz officials have said that they hope to resolve the asylum-seeker issue through three-way consultations involving Uzbek authorities and international organizations. The latter have urged Kyrgyzstan not to return the asylum seekers to Uzbekistan. (RFE/RL)