US embassy cable - 05ALMATY572

UNCLAS  ALMATY 000572 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
STATE FOR EUR/CACEN (JMUDGE), EUR/PPD (JBASEDOW), EUR/ACE 
(MO'NEAL/ESMITH), DRL/PHD (PDAVIS) 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV, PHUM, KPAO, KDEM, KZ, POLITICAL 
SUBJECT:  ENGAGING THE MEDIA TO DISPEL RUMORS ABOUT U.S. 
ASSISTANCE 
 
1. (SBU) SUMMARY.  The election of Viktor Yushchenko as 
Ukraine's President has intensified suspicions and fueled 
rumors in Kazakhstan that U.S.-sponsored NGOs are here to 
support opposition political parties.  There are widespread 
rumors that NGOs such as Soros Foundation of Kazakhstan 
(SFK), Freedom House, the National Democratic Institute 
(NDI) the International Republican Institute (IRI) and 
others directly finance political parties.  Such rumors 
were given new impetus January 19 by Mazhilis (lower house 
of parliament) deputy Yerasyl Abylkasymov, who asked 
Kazakhstan's General Prosecutor to conduct inspections of 
Western-sponsored NGOs.  Abylkaymov charged the latter with 
trying to bring about a "tulip revolution" in Kazakhstan. 
During recent weeks, Ambassador Ordway, USAID Central Asia 
Director George Deikun, and DAS Laura Kennedy have all 
conducted press outreach activities to address 
misperceptions and rumors about U.S. assistance programs. 
END SUMMARY. 
 
-------------------------- 
Ambassador Meets the Press 
-------------------------- 
 
2. (SBU) On January 20, as part of his ongoing efforts to 
engage Kazakhstan's politically diverse media community, 
Ambassador Ordway invited six editors from official and pro- 
government newspapers to his residence.  The purpose of the 
meeting was to hold an off-the-record discussion of any and 
all issues of interest to the editors.   The editors began 
by asking the Ambassador what the "real reason" was that 
had led George Soros to invest so much money in Kazakhstan. 
They also asked why the U.S. insisted on "interfering" in 
the affairs of sovereign governments, like Ukraine. 
 
3. (SBU) The questions revealed a prevailing cynicism about 
"democratic ideals" frequent among journalists who have 
spent their formative years working at Soviet-era media. 
In discussing George Soros' motives in pursuing democratic 
reform in the countries of the former Soviet Union, 
Ambassador Ordway noted the long tradition of philanthropy 
in the United States.  He added that Soros grew up in 
Hungary and had witnessed how the Soviet Union had brutally 
crushed a popular uprising there against a communist 
dictatorship.  The Ambassador said that Soros most likely 
had a sincere desire to help the people of the FSU 
countries in pursuing a transition to democracy.   The 
editors dismissed this explanation.  They suggested instead 
that Soros was motivated by his own dark profit motives, 
and, through the activities of his foundation, had 
basically fixed the election of Yuschenko in Ukraine. 
 
4. (SBU) Ekspress K editor Adilkhan Nusupov formulated a 
unique metaphor to describe how countries should be allowed 
to pursue democratic reforms in their own way, comparing 
democracy to pizza.  He said Kazakhstan was like a very 
young child, who had a huge pizza set in front of him, and 
who would eat the entire pie and die if not supervised and 
properly nourished.  In its efforts to establish a 
democratic government, Nusupov said Kazakhstan should 
control the process by determining its own timetable, 
methodology, and path. 
 
---------------------------------- 
Mazhilis Deputy Attacks U.S. NGO's 
---------------------------------- 
 
5. (SBU) The debate on U.S. NGOs was given new impetus by 
an inquiry filed January 19 with the Procurator General, 
Rashid Tusubekov, by Mazhilis (lower house of parliament) 
deputy Yerasyl Abylkasymov.   Abylkasymov, an outspoken and 
controversial politician, accused the Soros Foundation, the 
"non-governmental organization USAID," NDI, IRI, and 
Kazakhstan's International Bureau of Human Rights and Rule 
of Law, of spending over $40 million to bring about a 
"tulip revolution" in Kazakhstan, modeled on similar "pro- 
Western, pseudo-democratic revolutions in Serbia, Georgia 
and Ukraine."  Besides calling for the closing of political 
parties not meeting the legally required minimum number of 
members, he asked the prosecutor to conduct inspections of 
all Western-sponsored NGOs involved in "making fools" of 
the public.  Abylkasymov's remarks were widely repeated in 
Kazakhstan's wire services, television and print media. 
 
 
--------------------- 
USAID Director Replies 
---------------------- 
 
6. (SBU) At the request of the public affairs section, 
departing USAID Director for the Central Asian Region 
George Deikun hosted a January 19 on-the-record media 
roundtable.   The session was attended by a dozen 
journalists, representing the full political spectrum, from 
state-owned media to opposition, both Russian and Kazakh, 
television, radio and print.  Deikun opened the discussion 
by stating plainly that USAID and American NGOs do not and 
have never endorsed particular political parties or 
candidates, nor have they provided direct funding to 
parties or candidates. 
 
--------------------------------------------- ----------- 
From the Orange to the Tulip Revolution in One Easy Step 
--------------------------------------------- ----------- 
 
7.  (SBU) Deikun's roundtable got good media coverage, much 
of it positive.  As might be expected, stories published by 
progressive and opposition media led with Deikun's comments 
that the U.S. government does not fund political parties. 
However, media that had been raising the specter of a 
"tulip revolution" added a new spin to their conspiracy 
theories.  Reporters asked who would replace Deikun, and 
when it turned out that his successor would be coming from 
Ukraine, they focused on this.  The official government 
daily Kazakhstanskaya Pravda led with the headline "USAID - 
New Appointment."  Pro-government Kazakh daily Aikyn titled 
its story:  "The Christopher Crowley Who Arranged The Coup 
in Ukraine is Coming to Almaty."  The latter daily also 
interviewed Abylkasymov, who said Crowley was being sent to 
Kazakhstan to organize the opposition. 
 
--------------------------------------------- --------- 
DAS Kennedy: "No Political Parties Receive USG Funding" 
--------------------------------------------- --------- 
 
8. (SBU) On February 4, EUR Deputy Assistant Secretary 
Laura Kennedy held a press conference in Astana, attended 
by six national and municipal television stations, radio 
and a variety of official and independent print media.  She 
once again explained the role of NGO's sponsored by the 
U.S. Government:  "No American NGO that is supported by our 
government would give special funding to any particular 
individual or party.  They offer training, other advice 
across the political spectrum.  They work always in 
accordance with the law of the host country, in this case 
Kazakhstan."  When asked about whether presidential 
elections in Kazakhstan would "follow the Ukrainian 
scenario," she said, "With regard to Ukraine, every country 
follows its own development, its own rules, so we would 
look at Kazakhstan directly, without the filter of another 
country." 
 
9. (U) The tone of the coverage varied according to the 
editorial style of the medium.  Most broadcasts included 
Kennedy's remarks about not financing political parties, 
while the independent, centrist station Channel 31 led 
their report with this:  "What is the status of democracy 
in Kazakhstan?  This is the question Deputy Assistant 
Secretary Laura Kennedy will answer during her visit here." 
 
SIPDIS 
The tabloid station KTK tied Kennedy's visit to the "new 
team" at the State Department and emphasized Kennedy's 
assurances that U.S. foreign policy objectives would not 
change. 
 
10. (U) Under the headline, "Miss Kennedy Took Kazakhstan's 
Pulse," Turkestan, a pro-government weekly, speculated that 
Kennedy's visit was to ascertain whether Kazakhstan would 
support U.S. military operations in Iran.  "What is the 
reason for the third or fourth high level visit from the 
Bush administration in such intensely cold weather?  It 
seems that after expressing condolences on the death of 
Kairat Kudabayev in Iraq (Note: Kudabayev, in Iraq as part 
of a 27 member Kazakhstani contingent in Iraq to dispose of 
ordinance, was killed on January 9, the first such 
Kazakhstani casualty. End note.), Bush now has sent Laura 
Kennedy to take Kazakhstan's pulse.  The question she 
 
 
probably has in mind:  would Kazakhstan send troops if we 
started war in Iran?" 
 
11. (SBU) Comment:  The Mission will continue to engage the 
media here through the Ambassador's monthly press 
conferences, setting up press ops for visiting officials 
and using other media outreach including interviews and op- 
eds.  While we do not expect to receive a sympathetic or, 
at times, even a fair hearing from unfriendly media, the 
Mission believes such outreach is crucial in responding to 
increasingly strident "Tulip Revolution" rumors.  In 
addition, such activities allow us to be pro-active in 
explaining and advocating U.S. foreign policy goals.  The 
Mission also is doing all that it can to support 
Kazakhstan's beleaguered independent media. 
 
12.  Dushanbe minimize considered. 
 
Ordway 
 
 
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