US embassy cable - 05YEREVAN532

C O N F I D E N T I A L YEREVAN 000532 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR EUR/CACEN 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/24/2015 
TAGS: PREL, OPDC, KG, AM, RU 
SUBJECT: GOAM DEFERS TO PUTIN COMMENTS ON KYRGYZSTAN 
 
REF: SECSTATE 52126 
 
Classified By: DCM A.F. Godfrey for reasons 1.4 (b,d). 
 
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SUMMARY 
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1. (C) The GOAM offered limited public reaction to the unrest 
in Kyrgyzstan, due to the visit of Russian President Vladimir 
Putin which has dominated both headlines and GOAM attention. 
During a March 25 press conference, President Robert 
Kocharian deferred outright to Putin on the Kyrgyzstan issue. 
 Local media seized on Putin's comments that Russia would 
accept Kyrgyz President Akayev were he to seek refuge in 
Russia and Putin's statement that the opposition leaders were 
"well known" to the Russians.  Private comments by FM Vartan 
Oskanian and mid-level contacts at the MFA, however, have 
indicated unanimous surprise about the speed of events in 
Kyrgyzstan and concern about "who's in charge" in the 
country.  In reaction to USG talking points, MFA Americas 
Desk Officer said the MFA was waiting for a "better sense of 
how CIS neighbors would react" before venturing further on 
the subject.  She told us, however, that the point in our 
demarche regarding support for the OSCE mission would be 
woven into the draft GOAM statement.  End summary. 
 
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VISITING PUTIN:  "THESE PEOPLE ARE WELL KNOWN TO US" 
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2. (C) The GOAM made only a limited public reaction to the 
unrest in Kyrgyzstan.  The visit of Russian President 
Vladimir Putin has dominated headlines and GOAM resources. 
During a March 25 press conference, President Robert 
Kocharian deferred outright to President Putin on the 
Kyrgyzstan issue.  Local media seized on President Putin's 
comments that Russia would accept Krgyz President Akayev were 
he to seek refuge in Russia and that the opposition leaders 
were "well known" to the Russians.  Neither the Presidential 
nor MFA news services had posted official statements on the 
unrest in Kyrgyzstan as of 4:30p.m. local time. 
 
3. (C) In reaction to USG talking points on the subject, MFA 
Americas Desk Officer said the MFA was waiting for a "better 
sense of how CIS neighbors would react" before venturing 
further on the subject.  She told us, however, that the point 
in our demarche regarding support for the OSCE mission would 
likely be woven into the draft GOAM statement.  Our judgment 
is that the GOAM would confer with Russia before issuing a 
statement. 
 
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OSKANIAN:  "WE DON'T KNOW THESE PEOPLE" 
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4. (C) Contrasting with President Putin's statement about the 
opposition leaders in Kyrgyzstan, FM Vartan Oskanian told us 
privately March 24 during a meeting with the Ambassador and 
later during a USG reception that the GOAM was surprised by 
the unrest in Kyrgyzstan and said "We don't know these people 
so we don't quite yet know what to think."  Oskanian made 
particular mention of the speed of the events and said the 
GOAM was watching the situation with interest and was hoping 
it would end without violence. 
EVANS