Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
05ALMATY572
2005-02-13 23:32:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
US Office Almaty
Cable title:  

ENGAGING THE MEDIA TO DISPEL RUMORS ABOUT U.S.

Tags:  PGOV PHUM KPAO KDEM KZ POLITICAL 
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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

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


NNNN