SCENESETTER FOR CODEL LUGAR'S AUGUST 20-22 VISIT

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BAKU 001198 SIPDIS SIPDIS FOR CHAIRMAN LUGAR FROM CHARGE HYLAND E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL PGOV PHUM KDEM ECON EAID MARR AJ SUBJECT: SCENESETTER FOR CODEL LUGAR'S AUGUST 20-22 VISIT TO AZERBAIJAN ¶1. (U) Chairman Lugar, on behalf of Ambassador Derse who looks forward to greeting you on arrival, I warmly welcome you to Baku next week. President Aliyev's April 28 meeting with President Bush at the White House was a resounding success in advancing the bilateral relationship, and the relationship has never been stronger. We hope that your visit will build on the momentum of the Aliyev visit in the three key areas of our cooperation: security, energy and reform. SECURITY: COOPERATION STRONG -------------- ¶2. (U) Azerbaijan is a steadfast partner in the Global War on Terror. In Iraq, 151 Azerbaijani (Shiite Muslim) infantry troops stand alongside U.S. Marines guarding the Haditha Dam. Azerbaijan is also contributing troops in Afghanistan and peacekeepers in Kosovo. Azerbaijan provides blanket over-flight rights for U.S. aircraft, as well as strong information sharing and law enforcement cooperation in fighting terror. ¶3. (U) Azerbaijan recently completed an Individual Partnership Action Plan (IPAP) with NATO that has promoted good cooperation in a number of areas. The USG and NATO partners would like to see Azerbaijan do more to advance IPAP implementation. In support of Azerbaijan's IPAP goal, the U.S. is working with the Ministry of Defense to make a military airfield "Nato compatible," which could be used by NATO aircraft as a "gas and go" location for operations in Central Asia. ¶4. (U) The U.S. is working with the Azerbaijani Navy to upgrade the capabilities of five ships and a naval commando unit to assist in interdicting trans-national threats on the Caspian Sea. The Proliferation Prevention Initiative (PPI) encompasses the Coast Guard and we hope very soon, the Navy, to complete the mission requirements of surveilling the Azerbaijani sector of the Caspian Sea in order to detect and interdict WMD. This program represents a historic first for Cooperative Threat Reduction (CTR) programs. Rather than disabling and destroying WMD, CTR funds will be used to detect and prevent proliferation. Shepherding this complex and first-ever undertaking is a major priority for this mission. Separately, the Biological Threat Reduction Programs (BTRP) are doing well. BTRP has biosafety and security upgrades underway at the Republic Antiplague Station and will soon begin an upgrade program at the Republic Veterinary Laboratory. We are also working to improve Azerbaijan's first responders' ability to react to a WMD incident. ENERGY: MOVING BEYOND BTC -------------- ¶5. (U) Last month's Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) first oil ceremonies in Turkey highlighted the outstanding level of U.S.-Azerbaijani cooperation on energy issues and Azerbaijan's growing role as a regional energy producer and transit country. In June, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan signed an Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA),enabling Kazakh crude to reach global markets via the BTC pipeline. With the completion of the South Caucasus Pipeline later this year, Azerbaijan will begin exporting Shah Deniz gas to Turkey, and possibly Western Europe. Full field development of Shah Deniz and a possible new Transcaspian Gas pipeline would allow still higher volumes of Caspian gas to reach international energy markets, further enhancing European energy security. Both Russian and Turkish commercial interests however, complicate Azerbaijan's plans to play a still greater role as a regional energy transit hub. MANAGING THE OIL BOOM -------------- ¶6. (U) With GDP growth of 36%, Azerbaijan has the fastest growing economy in the world, driven nearly entirely by a rising "tsunami" of energy revenue. The government's economic planning, and the country's judicial, regulatory and banking sectors are weak and ill-prepared to manage this enormous influx of revenue. Significant institutional reform and capacity-building will be required to manage the stable growth of Azerbaijan's economy and to prevent the onset of Dutch disease. Corruption, which is pervasive throughout Azerbaijan, further complicates matters. The U.S. is providing technical assistance to help Azerbaijan manage this transition, with technical advisors in the Ministries of Tax and Finance, anticorruption programs, rule of law programs and a program to help strengthen the GOAJ's consolidated BAKU 00001198 002 OF 002 budgeting process. Moreover, we believe the WTO accession process is the key vehicle through which we can implement successful economic and political reform that will keep Azerbaijan's development on a stable path. REFORM: PROGRESS, SET BACKS AND OBSTACLES -------------- ¶7. (U) Azerbaijan's November 2005 parliamentary elections were an improvement over previous elections in some respects. The Government accepted several OSCE recommendations to strengthen the process including permitting an (AID-sponsored) exit poll, finger inking, and domestic observation. However, the election overall failed to meet international standards because of credible allegations of widespread fraud in the vote tabulation process on election night. The May reruns of ten canceled parliamentary districts addressed problems in the vote count and were generally an improvement. In the aftermath of the elections, the OSCE made several recommendations for institutional reform that we support, most important, changing the composition of local election commissions which are heavily stilted in favor of the ruling Yeni Azerbaijan Party (YAP). ¶8. (U) Parliamentary reform and media freedoms are key areas for further democratic reform. We have seen some positive signs that new Speaker of Parliament Ogtay Asadov (whom you will meet) hopes to change the Parliament from a Soviet-era rubber stamp body to a somewhat more empowered institution. We hope your visit will encourage reform and being a continuing dialogue to further refrom efforts. Key reforms under consideration include adding personal staff, and decreasing the number of members required to form a faction. We are currently developing a Parliamentary assistance program that we hope to launch when the fall session of Parliament convenes in October. On the downside, recent months have seen a decline in media freedom in Azerbaijan. There have been two, high-profile, physical assaults on opposition newspaper journalists in recent months by unidentified assailants. Separately, Government officials have increasingly resorted to civil and criminal libel suits against opposition-affiliated journalists to silence criticism. Finally, Azerbaijan's most influential independent media conglomerate, ANS TV, continues to face difficulties in getting its broadcast license renewed by media regulators. ¶9. (U) Your visit next week provides an excellent opportunity to advance the USG's agenda in Azerbaijan. Ambassador Derse, and all of us at this Mission, look forward to welcoming you. HYLAND