KYRGYZ SPEAKER VIEWS U.S. VISIT AS USEFUL, AGAIN

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 BISHKEK 000199

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR SCA/CEN

E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/23/2017
TAGS: PGOV PREL MARR KG
SUBJECT: KYRGYZ SPEAKER VIEWS U.S. VISIT AS USEFUL, AGAIN
URGES GREATER OPENNESS ON BASE PAYMENTS

REF: A. STATE 17715

B. BISHKEK 124

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Classified By: DCM Lee Litzenberger, Reason 1.4 (b) and (d).


1. (C) SUMMARY: Charge met with Speaker of Parliament Marat
Sultanov on February 14 to discuss the Speaker's recent visit
to the United States (Ref A) and reported statements about
renegotiating the Manas Airbase agreement; the status of the
parliament's December resolution concerning the base;
parliament's legislative agenda; and the Speaker's upcoming
visit to Iran. Sultanov said that his visit to Washington
had been useful, and he understands that the base remains
necessary for operations in Afghanistan. He said that the
lack of openness and detail regarding base payments and U.S.
assistance hurt Kyrgyz perceptions of the U.S. Sultanov said
that the parliament would be examining the arrangements for
all foreign bases in Kyrgyzstan. Sultanov suggested that an
official visit by President Bakiyev to Washington would help
balance what Bakiyev hears in other capitals. Sultanov said
that his trip to Iran was merely in response to the Iranian
speaker's visit to Kyrgyzstan last fall. End Summary.

Productive U.S. Visit
--------------


2. (C) Speaker of Parliament Marat Sultanov told the Charge
that the meetings during his recent eight-day trip to the
United States had been useful. In Washington, he had
received informative briefings on the situation in
Afghanistan, and he appreciated that the Manas Air Base
remained necessary to support operations there. Sultanov
suggested that it would be useful for other Kyrgyz officials
to receive similar briefings, and the Charge said that we
would work to organize more briefings here at the base, or
possibly in Afghanistan. Sultanov said that he would like to
find a mechanism for the Kyrgyz parliament to work with the
Afghan parliament, suggesting that the Kyrgyz experience with
issues such as ethnic tensions would be useful to share with
their Afghan counterparts.

Problems with Base Perceptions
--------------


3. (C) Sultanov said that while many understood the need for
the continued presence of the base, there were problems with
perceptions of the base, and the U.S. could do a better job
of explaining the base (see Ref B). Sultanov said that the
lack of transparency regarding payments for the base led to
rumors and speculation about corruption. He said that the
use of only the figure for total U.S. payments and assistance
-- $150 million -- raised many questions, and
parliamentarians (and the public) wanted to know where the
money and assistance was going. He said it was critical to
explain the details. Sultanov also said that the U.S. should
have adopted a more "humane" approach to December shooting of
a local truck driver at the base; a timely (monetary) gesture
to the widow would have helped improve perceptions.

Parliament to Look at All Bases
--------------


4. (C) Sultanov said that following on its December
(non-binding) resolution demanding that the government
renegotiate the Manas Air Base agreement, the parliament
would be examining the arrangements for all foreign bases in
Kyrgyzstan. (Note: in addition to the U.S. air base at
Manas, there are two Russian bases in Kyrgyzstan. End Note.)

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Sultanov mentioned that, linked to the Russian presence at
the Kant air base, Russia provides 60 to 70 scholarships to
Kyrgyz to attend FSB and Ministry of Defense training in
Russia; in addition, the Russian bases pay rents to local
authorities and provide jobs for some local Kyrgyz residents.

An Invitation for Bakiyev?
--------------


5. (C) Sultanov recommended that we invite President Bakiyev
to Washington for an official visit. Over the past 15 years,
he said, there had been no "official" visits but only working
visits to Washington. He said that Bakiyev travels to other
countries -- Russia, Kazakhstan, European countries -- and a
trip to Washington and meeting directly with U.S. officials
would balance what he hears in other capitals. The Charge
agreed that such a visit could be useful, but pointed out
that there are several unresolved issues affecting the
bilateral relationship that make the timing of such a visit
difficult.

Parliament's Priorities
--------------


6. (C) Sultanov characterized the relations between the
presidential administration and the parliament as "good,"
with general agreement on the work that needs to be done.
Sultanov said that relations with new Prime Minister Isabekov
were "not bad" following Isabekov's meetings with all the
committee chairs in parliament. Sultanov said that
parliament would initially work on the budget, with
discussions over the next two weeks focusing on simplifying
the regional and local government structure. Sultanov said
he favored eliminating the oblast level; he said the prime
minister also favored a two-tier budget, but thought a
transition period would be needed to move from three to two
levels. Parliament would next tackle economic projects, with
discussion of the contentious issue of privatization in the
electricity sector.

NDI's Work in Parliament
--------------


7. (C) Asked about assistance programs to the parliament,
Sultanov said that the current programs, particularly NDI's
but also the OSCE's, needed to take a broader view of who
they worked with in parliament. Sultanov said that "all
factions" in parliament needed to be represented on trips
abroad and on other programs. He criticized the NDI program
for concentrating on two opposition factions (the "Jibek
Jolu" and "Elbirimdigi" groups),and not working with a wider
spectrum. Thus, the presidential administration sees NDI as
working only with the opposition. Sultanov also complained
that NDI's top leadership did not find time to meet with him
when he was in Washington.

Off to Iran
--------------


8. (C) Sultanov said that his upcoming March 9 visit to Iran
was in response to the visit last fall of Iran's majlis
speaker to Kyrgyzstan. Sultanov said that the Kyrgyz
parliament maintained good relations with most other
parliaments in the region, and he would also be making a
similar visit to the parliament in Pakistan. Charge urged
Sultanov to be cautious in any remarks that could be twisted
by the Iranians to show support for their nuclear program.
Sultanov said that it had been a precondition of the visit

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last fall not to raise the nuclear issue, and he emphasized
that Kyrgyzstan wanted a minimum number of nuclear powers,
and that any program should be open to inspection.

Comment
--------------


9. (C) Sultanov clearly is interested in ways to improve the
bilateral relationship. He was upbeat about the results of
his U.S. trip, both with the Washington meetings and his
program in Utah. He is interested in the possibility of
building a relationship between the Kyrgyz parliament and the
state legislatures in Utah and Montana, with a focus on the
common experiences of mountain states. Sultanov welcomed the
news that Congress's Open World exchange program was
expanding to Kyrgyzstan, and agreed that it would be useful
to target parliamentarians for the program.

YOVANOVITCH