Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
08ASTANA1279
2008-07-17 01:57:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Embassy Astana
Cable title:  

KAZAKHSTAN - ASTANA CELEBRATES 10TH ANNIVERSARY IN GRAND

Tags:  PGOV SOCI PREL ECON KZ 
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VZCZCXRO9323
PP RUEHAST RUEHBI RUEHCI RUEHLH RUEHLN RUEHPW RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHTA #1279/01 1990157
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 170157Z JUL 08
FM AMEMBASSY ASTANA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 2755
INFO RUCNCIS/CIS COLLECTIVE 0562
RUCNCLS/SOUTH AND CENTRAL ASIA COLLECTIVE
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ASTANA 001279 

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E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV SOCI PREL ECON KZ

SUBJECT: KAZAKHSTAN - ASTANA CELEBRATES 10TH ANNIVERSARY IN GRAND
STYLE

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SUMMARY
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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ASTANA 001279

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E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV SOCI PREL ECON KZ

SUBJECT: KAZAKHSTAN - ASTANA CELEBRATES 10TH ANNIVERSARY IN GRAND
STYLE

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SUMMARY
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1. (SBU) Astana celebrated its 10th anniversary as Kazakhstan's
capital on July 6. The jubilee consisted of a week of events,
ranging from monument dedications and gala concerts to an official
anniversary ceremony attended by nine foreign heads of state,
including Russian President Medvedev. The government appeared to
spare no expense in preparing Astana for the anniversary -- with
work continuing around the clock in recent months to pave roads,
finish off key construction projects, and bedeck the city with
festive billboards and placards. In his speech at the official
ceremony, President Nazarbayev justified his decision to move the
capital to Astana as in Kazakhstan's "strategic interests." The
glitzy city has become a point of genuine pride for a sizeable
portion of the population. End Summary.

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GRAND CELEBRATION
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2. (SBU) Astana celebrated its 10th anniversary as Kazakhstan's
capital in grand style. Astana's "birthday" is officially July 6 --
moved from a date in early June several years ago to improve the
chances for good weather and to coincide with President Nazarbayev's
birthday -- but the 10th anniversary events extended a whole week,
from June 30 through July 7. (Note: Elsewhere in Kazakhstan the
celebration actually began earlier, with events scheduled on a
rolling basis in the country's oblast centers. End Note.) The
beginning of the festivities overlapped with the annual meeting of
the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, which Astana hosted from June 28 to
July 3. Immediately before going out of session for the summer,
parliament passed legislation making the "Day of the Capital" a
permanent national holiday -- and thus a day off from work.


3. (SBU) The domestic credit crunch resulting from the global
financial crisis had stalled many of Astana's key construction
projects since last year. Beginning in the spring, however, the
government embarked on a crash effort to complete as many as
possible for the 10th anniversary. Remarkable progress was made in
a short period, though some notable projects did not get finished in
time -- including a new bridge spanning the city's Ishim River, a

massive new concert hall (the "Palace of Independence") around the
corner from the Embassy, and a domed sports stadium. (Note: The
official 10th anniversary ceremony with foreign heads of states in
attendance could thus not be conducted in the concert hall, as
planned, but rather had to be moved across the street to Astana's
"Peace and Reconciliation" pyramid. However, a gala jubilee concert
was nevertheless staged in the unfinished stadium, amid exposed
rafters and girders. End Note.) In the run up to the celebration,
the government also repaved Astana's major streets -- many
simultaneously, causing major traffic snarls for weeks -- and
repaired sidewalks all over town. An army of several thousand
laborers, many seemingly migrants from Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan,
was mobilized for the work. Almost overnight, more than a dozen new
monuments were erected around the capital, each one a "gift" from
one of Kazakhstan's oblasts. The monuments were unveiled and
dedicated during the 10th anniversary festivities.

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"FROM ASTANA WITH LOVE"
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4. (SBU) The government also designed an attractive "Astana 10" logo
and branded the celebration with a motto -- "From Astana with Love."
Virtually every single billboard in Astana, thousands of lampposts,
and the corrugated metal walls surrounding hundreds of construction
sites were festooned with giant placards, banners, and posters
bearing the logo, motto (in Kazakh, Russian, and English, in
Nazarbayev's own handwriting),and other graphic designs created for
the jubilee. The logo also made its way onto pins, tee shirts,
baseball caps, and knapsacks -- and was painted on buses all over
the country. Astana city authorities set up a trilingual website --
www.astana10.com -- to publicize the celebration. The site includes
a glitzy ad-agency style webpage entitled "celebration concept,"
which lists such "aims" for the anniversary event as "the
positioning of the first president of the Republic of Kazakhstan as
a leader of world-scale" and "confirmation of the correctness of the
decision to move the capital."

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THIRTY-TWO CRITERIA FOR MOVING THE CAPITAL
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5. (SBU) The key 10th anniversary events took place over the July
5-6 weekend. On those days, the streets of Astana's cavernous
government quarter were full as perhaps never before -- with a
notably large number of Kazakh speakers, an indication that

ASTANA 00001279 002 OF 003


thousands traveled or were bused in to the city from the provinces.
Nine foreign heads of state -- Russian President Medvedev (making
his second trip to Astana since taking office),Turkish President
Gul, Georgia's Saakashvili, Armenia's Sargsyan, Azerbaijan's Aliyev,
Kyrgyzstan's Bakiyev, Tajikistan's Rakhmon, Turkmenistan's
Berdymukhamedov, and Jordan's King Abdullah -- attended the official
10th anniversary ceremony on July 5, a VIP event that included
several hours of speeches. In his own address, Nazarbayev justified
the transfer of the capital to Astana as having been compelled by
the "strategic interests of the nation." He claimed that 32
criteria had been taken into account in selecting the location of
the new capital, including socio-economic indicators, the
environment, labor resources, transport infrastructure, and -- oddly
enough, given the ultimate choice of sub-Siberian Astana -- climate.
Describing nine ways in which Astana had fundamentally changed the
life of the country, Nazarbayev contended that moving the capital
there had "completed the process the constructing Kazakhstan's new
statehood," created social mobility, and facilitated the revival of
a "governing elite." Astana, he argued, had significantly grown in
international significance, and was a clear example of innovative
architecture and of the nation's success.

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"FROM MOSCOW WITH LOVE"
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6. (SBU) On the evening of July 5, Astana hosted a spectacular
five-hour "From Moscow with Love" concert, a gift from Moscow mayor
Yuriy Luzhkov, who flew in a number of big-name performers for the
event, from the aging Latvian pop star Laima Vaikule to the ageless
Russian crooner Iosif Kobzon. Dima Bilan, the 2008 Eurovision Song
Contest winner, was the finale act. Luzhkov himself was invited to
Astana for the 10th anniversary festivities together with another
100 or so big city mayors. A session of the International Forum of
Capitals and Large Cities was held on the margins of the jubilee.


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"ASTANA - MY HEART"
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7. (SBU) On July 6, Nazarbayev participated in the dedication of the
Kazakh Yeli ("Kazakh nation") monument, a 91-meter tall obelisk
positioned in front of the Palace of Independence (see para 3 above)
-- with its height symbolizing 1991, the year Kazakhstan gained its
statehood. That evening, Nazarbayev hosted a private dinner for
senior government officials, other Kazakhstani elites, and foreign
ambassadors. Nazarbayev sat at the head table, together with his
closest political confidants -- including Senate chairman Tokayev,
Astana mayor Tasmagambetov, Nur Otan Party deputy chairman
Dzhaksybekov, and Astana Musical Academy rector Ayman
Mukhahodzhayeva. Also at the head table were wife Sara and daughter
Dariga. In remarks to those present, after describing the
contributions of the various categories of guests (ministers,
regional governors, Presidential Administration, intelligentsia and
the diplomatic corps) Nazarbayev praised his wife in glowing terms
-- an unexpected gesture given that she had appeared to be sidelined
in recent years. Ukrainian pop star Sofia Rotary performed at the
dinner and enticed Nazarbayev onto the dance floor.


8. (SBU) After the dinner, Nazarbayev attended a gala VIP show,
"Astana - My Heart," staged in an amphitheater in front of Astana's
"White House" and broadcast live on national television. This show
was dominated by Kazakh folk and pop performers, though Sofia Rotary
proved to be the crowd pleaser and American star Whitney Houston
sang several numbers as the closing act -- which was following by a
thundering fireworks display.

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VICTORY ON THE GOLF COURSE
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9. (SBU) The Astana jubilee would not have been complete without
sports activities. An enthusiastic tennis fan, Nazarbayev,
accompanied by Cypriot tennis star Marcos Baghdatis, opened up a
modern new Astana tennis center, where international tournaments
will be played. Nazarbayev also played in a golf tournament at
Astana's sole golf club (riding around the course in a miniaturized
Cadillac Escalade golf-cart). Other tournament participants
included senior government officials, business leaders, and
representatives of the diplomatic community. Players were paired up
into two-man teams. One Embassy Astana staffer -- a former golf pro
-- was paired with Minister of Industry and Trade Vladimir Shkolnik.
Though no scores were released, he and Shkolnik were declared to
have come in second place. The crowd applauded wildly when
Nazarbayev and his partner were announced to be the winners.

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COMMENT

ASTANA 00001279 003 OF 003


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10. (SBU) Love it or hate it, Astana has made great strides in just
a few short years. Its rapid transformation from sleepy, remote,
provincial city to gleaming national capital is the most remarkable
development in the country's post-independence period, topping even
the discovery and exploitation of Kazakhstan's vast Caspian crude
reserves. Though many Kazakhstanis -- notably the Almaty elite --
still deeply resent the transfer of the capital and the money spent
moving it ($7 billion thus far, according to Nazarbayev himself),
Astana is a point of pride for millions of the country's citizens.
It may very well prove to be President Nazarbayev's most lasting
legacy -- a futuristic steel, concrete, and glass "monument" that
endures and perhaps even thrives well beyond the date when
Kazakhstan's hydrocarbon resources are fully exhausted. End
Comment.

Pictures of the event can be found on the Embassy's site at

http://kazakhstan.usembassy.gov/news07062008. html

ORDWAY