KAZAKHSTAN: COMMON WORLD FORUM MINISTERIAL BRINGS

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ASTANA 002092

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

STATE FOR SCA/CEN, DRL/IRF

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL PGOV KISL KIRF KZ
SUBJECT: KAZAKHSTAN: COMMON WORLD FORUM MINISTERIAL BRINGS
TOGETHER THE MUSLIM WORLD AND THE WEST


1. (U) Sensitive but unclassified. Not for public Internet.


2. (SBU) SUMMARY: U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations
Zalmay Khalilzad led the U.S. delegation to the October 17
Common World Forum ministerial meeting in Astana. Aimed at
promoting understanding between the Muslim world and the
West, the Forum brought together foreign ministers and
high-level representatives from over 50 countries and several
international organizations. In his speech opening the
event, President Nazarbayev said the idea for the Forum came
from Kazakhstan's own experiences as a multi-ethnic state.
The speeches of most of the participants were
non-controversial. Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov, however,
used his remarks to sharply criticize Georgia. Iranian
Foreign Minister Mottaki argued that the West's secularism
and liberal democracy breeds extremism and called for
alternatives to Western approaches. Ambassador Khalilzad
stressed the need for success in Iraq, Afghanistan, and
Pakistan. The Forum's final communique, the Astana
Declaration, remained unsettled until the end, as delegations
sought to amend the text while the ministerial was ongoing.
The uncertainty was cut short by Foreign Minister Tazhin, who
simply declared the Astana Declaration unanimously adopted.
END SUMMARY.

HIGH-LEVEL ATTENDANCE


3. (SBU) U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Zalmay
Khalilzad led the U.S. delegation at the October 17
ministerial meeting of the Common World Forum, an initiative
of President Nazarbayev aimed at promoting understanding
between the Muslim world and the West. Over 50 countries
were represented at the event, as well as several
international organizations. Notable attendees included
Russia Foreign Minister Lavrov, Iranian Foreign Minister
Mottaki, and Organization of Islamic States (OIC) Secretary
General Ihsanoglu. A number of Asian and Middle Eastern
countries were represented by foreign ministers, in large
part because on the preceding day, Astana hosted the
ministerial meeting of the Asian Cooperation Dialogue.
High-level foreign ministry representatives from such Western
countries as Estonia, Norway, Hungary, Greece, Poland, and
the Netherlands also attended. A number of other Western
countries, including Great Britain, Austria, Canada, Germany,
and Italy, were represented by their ambassadors to
Kazakhstan. The overall impressive turnout was to an extent
the result of a persistent lobbying campaign on the part of
the Kazakhstani government.

SPEECHES PAY TRIBUTE TO DIVERSITY


4. (SBU) President Nazarbayev delivered opening remarks at
the event. He told the participants that the idea for the
Common World Forum came from Kazakhstan's own experience as a
multi-ethnic and multi-confessional state. Highlighting that
Kazakhstan is home to over 130 ethnic groups and over 40
religious denominations, he said that the "desire to
strengthen global dialogues is driven by Kazakhstan's
domestic reality." "We've developed our own successful model
of tolerance." he said. He reminded the participants about
Kazakhstan's other achievements in promoting dialogue among
different "civilizations," including through the Conference
on Interaction and Confidence-Building in Asia (CICA) and the
Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions. He
also made reference to Kazakhstan's "Way to Europe" program
aimed at increasing cooperation with Europe across a number
of spheres.


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RUSSIA BRINGS IN UNIPOLARITY, GEORGIA


5. (SBU) Most of the ministerial was taken up by three
sessions, ostensibly on the topics of deepening ties between
the Muslim World and the West, dealing with global hotbeds of
instability, and addressing Islamophobia and Westernophobia.
With a number of speakers scheduled for each session, there
was little time remaining for discussion. The majority of
the speakers delivered remarks that were non-controversial,
with most welcoming Kazakhstan's initiative and highlighting
the work of their own countries in increasing inter-religious
and inter-cultural understanding.


6. (U) Russian Foreign Lavrov, however, departed from the
generally collegial mood of the Forum to emphatically push
points on unipolarity and Georgia. The first to speak after
all the opening remarks, Lavrov warned the participants of
the dangers a "unipolar world" brings to stability and
diversity. "The world is divided into civilizations, where
one civilization dominates the others," he asserted. He
pointed to "recent ideological rhetoric" that was creating
"discord rather than dialogue" and forcing countries into
"opposing blocs of so-called 'liberal democracies' and
'authoritarian capitalism.'" Lavrov went on to sharply
criticize Georgia, arguing that during the South Ossetia
conflict, Georgia not only killed innocent civilians, but
destroyed numerous cultural sites, including numerous UNESCO
world heritage structures, erasing a part of the region's
multicultural history. He asserted that Georgia's threat to
multiculturalism was one of the reasons behind Russia's
recognition of South Ossetia and Abkhazia: Russia had to
protect both to assure that the "multicultural nature of the
Caucasus is not destroyed." He closed by saying that Russia
"will continue to strive to protect human rights and fight
against unipolarity."

MOTTAKI CALLS FOR ALTERNATIVE TO WESTERN "UNILATERALISM"


7. (U) In remarks that appeared somewhat disjointed, perhaps
because of poor simultaneous interpretation, Iranian Foreign
Minister Mottaki was less sharp than Lavrov, but nevertheless
criticized the West for pushing a particular "unilateral"
ideology onto the rest of the world. "Dialogue is the very
spirit of our culture," he asserted, "and the Universal
Declaration on Human Rights leaves no room for
unilateralism." The roots of Islamaphobia lie in the
artificial polarity created by "Western liberal democracy and
secularism," he maintained, and "the West and its liberal
democratic model are a certain threat to the rest of the
world." "Why should humanity be subject to a split between
material and spiritual needs?" he asked. Liberal democracies
do not understand Islam, Mottaki asserted, but some are
continuing to negotiate with extremists in the Middle East.
"We need to review our methods, need to understand the
underlying pathologies in order to better deal with
Islamophobia," he went on. "Western thought is not the only
way to resolve issues," asserted Mottaki in closing, rather
"we need new national and international laws to combat racism
and protect religion."

AMBASSADOR KHALILZAD STRESSES U.S. SUPPORT FOR MUSLIMS


8. (U) In his remarks, Ambassador Khalilzad stressed the
importance of fighting Al-Qaeda, which lost ground in Iraq,
but still has global reach. He emphasized the need for
success in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. Ambassador
Khalilzad pointed out the sacrifices Americans have made in
both "lives and treasure" to support and protect Muslims in

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other countries, such as Bosnia, Kosovo, and Kuwait. From
his perspective as an American Muslim, he underscored that
U.S. society is not anti-Muslim: while there are some
elements of anti-Islamic prejudice, there is equality before
the law and a commitment to equal opportunity.

TAZHIN DECLARES UNANIMOUS ADOPTION OF ASTANA DECLARATION


9. (SBU) The final text of the Astana Declaration, the
non-binding final communique of the Forum, remained uncertain
up until the last minute. The MFA organized an
eleventh-hour meeting the night before the ministerial to
"consolidate and finalize" proposed amendments to the text.
Discussions, however, continued on the sidelines during the
ministerial itself, with the EU dissatisfied with the
Declaration's language on freedom of expression (the text
called for "responsible use of the freedom of expression")
and the Dutch, standing on their own, opposed to a reference
to Saudi King Adbullah's interfaith conference (on the
grounds that it brought together only Muslims, Christians,
and Jews, not all religions). At the end of the Forum,
Foreign Minister Tazhin, to the surprise of a number of
delegations given the outstanding issues, simply announced
that the Astana Declaration had been adopted by consensus.
(NOTE: The final text, to which the United States had no
objections, has been emailed to the Depart
ment. END NOTE.)


10. (U) Ambassador Khalilzad did not/not clear this cable.
HOAGLAND