KAZAKHSTAN: FM TAZHIN REAFFIRMS MADRID

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 ASTANA 002147

SIPDIS

STATE FOR SCA/CEN, DRL, ISN, H

E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/30/2018
TAGS: PREL PGOV PHUM ETRD KDEM KNNP IZ AF KZ
SUBJECT: KAZAKHSTAN: FM TAZHIN REAFFIRMS MADRID
COMMITMENTS

Classified By: Ambassador Richard Hoagland, Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)


1. (C) SUMMARY: During an October 29 meeting with the
Ambassador, Foreign Minister Tazhin:

-- reaffirmed Kazakhstan's commitment to fulfilling its
Madrid commitments;

-- made a case for building a more mature bilateral
relationship by noting his government's desire to be released
from the requirements of the Jackson-Vanik Amendment and
Human Rights Certification, and its desire to have President
Bush visit before he leaves office;

-- restated Kazakhstan's continued interest in playing a more
active role in Afghanistan, including through its 2010 OSCE
chairmanship;

-- predicted no surprises at the October 30 Shanghai
Cooperation Organization's prime ministerial meeting in
Astana;

-- explained Prime Minister's Karim Masimov had postponed his
planned visit to Kabul because of the global financial
crisis;

-- expressed pleasure at President Bush's letter of thanks to
President Nazarbayev for Kazakhstan's just concluded
2003-2008 contribution of troops to the coalition forces in
Iraq; and

-- took note when the Ambassador urged that parliament ratify
the Cooperative Threat Reduction Umbrella Agreement by
December 13. END SUMMARY.

MADRID COMMITMENTS


2. (C) During their initial business meeting following the
Ambassador's presentation of credentials, the Ambassador
reminded Foreign Minister Marat Tazhin of Washington's
high-level attention to Kazakhstan fulfilling its
OSCE-related Madrid commitments before the end of this
calendar year. He suggested successful fulfillment would
enhance President Nursultan Nazarbayev's status as a
statesman and would help reduce international criticism of
Kazakhstan often seen in the mass media. Tazhin said he
agreed "100%, even 200%," and noted the required legislation
is moving forward. He said the government had already
prepared a draft mass-media law and would present it to
parliament "in the nearest time." This law, which Tazhin had
already signed off on, will ease registration requirements
for media outlets, decrease the grounds under which the
government can shut them down, and "eliminate other
bureaucratic idiocies." Tazhin assured the Ambassador draft
election and political party laws would go to parliament in
November or December. All three laws will represent steps
forward on liberalization, though will not go as far as he
personally would like, Tazhin admitted. He noted he himself
is an adherent of "serious liberalization and broadening of
civil society," which he believes is a strong guarantee of
stability and national security. He said, "A government that
is too tightly controlled will eventually collapse." He
added that the general view in the Kazakhstani leadership is
that the pace of liberalization has to be calibrated to the
realities (both objective facts and political mentality) of
the country. In response to a question about the role of
OSCE'S ODIHR in reviewing the draft legislation, Tazhin
replied there has been regular contact and consultation.


3. (C) COMMENT: Tazhin is one of the leading voices in the

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government of Kazakhstan for democratic progress toward
Western standards -- but he is not the only voice. Among the
competing voices are those of the old guard from the former
Soviet system as well as those susceptible to the Kremlin's
noise about the danger of "color revolutions." We probably
should not expect 100% fulfillment of our expectations about
the Madrid commitments, but we do need to be able to say that
Kazakhstan has made a good-faith effort and has moved
forward. END COMMENT.

TAZHIN'S THREE TALKING POINTS


4. (C) The foreign minister raised three points: his
government's desire to be released from the Jackson-Vanik
Amendment and Human Rights Certification, and its desire to
welcome a visit by President Bush before he leaves office.


5. (C) JACKSON-VANIK AMENDMENT. Tazhin reminded the
Ambassador that during a meeting on the margins of UNGA, he
had raised with Secretary of State Rice Kazakhstan's strong
interest in "graduating" from the provisions of the
Jackson-Vanik Amendment. The Kazakhstan Embassy in
Washington has initiated discussions with Congress. Tazhin
recognized that this is not within the State Department's
direct purview, but asked for assistance from State in making
Kazakhstan's case with the Hill. The Ambassador explained
that concluding a bilateral WTO accession agreement would go
a long way toward removing the barriers to lifting
Jackson-Vanik. He reminded Tazhin a window of opportunity
exists now for progress in the WTO accession negotiations and
urged Kazakhstan to take advantage of this opening.


6. (C) HUMAN RIGHTS CERTIFICATION. Tazhin said he had
raised with the Secretary Kazakhstan's concerns about the
annual human rights certification required under the Foreign
Operations Appropriations Act -- specifically, that
Kazakhstan believes this is not the way to treat a strategic
partner. The Secretary had promised to get back to him on
the issue. The Ambassador responded that the State
Department as a rule has always opposed such legislative
provisions and has done so in Kazakhstan's case. He passed
Tazhin a non-paper with the Department's view drawn from the
talking points prepared for Secretary Rice's October 5 visit
to Astana, and suggested that the Kazakhstani Embassy in
Washington work to make its case with Congress and with
non-governmental organizations.


7. (C) DESIRE FOR PRESIDENT BUSH TO VISIT. Tazhin expressed
Kazakhstan's strong interest in hosting a visit by President
Bush before the end of his term. He admitted this might not
be realistic, but reminded the Ambassador that in August he
had heard rumors about the possibility of a "technical
layover" for President Bush in Kazakhstan in conjunction with
his trip to the Beijing Olympics. A presidential visit,
Tazhin stressed, would be very important politically and
strategically. He suggested that it could be done in
conjunction with a trip to another country in the region,
such as Afghanistan or India. Tazhin said he understands
that a new U.S. president would be unlikely to visit
Kazakhstan during his first year in office. He noted that
Chinese President Hu Jintao visits every two years, and that
there are frequent visits by the Russian leadership. The
Ambassador promised to relay to Washington the request for a
presidential visit.


8. (C) COMMENT: We fully agree with the value of a U.S.
presidential visit to Kazakhstan, even in the final days of
this Administration. Should President Bush make a farewell
visit to U.S. troops in Afghanistan, we strongly recommend he
make a short stop in Astana. END COMMENT.

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OTHER BUSINESS


9. (C) SHANGHAI COOPERATION ORGANIZATION. The Ambassador
noted Astana would be hosting a meeting of Shanghai
Cooperation Organization (SCO) prime ministers on October 30
and inquired about the expected outcomes. Tazhin said that
there would be nothing of great significance and no important
decisions would be taken, especially since the issues for
this meeting had been affirmed at the recent Bishkek
ministerial. Further, the organization's general direction
had been set by the SCO Summit in Dushanbe. He stressed to
the Ambassador that despite Western concerns, the SCO is
principally an economic organization -- though of course
there are political aspects too. Tazhin expected that on the
margins of the SCO meeting, Kazakhstan and China would sign
agreements on water issues connected to trans-boundary
rivers.


10. (C) AFGHANISTAN. Tazhin explained that Kazakhstan
continues to be interested in playing a more active role in
Afghanistan, including through its 2010 OSCE chairmanship.
The Ambassador said that the United States welcomes
additional assistance from all our partners, and asked why
Prime Minister Masimov had canceled his planned late-October
visit to Kabul. Tazhin replied that Nazarbayev had told
Masimov that he had to stay in Kazakhstan to deal with the
government's response to the global financial crisis.
Masimov also had to postpone a planned trip to Malaysia. In
any event, the Foreign Ministry had sent Masimov
recommendations for his 2009 travel which included a trip to
Afghanistan.


11. (C) IRAQ. The Ambassador handed Tazhin President Bush's
letter to President Nazarbayev thanking him for Kazakhstan's
troop contribution in Iraq. Clearly pleased, Tazhin promised
to deliver it personally to Nazarbayev the next morning,
October 30. He remarked that despite negative reporting in
the mass media, significant progress had been made in Iraq,
and the situation is much better than it had been a year or
two ago.


12. (C) CTR AGREEMENT. Tazhin expressed satisfaction that
President Nazarbayev had finally signed a decree on extending
the Cooperative Threat Reduction (CTR) umbrella agreement, as
a result of which the agreement will be sent to parliament
for ratification. He explained that he had pressed for this
action for some time, and that the hold up had resulted from
the fact that there was nothing in the original 1992 CTR
agreement about a biological threat-reduction program. When
such a program was established later and put under the
agreement, nobody raised concerns within the Kazakhstani
government. However, this year, the Kazakhstanis finally saw
that this was a problem for them. The Ambassador noted that
DOD/OSD CTR advisor Andy Weber had had productive October
21-25 meetings in Astana with senior-level officials. He
said that the U.S. government strongly urged Kazakhstan to
ratify the agreement by December 13, the 15th anniversary of
the CTR program in Kazakhstan, and likewise urged expeditious
movement on other pressing counter-proliferation issues.
HOAGLAND