AMBASSADOR DISCUSSES VP VISIT, PRESSES

C O N F I D E N T I A L BAKU 000789

SIPDIS

EUR FOR MATT BRYZA; DRL FOR DAVID KRAMER

E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/20/2018
TAGS: PGOV PINR PREL KDEM PHUM AJ
SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR DISCUSSES VP VISIT, PRESSES
PRESIDENTIAL APPARAT ON ELECTION, MEDIA ENVIRONMENT

REF: A. BAKU 764

B. BAKU 771

Classified By: Charge d'Affaires Donald Lu, Reasons 1.4 (b,d)


1. (C) Summary: The Ambassador August 6 highlighted to Head
of the Presidential Apparat Remiz Mehdiyev the historical
significance of the Vice President's upcoming visit to
Azerbaijan. The Ambassador also pressed Mehdiyev on free and
fair presidential elections, including the need for
international observers such as OSCE and ENEMO, and spelled
out the concerns of Western observers about Azerbaijan's
restrictive media environment. Mehdiyev, in turn, complained
in great detail about the Helsinki Commission testimony of
DRL A/S Kramer, defended Azerbaijan's treatment of
journalists and called for greater U.S. support on
Nagorno-Karabakh. End Summary.


2. (C) The Ambassador met August 6 in a two-hour marathon
session with Head of the Presidential Apparat Ramiz Mehdiyev
to discuss the Vice President's proposed visit to Azerbaijan
in early September and gather official Baku's latest thoughts
on the October 15 presidential election and the media
environment. Accompanying Mehdiyev were Presidential
advisors Ali Hasanov, Elnur Aslanov, Fuad Aleskerov and
Novruz Mammedov; DCM and PolEcon Chief accompanied the
Ambassador. (Note: Ambassador's meeting at the Presidential
Apparat took place before the Georgia-Russia conflict
escalated.)

Visit of the Vice President
--------------


3. (C) The Ambassador thanked Mehdiyev and his staff for a
highly successful visit by the OVP pre-advance team, August
3-5. Ambassador emphasized the historic significance for
Azerbaijan of a visit of this magnitude, and said that
meetings between the Vice President and President Aliyev
offered an excellent opportunity for both countries.
Mehdiyev agreed that the visit is very important for
Azerbaijan and noted that both sides have declared publicly
intentions of friendly relations.

Pressing Azerbaijan on the Elections
--------------


4. (C) Ambassador noted that President Aliyev and the GOAJ
have expressed a goal of free and fair presidential elections
in October, and that the United States shares with Azerbaijan
that goal. Referring to President Aliyev's August 5
statement to the Cabinet of Ministers (ref A),Ambassador
added that the United States, in conjunction with European
partners, will be objective in the evaluation of the
election. The international community, the Ambassador said,
is eagerly waiting to see how Azerbaijan's new law on freedom
of assembly will be implemented. This is especially
important, she said, as the pre-election environment in
Azerbaijan has been criticized. The Ambassador also
encouraged Azerbaijan's leadership to prepare a plan to allow
for peaceful demonstrations and prevent violence in the
aftermath of the election. She reminded Mehdiyev that the
USG has worked with Azerbaijan's police and security forces
on public order management to avoid violent escalations.


5. (C) Mehdiyev suggested that elections in Azerbaijan are
gradually getting better, and confirmed that OSCE monitors
will be invited to observe the presidential contest in
October. Nonetheless, he complained that, despite
improvements, international assessments unfairly remain the
same. Reciting points from the President's recent speech,
Mehdiyev said that conditions for the ruling party and
opposition groups should be the same: posters around the
country of President Aliyev should be removed, sites should
be identified for campaign events, candidates should receive
equal time on television, and election committees in the
precincts should include "one or two" positions for members
of the opposition.


6. (C) President Aliyev, Mehdiyev said, is very popular in
the country, and therefore Azerbaijan's ruling party has
nothing to fear from free and fair elections. Still,
Mehdiyev said, stability is important in Azerbaijan. "We
have learned lessons from Georgia and Armenia." The
opposition, he said, may try to provoke law enforcement after
the elections, and are sure to distribute "false information"
to embassies before the vote. The Ambassador noted that
"this is all the more reason to invite international

observers, including the European Network of Election
Monitoring Organizations (ENEMO),and to allow domestic
groups like the Election Monitoring Center (EMC) to function
without interference.

Obsession with A/S Kramer's Testimony
--------------


7. (C) Mehdiyev, during the course of the conversation with
the Ambassador, repeatedly raised the issue of DRL Assistant
Secretary David Kramer's recent Washington testimony before
the Helsinki Commission. In particular, Mehdiyev, with
support from his staff, grumbled about the case of the jailed
former Minister Farhad Aliyev, raised repeatedly at the
hearings. "David Kramer mentioned corruption in his
testimony, but when Azerbaijan convicts a former minister of
corruption the American Congress complains," Mehdiyev said.
Ambassador noted that Congressmen had raised the case of
Farhad Aliyev, not A/S Kramer, and that A/S Kramer's
testimony had been balanced and fair, with discussion of
Azerbaijan's need for judicial reform.

Media Environment
--------------


8. (C) Ambassador said that the GOAJ's decision to allow
journalist Aqil Khalil to leave the country (ref b),though
difficult internally, sent an important message to the
international community. Ambassador praised a proposal, now
under discussion within the Presidential Apparat, for
President Aliyev to meet with newspaper editors, and called
for Azerbaijan to release three additional jailed journalists
ahead of presidential elections and for the President to
release a statement condemning violence against journalists.


9. (C) Mehdiyev, turning once again to A/S Kramer's
testimony, said that USG statements about media freedom in
Azerbaijan are incorrect. "Anyone can write anything in any
newspaper." Mehdiyev said that those journalists convicted
of libel had already been pardoned, and remaining journalists
in jail were convicted of other crimes. Repeating President
Aliyev's line, Mehdiyev said that there are still "many, many
publications" in Azerbaijan, and claimed that relatively few
journalists are prosecuted, despite many complaints.


10. (C) Ambassador noted a gap in thinking on this issue
between Azerbaijan's leadership and Western observers. In
the West "we recognize that the media sector is developing
and the process takes time, but the impression is that it is
not free," the Ambassador said. She added that the burden is
on authorities to create the environment free from
intimidation. Responding to Mehdiyev's request for examples,
Ambassador stated:

-- journalists have been attacked, and the government has not
sent an adequate message to state that this behavior is
unacceptable;

-- popular newspapers have been shut down, with government
agencies citing "fire code violations" and other regulatory
excuses;

-- dubious court cases have been brought against journalists
and editors;

-- there is controlled content on television, with government
advertising directed towards those entities that conform; and

-- libel remains a criminal offense, even though there has
been a voluntary restraint on new cases.


11. (C) Presidential adviser Hasanov responded with sharp
disagreement, but noted that Azerbaijan is considering
decriminalization of libel in 2011 or 2012. Azerbaijan will
try to do this, he said, even though "these laws are still
commonly on the books in much of Europe."

Nagorno-Karabakh
--------------


12. (C) Turning to Nagorno-Karabakh, Mehdiyev made a strong
appeal for greater U.S. involvement. Azerbaijan, he said,
does not agree with a negotiating approach that says "the two
parties should agree and the co-chairs will accept whatever
they agree." You would not see any other case in the world
where an occupied country is asked to negotiate the loss of
its lands with the occupier. The U.S. is Azerbaijan's friend

and the world's leading power. Our people ask -- "why is the
U.S. not demanding the aggressor leave our lands? Because of
several million Armenian voters!"


13. (C) Mehdiyev emphasized that "we should we tolerate the
violation of 9 million Azeris' rights." Azerbaijan is using
its resources to help the U.S. "If we are true friends we
would like to see a clearer demonstration of this friendly
attitude on all issues. We should support and help each
other. We are ready for that and we wait some demonstration
from the U.S." Mehdiyev re-emphasized that Azerbaijan and
the United States have major mutual interests, and should
"make this friendship stronger" and ensure that "Russia,
Iran, Turkey and Armenia see it." All the international
community should see, he said, that Azerbaijan is a reliable
friend of the U.S. and is "doing all it can," and that the
U.S. is on Azerbaijan's side as a reliable friend.

New Embassy Property
--------------


14. (C) The Ambassador appealed to Mehdiyev to facilitate and
expedite U.S. efforts to construct a new embassy compound in
Baku. Providing background, the Ambassador said that the
embassy had delivered a letter on July 28 to Presidential
Assistant Ali Assadov, following up the GOAJ's decision in
March to sign a property lease. Since that time, however,
the Presidential Apparat had wrestled with the question of
the need for parliament to ratify the lease, with the
President and others clearly stating a preference for
avoiding a vote in the legislature. The U.S. side has
proposed a 99-year lease, with a renewal clause, and a
lump-sum payment. This arrangement, the Ambassador
explained, is made possible through a 1999 agreement, signed
by the former Foreign Minister and reviewed at that time by
parliament. Mehdiyev, in response, noted that President
Aliyev has given orders to proceed on this issue and said
that he would meet with Ali Asadov to clarify issues and
"find out what the delay is."

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


15. (C) Mehdiyev, in spite of the welcome news about the
visit of the Vice President, was intent on reading his long
list of complaints regarding the Helsinki Commission
testimony of DRL A/S Kramer. Other senior officials in the
President's office have praised Kramer's statement as
balanced and thoughtful. Mehdiyev has had a consistently
negative view of the United States since the March UN General
Assembly vote on Nagorno-Karabakh. Given his unreasonable
expectations about a change in U.S. policy on
Nagorno-Karabakh, he is likely to continue to be critical of
the United States.
LU