UZBEKISTAN: INFORMATION ON NEWLY-APPOINTED FOREIGN MINISTRY

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 TASHKENT 001521 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SBU DELIBERATIVE PROCESS DEPT FOR SCA/CEN AMEMBASSY ASTANA PASS TO USOFFICE ALMATY AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI PASS TO AMCONSUL HYDERABAD AMEMBASSY HELSINKI PASS TO AMCONSUL ST PETERSBURG AMEMBASSY MOSCOW PASS TO AMCONSUL VLADIVOSTOK AMEMBASSY MOSCOW PASS TO AMCONSUL YEKATERINBURG E.O. 12958: DECL: 2018-12-22 TAGS: PGOV PINR PREL UZ SUBJECT: UZBEKISTAN: INFORMATION ON NEWLY-APPOINTED FOREIGN MINISTRY OFFICIALS CLASSIFIED BY: Steven Prohaska, Second Secretary, P/E Office; REASON: 1.4(B),(D) ¶1. (C) Summary: Newly-appointed First Deputy Foreign Minister Karamatov made a favorable impression on the Ambassador in a meeting with him on December 17. Another recently-appointed Foreign Ministry official is Deputy Foreign Minister Islamov, whose responsibilities include Uzbekistan's relations with Russia and other members of the Commonwealth of Independent States. Interestingly, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs provided a biography of Islamov to Post--an unusual gesture, as the Ministry does not appear to have sent any such biographic data to Post between 2006 and 2007. Rumors continue to swirl that Foreign Minister Norov is slated to become Uzbekistan's next Ambassador to the United States, but we have heard such rumors for some time now. End summary. Meeting with First Deputy Foreign Minister Karamatov -------------- -------------- -------------- ¶2. (SBU) On December 17, the Ambassador paid a courtesy call on the new First Deputy Foreign Minister Hamidullah Karamatov, and came away positively impressed. Karamatov had invited the Ambassador a year ago to address a class at the University of World Economy and Diplomacy; he reminded us of this event and seemed well-disposed toward the U.S. Karamatov came off as pragmatic and very interested in smoothing over rough spots in the relationship, acknowledging that Uzbekistan needs to do its part too. He did not expect full clarity on U.S. policy toward Uzbekistan for another couple of months due to the change in Administrations. The Ambassador previewed Ambassador Hanford's upcoming approach on religious freedom (he seemed willing to consider it),praised the Uzbeks for Deputy Prime Minister Azimov's letter to the Financial Action Task Force, and agreed that more needs to be done to make the Trade and Investment Framework Agreement meaningful for both sides. (Comment: Karamatov is someone we could invite to Washington early in the New Year. End comment.) MFA Provides Information on Deputy Foreign Minister Islamov -------------- -------------- -------------- ¶3. (SBU) In a diplomatic note dated December 16, 2008, Uzbekistan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs informed Post that Ambassador Bakhtiyor Anvarovich Islamov has been appointed Deputy Foreign Minister, per a December 11 decree from President Karimov. Deputy Foreign Minister Islamov will have responsibility for issues related to cooperation with Russia and the other states of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS),as well as the Collective Security Treaty Organization and Shanghai Cooperation Organization. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs enclosed Mr. Islamov's biography as well. Post's unofficial translation of this biography follows. Biography of Deputy Foreign Minister Islamov -------------- -------------- ¶4. (SBU) Bakhtiyor Anvarovich Islamov, Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Uzbekistan. He was born on January 6, 1954. In 1977, he graduated from the Moscow State Institute of International Relations with a degree in International Economic Relations. He has a PhD in Economics. 1972-1977: Student at Moscow State Institute of International Relations 1977-1981: Graduate student at the Institute of Economics of the World Socialist System of the Academy of Sciences, Moscow 1981-1983: Assistant at the Department of Political Economics at the Tashkent Institute of Information Technology 1983-1987: Chief of the Press Service at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Uzbekistan 1987-1988: Student in courses for the preparation of leading diplomats under the Academy of Diplomacy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Moscow 1988-1990: Chief of the Department for International Rleations of the Presidium Academy of Sciences of Uzbekistan 1990-1992: Leading scientific employee of the Institute of Economics of the Academy of Sciences of Uzbekistan 1990-1992: Work as a visiting scholar at Harvard University 1993-2001: Pro-rector of International Relations at Tashkent State TASHKENT 00001521 002 OF 002 Economic University 1994-1996: Adviser to the Representative of the United Nations in Uzbekistan, Director of the United Nations Development Program for macroeconomic analysis and staff training 1996-1998: Professor at the Research Center of Northeast Asian Countries of Tohoku University in Japan 1998-2001: Professor at the Institute of Economic Research at Hitotsubashi University in Japan 2001-2002: Chair of Tashkent State Economic University; Acting Director of the State Fund "Ustoz"; Pro-rector of the Bank-Financial Academy on Scientific Methods 2002-2003: Adviser of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Uzbekistan 2003-2008: Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Uzbekistan to Russia December 11, 2008-present: Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Uzbekistan Islamov speaks English and French, is married, and has three children. Comment: -------------- ¶5. (C) According to the Embassy's LES Political Assistant, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not provide biographic information on GOU officials to the Embassy in 2006-2007. It is thus notable that we have received this biographic information on this official and others this year. We may see additional changes in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the near future--contacts in the Government of Uzbekistan told us earlier this month that Foreign Minister Norov will soon be released from his position to become Uzbekistan's next Ambassador to the United States, but this has not been confirmed. There have been numerous rumors in the past regarding a possible new assignment for Norov (e.g. as Ambassador to NATO). His behavior at times appears petulant and he--like most of President Karimov's advisers--can appear weak and indecisive. However, in a December 19 meeting with CENTCOM Deputy Commander Lt. Gen. John Allen, Norov surprised us by speaking at length in fairly fluent English (a first here) and by sounding surprisingly authoritative on Afghanistan (septel). We do not discount the possibility that a shift may be in the offing, but we are not holding our breath. NORLAND To view the entire SMART message, go to URL http://repository.state.sgov.gov/_layouts/OSS SearchResults.aspx?k=messageid:eeebf0c5-42d8- 430e-aec9-b57df34a5dba