KAZAKHSTAN: MEDIA REACTION FOR THE ASTANA VISIT OF

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ASTANA 001184

SIPDIS

STATE FOR P, SCA/CEN, SCA/PPD

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL KNNP KDEM KPAO KMDR RS KZ
SUBJECT: KAZAKHSTAN: MEDIA REACTION FOR THE ASTANA VISIT OF
UNDERSECRETARY BILL BURNS

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1. SUMMARY: The Kazakhstani media broadly reported Under Secretary
of State Bill Burns's July 10 meeting in Astana with President
Nazarbayev; however, the majority of the coverage was factual rather
than analytical, due to the fact that the event happened on a
Friday, after all of the weekly analytical newspapers had been
published. Burns made a statement and answered journalists'
question at a brief press conference immediately following the
Nazarbayev meeting. The press coverage emphasized Burns's praise
for Nazarbayev's leadership on non-proliferation issues and his
statement that the United States attaches high priority to its
relationship with Kazakhstan. One outlet pointed out that the
U.S.-Kazakhstani relationship does not need to be "reset." END
SUMMARY.

ON THE AIR

2. Four of Kazakhstan's largest television stations, including the
two official, nationwide channels, "Khabar" and "Kazakhstan," as
well as pro-government "Era TV" and "Rakhat," highlighted the visit
on their evening news broadcasts. "Kazakhstan" broadcast Under
Secretary Burns's statement praising President Nazarbayev for
showing leadership on the issue on non-proliferation of weapons of
mass destruction. "Khabar" showed a more complete version of Under
Secretary Burns' statement, including not only the praise for
President Nazarbayev's non-proliferation leadership, but also the
sections in which Burns reiterated U.S. support for Kazakhstan's
2010 OSCE chairmanship and pointed out that Kazakhstan was the
delegation's first stop on its Central Asian tour. "Khabar" also
mentioned Nazarbayev's support of President Obama's initiative for a
global nuclear security summit next spring in New York. Both
official channels broadcast the reports in both the Russian and
Kazakh languages.
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3. The four largest national dailies, official "Kazakhstanskaya
Pravda," pro-government "Liter," pro-government "Express K," and
independent "Vremya" all covered the visit by quoting Under
Secretary Burns as saying that, "U.S. President Barack Obama
attaches high priority to the U.S. relationship with Kazakhstan."
The "Kazakhstan Today" news service reported more fully on the U.S.
delegation's meeting with Nazarbayev, saying that "Burns conveyed to
the Kazakhstani president best wishes from U.S. President Barack
Obama." "Kazakhstan Today" also noted that Burns briefed Nazarbayev
on the recently concluded Moscow summit meeting between President
Obama and Russian President Medvedev, and quoted the Under Secretary
saying, "The U.S. president's visit to Moscow was very successful.
Washington attaches importance to good relations with Russia. The
United States also highly values relations and cooperation with
Kazakhstan."

NO NEED TO RESET


4. "Express K" briefly profiled Under Secretary Burns, saying he
"is known as one of the most successful U.S. career diplomats. The
author asserted that "Time" magazine "included him in its list of 50
prospective American leaders under 40, and in its list of the 100
most promising young leaders in the world." The author also
connected the delegation's visit to a "Washington Times" article in
which Chevron CEO Dave O'Reilly and Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI)
co-founder and former Georgia Senator Sam Nunn said that while the
Obama Administration is trying to "reset" its relationship with
Russia, it already has successful relationships with other former
Soviet countries -- "and Kazakhstan first of all" -- which don't
need to be "reset."


5. The following is the transcript of Under Secretary Burns's July
tenth press conference in Astana:

Under Secretary Burns: Good Afternoon. I am delighted to be here
in Kazakhstan with a delegation of senior colleagues from the U.S.
Government. I am especially happy to make Kazakhstan our first stop
after a successful summit in Moscow and after the G-8 summit.

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President Obama and Secretary of State Clinton asked us to emphasize
the importance and the high priority that the new American
administration attaches to our relationship with Kazakhstan.

We've had a very productive set of conversations today. I
especially wanted to emphasize my appreciation for the warmth and
hospitality offered by President Nazarbayev. I expressed to the
president our appreciation for our cooperation in Afghanistan, which
is a common challenge. I expressed our appreciation for the
president's leadership on the issue of non-proliferation. President
Obama looks forward very much to joining President Nazarbayev in an
important nuclear security summit in the United States next spring.


We talked about ways in which we can deepen our economic
relationship, not only in the energy sector but also in other
sectors of the economy. I also had an opportunity to discuss the
results of what was a very successful summit between President Obama
and President Medvedev in Moscow earlier this week. I stressed our
conviction that a strong relationship between the United States and
Russia is an important complement to our partnerships with
Kazakhstan and our other friends in the region. And finally, we
talked about our support for Kazakhstan's chairmanship of the OSCE
in 2010. It is an important opportunity for Kazakhstan to show its
leadership and also an important opportunity to demonstrate progress
in the various areas of democratic reform to which Kazakhstan has
committed itself.

I was also pleased during my visit to have a chance to meet with
civil society leaders. That [meeting] very much reflected President
Obama's view that a strong relationship between the United States
and Kazakhstan depends on good relationship between our governments,
as well as on good relations between our two societies.

So once again, I believe we had a very productive and constructive
set of discussions, and I leave Kazakhstan with a very strong sense
of the potential for further strengthening our relationship.

I would be glad to respond to your questions.

Khabar News Agency: In light of the new administration now in the
White House, can we expect changes in the U.S.-Kazakhstan
relationship as a result?

Under Secretary Burns: As I said, President Obama attaches high
priority to the relationship between our two countries. That's what
the visit of our delegation reflects. I strongly believe that we
will be able to strengthen our relationship even further in the
coming years. And that's very much in the interest of both of our
countries and both of our peoples.

Khabar News Agency: Recently, President Nazarbayev received here -
in this same building - the President of Israel, and during that
meeting a lot was said about international nuclear security. The
presidents called on all nuclear nations to decrease the level of
nuclear tensions. What is your take on that?

Undersecretary Burns: I think President Nazarbayev has demonstrated
real leadership on the issue of non-proliferation. The United
States, for our part, has tried to demonstrate our own commitment to
doing everything we can to prevent the proliferation of weapons of
mass destruction, and also to set a good example ourselves. A good
example of that is the joint understanding that President Obama and
President Medvedev reached in Moscow a few days ago about a further
agreement to limit strategic arms. So we're determined to do our
part, and we value greatly President Nazarbayev's leadership on this
issue.

Spasibo.



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