KAZAKHSTAN: LIFE ON THE STEPPE, JANUARY 31 - FEBRUARY 6

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ASTANA 000232 SENSITIVE SIPDIS STATE FOR SCA/CEN, SCA/PPD, R, DRL E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV ECON EAIR SOCI KDEM KZ SUBJECT: KAZAKHSTAN: LIFE ON THE STEPPE, JANUARY 31 - FEBRUARY 6 ASTANA 00000232 001.2 OF 002 ¶1. (U) Sensitive but unclassified. Not for public Internet. ¶2. (U) This is another in a series of weekly cables drawn mostly from public media as well as think-tank, NGO, and opposition web-sites, selected to show the diversity of life in Kazakhstan, and information about it available to citizens of Kazakhstan. Our goal is to choose what might interest and be of use to various end-users in Washington, and -- especially -- to provide a more complex view from the other side of the world, illustrating the vitality (and sometimes the quirkiness) of discourse available to citizens of Kazakhstan. NAZARBAYEV "WORSHIP" TOO MUCH FOR SOME ¶3. (SBU) A group of students held a protest in Almaty this week to draw attention to what they claimed is President Nursultan Nazarbayev's growing personality cult, RFE/RL reported. According to one protester, the demonstration sought to challenge the practice of pouring indiscriminate praise on the Kazakhstani leader. It is true that government officials at all levels sometimes compete with each other in flattering Nazarbayev. The praise given to the president ranges from fully defensible assertions about his successful tenure that has brought Kazakhstan political stability and economic growth (in this instance, a comparison to Uzbekistan's failings is quite popular) to less credible accolades honoring Nazarbayev's athletic achievements (the 68-year-old president is routinely declared winner of golf and tennis tournament amid the applause of ministers and other senior officials). The protest, held in Almaty in front of the local headquarters of Nazarbayev's ruling Nur Otan party, was peaceful, and the police did not interfere. ¶4. (SBU) COMMENT: We see this report as an example of RFE/RL's tendency to report from the far end of the opposition spectrum. We would judge that the "personality cult" reported here is qualitatively lower (and, in fact, generally innocuous) than what is portrayed about other leaders in Central Asia in their countries' mass media. We would also note that this demonstration was peaceful and did not elicit law-enforcement intervention. END COMMENT. BLOGGING PLATFORM ACCESSIBLE -- BUT ONLY BRIEFLY ¶5. (SBU) LiveJournal, a popular blogging platform and social networking website which had been inaccessible to Kazakhstani Internet users since October 2008, became accessible again on January 28, to the great excitement of local bloggers. The joy did not last long -- the platform was inaccessible once again just a day later. Reporters Without Borders claimed that the platform has been blocked because of the blogging activities of Rakhat Aliyev, who maintains his own blog on LiveJournal. Aliyev's associates reportedly created the blog last June, and since then he has been using it to post entries, including transcripts of recordings of embarrassing telephone conversations among senior Kazakhstani government officials. ¶6. (SBU) The Kazakhstani government has not acknowledged that it is responsible for blocking access to LiveJournal. In fact, Prime Minister Karim Masimov said in an interview with Ekho Moskvy in December that he himself uses the platform for his own blogging. (NOTE: This was prior to the launch of his own official government blog. END NOTE.) Nonetheless, LiveJournal remains inaccessible to Kazakhstanis who get their Internet service through the country's two main Internet service providers, KazakhTelecom and Nursat. ¶7. (SBU) COMMENT: While we cannot ever condone governments blocking Internet sites for partisan political reasons, it should be noted that President Nazarbayev sees the on-going Rakhat Aliyev conflict as an existential drama, a carefully calculated "fight to the death." For that reason, the government is willing to make harmful decisions like blocking web sites. END COMMENT. AIR ASTANA WOES ¶8. (SBU) Last week, an Air Astana flight from Moscow to Almaty was rerouted to Astana, allegedly due to bad weather in Almaty. However, the passengers, who were stranded in Astana for five hours before the flight continued on to Almaty, did not buy the airline's ASTANA 00000232 002.2 OF 002 explanation, the newspaper "Vremya" reported. "Those who were meeting us in Almaty said that there was no fog there," one passenger told the paper. While never confirmed, there have been rumors that Air Astana flights occasionally make unscheduled stops in Astana to accommodate Kazakhstani VIPs trying to get home directly to the capital, rather than waste the extra hours flying past Astana to Almaty and then doubling back to Astana. Meanwhile, in Almaty, a consumers' group has been established to unite those who have been "wronged" by the quasi-national carrier. Air Astana has a monopoly position that allows it exclusively to service the profitable Astana-Almaty route, as well as certain popular overseas destinations. Air Astana, an international-class airline operated by an agreement with BAE Systems (British Air),has drawn criticism from the public for its allegedly monopolistic pricing. ¶9. (SBU) COMMENT: The real story here is the continuing proliferation of citizen and consumer groups who are taking responsibility for protesting perceived injustices and improving their lives -- which is grass-roots democracy in action. END COMMENT. HOAGLAND