Media Reaction to Kyrgyz President's Announced Intent to

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BISHKEK 000110 Dept for SCA/CEN and SCA/PPD SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL PGOV MARR KPAO KG SUBJECT: Media Reaction to Kyrgyz President's Announced Intent to Close Manas Air Base BISHKEK 00000110 001.2 OF 002 SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED. NOT FOR INTERNET DISTRIBUTION. ¶1. (SBU) Summary: Most media reaction has been broadly supportive of President Bakiyev's February 3 announcement of his intention to close Manas Air Base. Some internet news services and independent newspapers have carried interviews with opposition politicians critical of the proposal. Internet forums have exploded with activity, with anti-base opinion in the majority. Several pro-opposition newspapers, which only publish weekly, have yet to react. End Summary. Pro-Government Media is... Pro-Government -------------- ¶2. (SBU) Most major, widely-viewed media outlets in Kyrgyzstan are either government-controlled or strongly pro-government in reporting. Though there are pro-opposition newspapers, they generally publish weekly and have not published editorial views on the announcement yet. State television has run many reports on President Bayiyev's announcement, including editorial comments from prominent pro-government politicians, experts, and ordinary citizens supportive of the closure of the base. Kabar, the state press service, has run several factual articles about the announcement, and a smaller number of supportive editorials. Both outlets have reported the Embassy's press statement. ¶3. (SBU) Government-leaning Kyrgyz language Asman press said that "the U.S. will do its best to keep the Base. But it needs to talk to Moscow first, not Bishkek... The U.S. needs to get Russia's agreement to save the base." The paper warned that "in six months it is pretty easy to recruit the opposition and kick the current government far away from the [Kyrgyz] White House... By the way, the U.S. Ambassador in Kyrgyzstan Tatiana Gfoeller is known as a good specialist in arranging coups. So the entire world is looking how the things will develop." (Note: The latter statement is mystifying and appears aimed at preemptively discrediting the Embassy and its staff. End Note) Mixed Opinion in Independent Media -------------- ¶4. (SBU) Writing in Komsomolskaya Pravda Kyrgyzstan, a respected journalist writes, "The common feeling about President Bakiyev's statement: We were all set up. No it's not about Russian money... It's about Americans... Did the leadership compute possible scenarios of further developments?... I don't want to scare anybody, but now you think about the same thing I do: won't Bakiyev's demarche lead to another 'revolution' and another 'looter day'?" ¶5. (SBU) Russian language Obshestvennyi Rating writes, "In fact, the U.S. doesn't lose much with the Base closure in Kyrgyzstan. It needed the Base to have moral superiority and to assert its omnipresence. But Russia gets a lot... It gets additional possibilities to influence Kyrgyzstan and its geopolitical ties... Russia is close, America is far away... We need Russia more than Russia needs us. We don't have to be shy to admit that Kyrgyzstan is weak and without will, needing a strong supporting hand." ¶6. (SBU) Independent internet wire service AKIpress quotes an analyst as saying that "in the expert's opinion, President Bakiyev is closing the air base not only because of the money or a desire to restore justice or because of his love for Russia, but, above all, in the hope of finding support outside the country as domestic support is getting weaker and weaker." ¶7. (SBU) AKIpress also quotes opposition leader Tekebayev as saying "this naivety and directness in the words of the head of state alleging that the USA had refused to compensate for its presence on Kyrgyz territory, and the Russians are so kind as to provide aid when it is needed so much are primitive and shameful. All the more so as he announced this after an agreement was signed on Russia's giving financial aid to Kyrgyzstan." Tekebayev concludes that BISHKEK 00000110 002.2 OF 002 "these kinds of radical changes in foreign policy will certainly also lead to changes in domestic policy, changes in the situation regarding the development of democracy in the country and economic policy." ¶8. (SBU) The smaller Taazar.kg site quoted a U.S.-based Kyrgyz researcher as saying "the sudden decision by the Kyrgyz President and the unawareness of the key ministries till the last moment point to the complete mess and willfulness occupying the [Kyrgyz] White House." Internet Forums Explode With Interest -------------- ¶9. (SBU) Within a day of Bakiyev's announcement, the most popular internet discussion site (diesel.elcat.kg) amassed over 16,000 page hits on the future of the base. Commentary on this site is traditionally critical of the United States. While there were comments critical of Bakiyev, the majority of opinions supported the closure of the Base. Comments critical of the announcement pointed to concerns that another "color revolution" would be planned in Kyrgyzstan or that the United States would somehow attempt to influence the next presidential elections in Kyrgyzstan. Gfoeller