Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
09BISHKEK488
2009-05-19 12:03:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Bishkek
Cable title:
KYRGYZSTAN: AMBASSADOR OPENS TALAS BORDER POST
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C O N F I D E N T I A L BISHKEK 000488
SIPDIS
DEPT FOR SCA/CEN
E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/19/2019
TAGS: PGOV PREL ETTC KG
SUBJECT: KYRGYZSTAN: AMBASSADOR OPENS TALAS BORDER POST
REF: A. BISHKEK 487
B. BISHKEK 482
C. BISHKEK 380
Classified By: Ambassador Tatiana C. Gfoeller, Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).
C O N F I D E N T I A L BISHKEK 000488
SIPDIS
DEPT FOR SCA/CEN
E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/19/2019
TAGS: PGOV PREL ETTC KG
SUBJECT: KYRGYZSTAN: AMBASSADOR OPENS TALAS BORDER POST
REF: A. BISHKEK 487
B. BISHKEK 482
C. BISHKEK 380
Classified By: Ambassador Tatiana C. Gfoeller, Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).
1. (U) On May 15, the Ambassador opened the U.S.-funded
"Green Border Post" at the Chon Kapka port of entry in Talas
Oblast on the Kyrgyzstan-Kazakhstan border. The Chon Kapka
Green Border Post is a portable, container-like module that
replaces a railroad car previously used as the headquarters
for customs and border personnel. The new structure provides
a heated space with plumbing, room for offices and sleeping
quarters, and is equipped with modern technical equipment.
Funded jointly by the Export Control and Related Border
Security (EXBS) Program and U.S. Central Command, the Chon
Kapka facility is the fourth such post to be completed along
remote stretches of Kyrgyzstan's border.
2. (U) The Ambassador joined Talas Oblast Governor
Beishenbek Bolotbekov, Border Service Deputy Chairman
Cholponbek Turusbekov, and other officials in the opening
ceremony. Speaking at the opening, the Ambassador
highlighted our vested interest in Kyrgyzstan's security and
stability, which explained why the USG plans to build 24 such
posts along Kyrgyzstan's borders at an estimated cost of $2.5
million.
3. (U) Following the ceremony, the guests drove to a second
location for a traditional Kyrgyz feast to mark the
completion of the new post. The Ambassador was seated as the
guest of honor between Bolotbekov and Turusbekov, but
Bolotbekov was initially reluctant to offer the traditional
sheep's eyeball to a woman as honored guest. However, after
the Ambassador told him that earlier in her career, her
Turkmen hosts had shown no such qualms about offering her the
eyeball, a shame-faced Bolotbekov insisted that she enjoy
this honor in Kyrgyzstan as well, offering her his own
sheep's eyeball. The Ambassador gamely ate it.
4. (C) Through several rounds of toasts that followed,
Bolotbekov and Turusbekov repeatedly thanked the Ambassador
for the U.S. government's support in financing the
construction of the latest Green Border Post. All seemed
sweetness and light until the Ambassador brought up an issue
first aired at the previous day's lunch she had hosted for
local government officials and NGOs. An NGO leader had then
alleged that border demarcation problems between the Kyrgyz
Republic and Kazakhstan remained to this day. She asked
Bolotbekov and Turusbekov for their comments. Bolotbekov
dismissed the matter out of hand as "the chattering of some
malcontents."
5. (C) To the Ambassador's surprise, the Border Service
Deputy Chairman boldly contradicted his Governor at this
point, stating: "Settling on this location was one tough
border dispute! The Kazakhs wanted the border post much
further into Kyrgyz territory than it is now. If we hadn't
stood up to them, you would have been inaugurating your
'Green Border Post' kilometers from here." The Governor was
visibly annoyed but did not contradict the military man.
Instead he stood up and gave a fulsome toast to "all the
brave men who guard the Kyrgyz homeland." All cheered and
the disagreement was glossed over.
GFOELLER
SIPDIS
DEPT FOR SCA/CEN
E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/19/2019
TAGS: PGOV PREL ETTC KG
SUBJECT: KYRGYZSTAN: AMBASSADOR OPENS TALAS BORDER POST
REF: A. BISHKEK 487
B. BISHKEK 482
C. BISHKEK 380
Classified By: Ambassador Tatiana C. Gfoeller, Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).
1. (U) On May 15, the Ambassador opened the U.S.-funded
"Green Border Post" at the Chon Kapka port of entry in Talas
Oblast on the Kyrgyzstan-Kazakhstan border. The Chon Kapka
Green Border Post is a portable, container-like module that
replaces a railroad car previously used as the headquarters
for customs and border personnel. The new structure provides
a heated space with plumbing, room for offices and sleeping
quarters, and is equipped with modern technical equipment.
Funded jointly by the Export Control and Related Border
Security (EXBS) Program and U.S. Central Command, the Chon
Kapka facility is the fourth such post to be completed along
remote stretches of Kyrgyzstan's border.
2. (U) The Ambassador joined Talas Oblast Governor
Beishenbek Bolotbekov, Border Service Deputy Chairman
Cholponbek Turusbekov, and other officials in the opening
ceremony. Speaking at the opening, the Ambassador
highlighted our vested interest in Kyrgyzstan's security and
stability, which explained why the USG plans to build 24 such
posts along Kyrgyzstan's borders at an estimated cost of $2.5
million.
3. (U) Following the ceremony, the guests drove to a second
location for a traditional Kyrgyz feast to mark the
completion of the new post. The Ambassador was seated as the
guest of honor between Bolotbekov and Turusbekov, but
Bolotbekov was initially reluctant to offer the traditional
sheep's eyeball to a woman as honored guest. However, after
the Ambassador told him that earlier in her career, her
Turkmen hosts had shown no such qualms about offering her the
eyeball, a shame-faced Bolotbekov insisted that she enjoy
this honor in Kyrgyzstan as well, offering her his own
sheep's eyeball. The Ambassador gamely ate it.
4. (C) Through several rounds of toasts that followed,
Bolotbekov and Turusbekov repeatedly thanked the Ambassador
for the U.S. government's support in financing the
construction of the latest Green Border Post. All seemed
sweetness and light until the Ambassador brought up an issue
first aired at the previous day's lunch she had hosted for
local government officials and NGOs. An NGO leader had then
alleged that border demarcation problems between the Kyrgyz
Republic and Kazakhstan remained to this day. She asked
Bolotbekov and Turusbekov for their comments. Bolotbekov
dismissed the matter out of hand as "the chattering of some
malcontents."
5. (C) To the Ambassador's surprise, the Border Service
Deputy Chairman boldly contradicted his Governor at this
point, stating: "Settling on this location was one tough
border dispute! The Kazakhs wanted the border post much
further into Kyrgyz territory than it is now. If we hadn't
stood up to them, you would have been inaugurating your
'Green Border Post' kilometers from here." The Governor was
visibly annoyed but did not contradict the military man.
Instead he stood up and gave a fulsome toast to "all the
brave men who guard the Kyrgyz homeland." All cheered and
the disagreement was glossed over.
GFOELLER