Uzbekistan: Former K2 Employee Describes Conditions in

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 TASHKENT 001273

SIPDIS
DEPARTMENT FOR SCA/CEN
AMEMBASSY ASTANA PASS TO USOFFICE ALMATY
AMEMBASSY HELSINKI PASS TO AMCONSUL ST PETERSBURG
AMEMBASSY MOSCOW PASS TO AMCONSUL VLADIVOSTOK
AMEMBASSY MOSCOW PASS TO AMCONSUL YEKATERINBURG

E.O. 12958: DECL: 2019/07/22
TAGS: ECON MARR PREL PGOV UZ
SUBJECT: Uzbekistan: Former K2 Employee Describes Conditions in
Karshi

CLASSIFIED BY: Steven Prohaska, Second Secretary, State, Pol-Econ;
REASON: 1.4(B),(D)

Local Man Describes K2: Past and Present

--------------




1. (C) During a personal trip to Karshi on July 18-19, Poloff met
with Furkat Tulqin, who worked at the U.S.'s Karshi-Khanabad (K2)
Airbase as a procurement officer and interpreter between 2003 and

2005. Tulqin said that some 2,000 Uzbek citizens-mainly from
Kashkadarya Province but also from other cities in Uzbekistan-had
worked at K2. Since the base's closure in 2005, some of these
former employees had moved to Kandahar, Mazar-i-Sharif, and Kabul
in Afghanistan. Others have been able to find work with a
Swedish-Uzbek oil and gas joint venture called "Gissarneftgaz."
Some were also working in local government, health care, education,
and telecommunications. Tulqin and three of his former colleagues
at K2 now work for Uzbekistan's "Beeline" cell phone company, which
Tulqin indicated must pay a percentage (unspecified) of its profits
to President Karimov's daughter, Gulnora Karimova. Most of
Uzbekistan's former K2 employees, however, remain unemployed.




2. (C) Tulqin later drove Poloff close to the site of
Karshi-Khanabad Airbase. On the way to the site, Poloff observed a
slew of military equipment-including AIR defense radars and
surface-to-air missile systems-in place to the right of the road.
Tulqin drove him close to the first armed checkpoint near the base,
and indicated that two more checkpoints lay beyond this at
500-meter intervals. Military, police, and National Security
Service officers remain at the site and the Government of
Uzbekistan continues to use the base area, he said. He also noted
that several months ago, rumors had begun circulating among Karshi
locals-particularly among Uzbek servicemen and police-that Karshi
Khanabad Airbase might reopen, to which Poloff responded that he
was unaware of any such plans. Citing remarks from a contact who
is a doctor in Uzbekistan's armed forces, Tulqin said that Russia
had wanted to occupy the airbase but that the Government of
Uzbekistan had denied this request.



Difficult Economic Conditions

--------------




3. (C) Tulqin as well as another former K2 employee complained to
Poloff that jobs were harder to come by in Karshi now and indicated
that Karshi residents had appreciated the base's presence. Tulqin
noted that many Uzbeks-from Karshi and elsewhere in the
country-generally travel to Russia during the summer for work, but
he added that construction there had recently slowed down and many
Uzbeks had been unable to return. He said that a friend of his at
Western Union had noted a decline in remittances this year relative
to last year. Tulqin remarked that housing in Karshi was far
cheaper now. He had spent years saving enough money to purchase a
two-bedroom apartment for 15,000 USD, but the price for such an
apartment had dropped this year to only 10,000 USD.



Comment:

--------------




4. (C) Tulqin painted a grimmer picture of conditions in Karshi
than Karshi's hokimiyat officials did during the visit of Embassy
staff to the province this spring. Rumors currently circulating
around Karshi about the base reopening probably stem from the
populace's misunderstanding of the purpose of Emboffs' recent

TASHKENT 00001273 002 OF 002


travel to the region-which included USG visits to Defense Threat
Reduction Agency-funded laboratories, meetings with provincial
government and education officials to discuss local conditions, and
medical training conducted by U.S. Army personnel at Karshi's NCO
Academy-and reflect wishful thinking on the part of Karshi
residents who are contending with the apparent dearth of employment
opportunities in the province. Nevertheless, some of his other
claims-such as his statements about difficulties for Uzbek migrant
workers and Gulnora Karimova's business practices-do track with
what we have heard from other sources.
BUTCHER