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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ALMATY 000485 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EUR/CACEN (JMUDGE), EUR/PPD (JBASEDOW), EUR/ACE 
(ESMITH/JMCKANE), DRL/PHD (CKUCHTA-HELBLING) 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PHUM KPAO KDEM KZ
SUBJ:  KAZAKHSTAN:  NEW INFORMATION MINISTER APPOINTED 
 
 
¶1.  SUMMARY.  Former presidential advisor Yermukhamet 
Yertysbayev was appointed Minister of Culture, Information 
and Sport on January 18, 2006, replacing Yesetzhan 
Kosubayev.  In his first public statements as Minister he 
has said he would not initiate any action to close 
newspapers, but at the same time said news media had a 
responsibility to publish truthful and objective 
information.  He drew a distinction between criticizing the 
president and slander, and said he would not tolerate 
slander, which is prohibited by law.  He also stated he 
would not be responsible for decisions taken by the 
procurator's office, which upholds the rule of law.  END 
SUMMARY. 
 
¶2.  Yermukhamet Kabidinovich Yertysbayev, a former 
political advisor to President Nazarbayev, was appointed 
Minister of Culture, Information and Sport on January 18, 
2006, replacing Yesetzhan Kosubayev.  Previously 
Yertysbayev served as the president's spokesman and earned 
the nickname "nightingale" from opposition media for 
"singing" the president's praises.  He is respected across 
the political spectrum for being straightforward and plain 
spoken, and his appointment generated speculation in the 
media about actions he might take as Information Minister. 
Following are highlights from recent media reports. 
 
Basic Media Policy 
------------------ 
 
¶3.  Yertysbayev laid out his basic media policy in his 
January 27 interview with the pro-government Central Asian 
Monitor.  "The goal of the press is to inform people about 
every event that takes place in our country.  Ultimately, 
the right to receive information is a fundamental principle 
of a democratic state.  However, I am not planning to let 
the process of cooperation between authorities and press 
run by itself.  I expect editors of print and electronic 
media to aspire to truthful and objective information and 
serious analytical articles. . . As long as I am minister, 
our bureau will not initiate the closure of this or that 
newspaper.  I do not want to go down in the history of 
Kazakhstan as 'the oppressor of the press.'  But I cannot 
be responsible for actions of the procurator's office, 
which upholds the rule of law." 
 
Responsibilities for Media and Ministry 
--------------------------------------- 
 
¶4.  "Information is a key component of our ministry.  I 
have to protect the rights of journalists and newspapers, 
but can only implement this task effectively with the 
cooperation of the media.  You can criticize me as much as 
you want.  You can even slander me, I'll never file a 
lawsuit.  But I will not tolerate a newspaper slandering 
the head of state, since the honor and dignity of the 
President of the Republic of Kazakhstan are inviolable by 
the Constitution.  One can criticize the President, the 
government, and any representative of the authorities. 
That's freedom of speech.  But one can agree that criticism 
and slander are absolutely different, opposite and 
incompatible notions." 
 
Media Law to Conform with International Standards 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
 
¶5.  "The President set Kazakhstan the goal of becoming one 
of the fifty most developed countries in the world.  That 
means that legally our Law on Mass Media should comply with 
international legal standards.  I do not understand those 
people who try by all means to limit freedom of press by 
legislation, who seek on normative level to create 
obstacles on the way of free press and art." 
 
Skeptical Reaction from Opposition Media 
---------------------------------------- 
 
¶6.  Galina Dyrdina, editor-in-Chief of opposition "Pravo. 
Ekonomika. Politika. Kultura" (former Respublika), had this 
to say in a January 20 article.  "Unquestionably, the 
president's former political advisor deserves a promotion. 
They say he alone defeated the anti-Nazarbayev opposition 
in the last election campaign. . . Right after December 4 
 
ALMATY 00000485  002 OF 002 
 
 
he started mixing champagne with the hard stuff to 
celebrate Nursultan Nazarbayev's victory, and then became 
bored because there were no targets left for his political 
conquest.  The head of the country apparently took this 
under consideration and decided to use the intellect, 
energy and tongue of his 'nightingale' in the Ministry of 
Culture, Information, and Sport.  However, we should not 
exclude the possibility that first deputy head of the 
presidential administration and the country's primary 
political strategist, Marat Tazhin, was afraid to compete 
with Yermukhamet Kabidinovich and . . . proposed him for 
the ministerial post." 
 
¶7.  The opposition website www.kub.kz published this in an 
article February 1.  "The cultural elite will probably not 
accept such a minister, since he is a stranger in their 
midst, he does not speak Kazakh, and does not understand 
the special psychology of our cultural and art elite. 
Sport ceased to be a serious pasttime a long time ago and 
is now entertainment for a few, special interest clubs. 
Soccer is owned by Rakhat Aliyev, who is preoccupied with 
having a championship team like Russian oligarch Roman 
Abramovich. . . 
 
¶8.  "The issue is, what will he do as the minister of 
information?  Will he be engaged in de-monopolizing the 
television and advertisement markets?  That will never 
happen, since the president's daughter is mistress there. 
Will he build a public television station?  Doubtful, since 
such a station would knock Khabar, Yevrasiya, Yel Arna, 
KTK, NTK and other family channels from the arena.  Who 
will let him violate the information landscape of pro- 
Nazarbayev propaganda?  What else could Yertysbayev do 
useful as the Minister?  Write a new democratic Law on Mass 
Media?  That's also a utopian idea, since the normal Law on 
Mass Media will give free play to the constitutional right 
to freedom of speech and all media outlets will start to 
function normally except those owned by the family.  It 
will inevitably lead to an increase in the political and 
social activities of the masses, which would be disastrous 
for the regime." 
 
Ak Zhol Activist Hoping for Political Opposition Bill 
--------------------------------------------- -------- 
 
¶9.  Andrey Chebotarev, a researcher for the National 
Studies Institute and an Ak Zhol party member, published 
the article "Old Buddies" for the opposition website 
www.kub.kz January 27.  "Unlike his many predecessors, 
Yertysbayev thinks more progressively and is more open to 
the public.  I have no choice but to hope he implements 
everything he tirelessly spoke about for the last two 
years, including the drafting of a political opposition law 
and introducing it to the parliament.  He is lucky now to 
have all the necessary authority and a large staff of 
subordinates." 
 
Bio Data, Yertysbayev's Move from Opposition to Government 
--------------------------------------------- ------------- 
 
¶10.  In early 1990s Yertysbayev was a deputy in the 
Verkhovnyi Sovyet deputy and co-chairman of the opposition 
Socialist Party of Kazakhstan, of which he became leader in 
¶1992.  In 1995 he accepted President Nazarbayev's offer and 
became his advisor on political issues.  He explained the 
change in his political views in an interview with the 
Russian newspaper Vremya Novostey November 10, 2005:  "Even 
then I understood that to be in the opposition, 
figuratively speaking, is like beating your head against a 
rock. . . Having considered my options, I decided I could 
be more effective in assisting democratization as a 
presidential advisor, and accepted Nursultan Nazarbayev's 
proposal." 
 
¶11.  Yertysbayev obtained a graduate degree in history in 
1980 and a doctoral degree in political science in 2001. 
He is the author of three books:  "Genesis of Elective 
Democracy in Modern Kazakhstan," "Democratization in 
Kazakhstan," and "Kazakhstan and Nazarbayev:  Logic of 
Reforms." 
 
Ordway