VZCZCXRO8728
PP RUEHDBU
DE RUEHNT #0632/01 0901259
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 311259Z MAR 06
FM AMEMBASSY TASHKENT
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 5462
INFO RUEHTA/AMEMBASSY ALMATY 7760
RUEHAH/AMEMBASSY ASHGABAT 1856
RUEHEK/AMEMBASSY BISHKEK 2381
RUEHDBU/AMEMBASSY DUSHANBE 2277
RUEHBUL/AMEMBASSY KABUL 1376

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 TASHKENT 000632 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR SCA/CEN 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/30/2016 
TAGS: ECON KZ PGOV PREL UZ EINV
SUBJECT: KAZAKH AMBASSADOR ON NAZARBAYEV'S VISIT 
 
REF: A. A) TASHKENT 529 
 
     ¶B. B) TASHKENT 515 
 
Classified By: CLASSIFIED BY AMB. JON R. PURNELL FOR REASONS 1.4 (B, D) 
. 
 
¶1. (C) Summary: Kazakh President Nazarbayev signed several 
cooperation agreements with President Islam Karimov during 
his Navruz visit to Tashkent.  Kazakh Ambassador 
Kabdrakhmanov said the visit was successful, but discussions 
will continue on reducing excise tariffs and oil and gas 
investments.  While he acknowledged Nazarbayev,s comments on 
outside forces involved in Andijon, wanting to destabilize 
Kazakhstan, he suggested it was just meant to acknowledge 
that anything happening in the Ferghana Valley affects the 
whole region.  Additionally, he said that the GOU refused to 
discuss migrant Uzbek workers in Kazakhstan.  The Uzbek press 
reported little substantive on the event, focusing instead on 
glorifying the cultural ties and history.  The MFA refuses to 
comment.  Kabdrakhmanov speculated that Karimov,s personal 
dislike for Afghan President Karzai was the catalyst for 
tensions in the Uzbek-Afghan relationship.  End summary. 
 
¶2. (C) On March 28, the Ambassador discussed the recent visit 
by Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev to Tashkent with 
Kazakh Ambassador Kabdrakhmanov.  Kabdrakhmanov said the 
visit was successful, and that since 2004 the bilateral 
relationship has improved greatly, especially in security 
cooperation.  He said the new Kazakh security chief was part 
of the delegation and held talks with his Uzbek counterparts. 
 According to Kabdrakhmanov, Nazarbayev told Karimov that 
their two countries have different foreign policy interests, 
and Kazakhstan intends to maintain good relations with the 
U.S., as well as with Russia and China.  On an interesting 
regional note, Kabdrakhmanov speculated that Karimov does not 
like Afghan President Karzai.  He said that when Karimov 
hosted Karzai in 2005, &something happened8 that soured the 
relationship.  Kabdrakhmanov attributes the current cool 
relationship between Afghanistan and Uzbekistan to Karimov,s 
personal dislike. 
 
¶3. (C) During a state dinner attended by local ambassadors, 
Nazarbayev made glowing comments about Karimov, even going so 
far as to state that the Kazakhs had evidence of outside 
involvement in Andijon (ref A).  Kabdrakhmanov acknowledged 
Nazarbayev,s statements, but said that he had not seen any 
such evidence.  He then attempted to spin Nazarbayev,s 
comments, saying the intended message was that events in the 
Ferghana Valley affect the whole region. 
 
¶4. (C) Karimov and Nazarbayev signed several agreements on 
cooperation, including pest control, protection of 
intellectual property, and on delineating the border. 
Kabdrakhmanov told the Ambassador that the two sides agreed 
to end custom duties, except on tobacco and alcohol.  He said 
&further work is required8 on these goods, as well as on 
excise taxes.  Uzbekistan,s budget through 2007 depends on 
these taxes.  The presidents also agreed to form an 
Interstate Coordination Council, composed of officials from 
the highest levels of government, to work on economic 
cooperation and monitor existing programs. 
 
¶5. (C) Kazakh businesses are eager to invest in Uzbekistan, 
said Kabdrakhmanov, though new investors want at least 51% 
control of joint-ventures.  New investment would likely focus 
on oil, gas and metals.  He said Kazakh investors complain of 
the same things as other foreign companies, including 
difficulties with currency conversion and bureaucratic 
hurdles. 
 
¶6. (C) During the visit, the GOU was unwilling to discuss the 
ethnic Uzbeks living and working in Kazakhstan (ref B), said 
Kabdrakhmanov.  Uzbek workers in Kazakhstan, he said, often 
must be trained or retrained because Uzbek industries are 
antiquated The GOK has even seen a surge in ethnic Kazakhs, 
living in Uzbekistan, returning to Kazakhstan for work. 
Kabdrakhmanov expressed the GOK,s concern for the over one 
million ethnic Kazakhs in Uzbekistan.  He said the GOK 
supplies Kazakh language textbooks to many schools here. 
 
¶7. (C) Comment:  Kabdrakhmanov,s comments to the U.S. 
Ambassador differ somewhat from the local press coverage (and 
hence the GOU) that glorified the visit and the historical 
ties between the neighbors.  While the visit was an important 
step forward in Kazakh-Uzbek relations, from Kabdrakhmanov,s 
comments it was not the renaissance of foreign policy that 
promises close cooperation and prosperity for all depicted by 
 
TASHKENT 00000632  002 OF 002 
 
 
the GOU.  While Karimov appeared to adulate both Nazarbayev 
and the Kazakhs, the Kazakh Ambassador portrayed Nazarbayev 
and Kazakhstan,s foreign policy in a more pragmatic light. 
When asked by poloff, the MFA refused to comment on the 
visit, directing her to an interview with Kabdrakhmanov. 
PURNELL