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RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 1752
RUEHDBU/AMEMBASSY DUSHANBE 1266
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHDC
RUEKJCS/OSD WASHDC
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RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC
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RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 0330
RUEHVEN/USMISSION USOSCE 2162
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 1549
RUEHNO/USMISSION USNATO BRUSSELS BE
RUEHBS/USEU BRUSSELS
RUEHLMC/MILLENNIUM CHALLENGE CORP
RUMICEA/USCENTCOM INTEL CEN MACDILL AFB FL

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BISHKEK 001490 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR SCA/CEN AND SCA/PPD 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/23/2016 
TAGS: PGOV PREL KPAO KG
SUBJECT: SCA DAS FEIGENBAUM'S MEETING WITH AUCA IN BISHKEK 
 
BISHKEK 00001490  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch.  Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) 
 
 ¶1. (C) SUMMARY:  SCA DAS Feigenbaum and the Ambassador met 
with American University of Central Asia (AUCA) President 
Hurwitz and Vice President Beshimov on October 18 to discuss 
the state of AUCA and relations between the University and 
the Minister of Education.  Though the disagreement regarding 
the accreditation of AUCA's law school has been temporarily 
resolved, AUCA faces a University-wide accreditation review 
by the Ministry of Education in April 2007.  Dr. Hurwitz 
asked that the U.S. Government be creative in coming up with 
ways to express support for the university.  Students 
participating in a roundtable with Feigenbaum and the 
Ambassador seemed untroubled by AUCA's future and preferred 
to focus on world events and HIPC. End summary. 
 
AUCA SEEKS USG ASSISTANCE 
------------------------- 
 
¶2. (C) SCA DAS Evan Feigenbaum and the Ambassador met with 
American University of Central Asia President Dr. Ellen 
Hurwitz and Vice President for Student Affairs Bakyt Beshimov 
at the university on October 18.  AUCA, one of the premier 
private universities in Central Asia, has long been the 
standard bearer of an American-style liberal arts educational 
system, and has allowed students from across the region the 
opportunity to continue educations begun in the U.S. on 
exchange programs.  Since July 2006, however, AUCA has been 
negotiating with the Kyrgyz Ministry of Education over the 
status of its law program.  The Ministry had closed several 
law programs -- including AUCA's -- for not meeting Kyrgyz 
educational standards.  Through direct negotiations with the 
Ministry, and the active involvement of the Ambassador, AUCA 
was allowed temporarily to resume teaching law students. 
However, as a result of the compromise, the Ministry of 
Education will reevaluate the accreditation of all of AUCA's 
programs in April 2 
¶007. 
 
¶3. (C) Hurwitz described the April 2007 accreditation process 
as an "existential threat" to the university.  Beshimov added 
that the Kyrgyz government does not see the University as a 
symbol of cooperation, and said that there was a lack of 
understanding on the Kyrgyz Government side as to the role of 
the University and its unique teaching style.  Done 
correctly, Beshimov added, AUCA could be a model for all the 
private universities in Kyrgyzstan. 
 
¶4. (C) Turning to assistance from the United States 
Government, Hurwitz understood that any sort of bilateral 
agreement regarding the university between the two 
governments was not possible.  However, she asked that the 
university's value to the United States and Kyrgyzstan be 
emphasized at every opportunity.  Feigenbaum said that AUCA 
had been a topic in almost all of his official meetings 
during this visit and that the Embassy was actively engaged 
with the GOKG in representing AUCA interests.  He said that 
he had been told by some GOKG interlocutors to expect a 
positive result to this disagreement and to the accreditation 
review.  Beshimov asked if it would be possible for the U.S. 
and Kyrgyzstan to issue a joint statement outlining the 
benefits of AUCA. 
 
¶5. (C) Hurwitz asked about U.S. assistance, such as possible 
funding for a new dormitory.  The Ambassador emphasized that 
the first step was to solidify AUCA's legal basis.  However, 
because of the enormous amount of support the United States 
has already invested in AUCA, the Ambassador emphasized that 
we very much wanted to see the Universities status 
normalized, and encouraged Hurwitz to engage legal counsel. 
She suggested that the University establish a working group 
with clear deadlines to provide several options on the way 
forward.  Ambassador also suggested that the University 
consider ways to engage the present administration with AUCA, 
 
BISHKEK 00001490  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
so the University is seen as a positive institution to 
educate Kyrgyz and Central Asian youth for future challenges, 
rather than an Akayev-era hold-over to be stripped of assets. 
 
 
AUCA STUDENT DISCUSSION 
----------------------- 
 
¶6. (C) Feigenbaum and the Ambassador met with a group of ten 
students from the International Relations, Business, and 
Psychology departments.  The students were a mixture of 
Kyrgyz, Turkmen and Uzbek.  Many of the students, the Turkmen 
in particular, were continuing their university studies after 
having been in the United States on a FLEX program.  The 
students praised the quality of AUCA and seemed singularly 
untroubled by recent moves by the Ministry of Education. 
Students were far more interested in criticizing U.S. policy 
towards Ukraine, Belarus, and China.  One student from 
Kyrgyzstan questioned the value of Kyrgyzstan joining the 
Heavily Indebted Poor Country (HIPC) program.  Feigenbaum 
responded that joining HIPC is entirely up to Kyrgyzstan, and 
that reducing debt would draw investors and economic growth 
to Kyrgyzstan, and would not taint the Kyrgyz with the "poor 
country" label. 
 
¶7. (C) Comment: AUCA does face long-term uncertainty.  Until 
the March 2005 events, the university was a favorite 
institution of former President Akayev and his family. 
Blessed with this patronage, the university did not solidify 
its legal status with many formal agreements.  While a 
portion of the dispute between AUCA and the Ministry of 
Education can be traced to personal grudges between Beshimov 
and Ministry officials (Beshimov is active in opposition 
politics), the majority of the problem can be traced to the 
murky legal history of the institution.  The solution to this 
problem appears to be finding a way that would allow the 
Kyrgyz government to see past the technical issues, focus on 
the big picture, and find a creative way to establish the 
University as an international institution.  By embracing 
AUCA, Kyrgyzstan can make itself a leader in education in 
Central Asia.  We will continue to support AUCA and speak out 
about the importance of the institution.  At the appropriate 
time, a joint statement cou 
ld reinforce this message. 
 
Yovanovitch 
YOVANOVITCH