VZCZCXRO4438
PP RUEHLN RUEHSK RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHEK #0110/01 0370628
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 060628Z FEB 09
FM AMEMBASSY BISHKEK
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 1754
INFO RUCNCIS/CIS COLLECTIVE
RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 2848
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS 0171
RUEHMD/AMEMBASSY MADRID 0082
RUEKJCS/OSD WASHDC
RUMICEA/USCENTCOM INTEL CEN MACDILL AFB FL
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHDC
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHDC
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC
RUEHVEN/USMISSION USOSCE 3235
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 2621
RUEHNO/USMISSION USNATO BRUSSELS BE
RUEHBS/USEU BRUSSELS
RUEHLMC/MILLENNIUM CHALLENGE CORP

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BISHKEK 000110 
 
Dept for SCA/CEN and SCA/PPD 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PGOV MARR KPAO KG
SUBJECT: Media Reaction to Kyrgyz President's Announced Intent to 
Close Manas Air Base 
 
BISHKEK 00000110  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED.  NOT FOR INTERNET DISTRIBUTION. 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary:  Most media reaction has been broadly supportive 
of President Bakiyev's February 3 announcement of his intention to 
close Manas Air Base.  Some internet news services and independent 
newspapers have carried interviews with opposition politicians 
critical of the proposal.  Internet forums have exploded with 
activity, with anti-base opinion in the majority.  Several 
pro-opposition newspapers, which only publish weekly, have yet to 
react.  End Summary. 
 
Pro-Government Media is... Pro-Government 
----------------------------------------- 
 
¶2. (SBU) Most major, widely-viewed media outlets in Kyrgyzstan are 
either government-controlled or strongly pro-government in 
reporting.  Though there are pro-opposition newspapers, they 
generally publish weekly and have not published editorial views on 
the announcement yet.  State television has run many reports on 
President Bayiyev's announcement, including editorial comments from 
prominent pro-government politicians, experts, and ordinary citizens 
supportive of the closure of the base.  Kabar, the state press 
service, has run several factual articles about the announcement, 
and a smaller number of supportive editorials.  Both outlets have 
reported the Embassy's press statement. 
 
¶3. (SBU) Government-leaning Kyrgyz language Asman press said that 
"the U.S. will do its best to keep the Base.  But it needs to talk 
to Moscow first, not Bishkek... The U.S. needs to get Russia's 
agreement to save the base."  The paper warned that "in six months 
it is pretty easy to recruit the opposition and kick the current 
government far away from the [Kyrgyz] White House... By the way, the 
U.S. Ambassador in Kyrgyzstan Tatiana Gfoeller is known as a good 
specialist in arranging coups.  So the entire world is looking how 
the things will develop."  (Note: The latter statement is mystifying 
and appears aimed at preemptively discrediting the Embassy and its 
staff.  End Note) 
 
Mixed Opinion in Independent Media 
---------------------------------- 
 
¶4. (SBU) Writing in Komsomolskaya Pravda Kyrgyzstan, a respected 
journalist writes, "The common feeling about President Bakiyev's 
statement:  We were all set up.  No it's not about Russian money... 
It's about Americans... Did the leadership compute possible 
scenarios of further developments?... I don't want to scare anybody, 
but now you think about the same thing I do: won't Bakiyev's 
demarche lead to another 'revolution' and another 'looter day'?" 
 
¶5. (SBU) Russian language Obshestvennyi Rating writes, "In fact, the 
U.S. doesn't lose much with the Base closure in Kyrgyzstan.  It 
needed the Base to have moral superiority and to assert its 
omnipresence.  But Russia gets a lot... It gets additional 
possibilities to influence Kyrgyzstan and its geopolitical ties... 
Russia is close, America is far away... We need Russia more than 
Russia needs us.  We don't have to be shy to admit that Kyrgyzstan 
is weak and without will, needing a strong supporting hand." 
 
¶6. (SBU) Independent internet wire service AKIpress quotes an 
analyst as saying that "in the expert's opinion, President Bakiyev 
is closing the air base not only because of the money or a desire to 
restore justice or because of his love for Russia, but, above all, 
in the hope of finding support outside the country as domestic 
support is getting weaker and weaker." 
 
¶7. (SBU) AKIpress also quotes opposition leader Tekebayev as saying 
"this naivety and directness in the words of the head of state 
alleging that the USA had refused to compensate for its presence on 
Kyrgyz territory, and the Russians are so kind as to provide aid 
when it is needed so much are primitive and shameful.  All the more 
so as he announced this after an agreement was signed on Russia's 
giving financial aid to Kyrgyzstan."  Tekebayev concludes that 
 
BISHKEK 00000110  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
"these kinds of radical changes in foreign policy will certainly 
also lead to changes in domestic policy, changes in the situation 
regarding the development of democracy in the country and economic 
policy." 
 
¶8. (SBU) The smaller Taazar.kg site quoted a U.S.-based Kyrgyz 
researcher as saying "the sudden decision by the Kyrgyz President 
and the unawareness of the key ministries till the last moment point 
to the complete mess and willfulness occupying the [Kyrgyz] White 
House." 
 
Internet Forums Explode With Interest 
------------------------------------- 
 
¶9. (SBU) Within a day of Bakiyev's announcement, the most popular 
internet discussion site (diesel.elcat.kg) amassed over 16,000 page 
hits on the future of the base.  Commentary on this site is 
traditionally critical of the United States.  While there were 
comments critical of Bakiyev, the majority of opinions supported the 
closure of the Base.  Comments critical of the announcement pointed 
to concerns that another "color revolution" would be planned in 
Kyrgyzstan or that the United States would somehow attempt to 
influence the next presidential elections in Kyrgyzstan. 
 
Gfoeller