Transcripts
Ambassador Richard E. Hoagland
Press Conference
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Astana, Kazakhstan
Ambassador Hoagland: Good day and welcome to the American Embassy. I have just one week ago returned from two weeks of meetings in Washington including participating in the meetings with your Foreign Minister, Marat Tazhin, whom I also just saw today.
It’s been several months since I’ve had the opportunity to meet with you, the members of the mass media, so I simply wanted to give you the opportunity to ask any questions about current events, our policy, or what has developed in recent days.
With that introduction, of course it’s now your turn to begin to ask your questions.
Question: Interfax - Since you just came back from Washington you might have fresh information on the latest developments on placement of the American military base in Uzbekistan. If Kyrgyzstan does not change its mind, its decision, on closing the base.
Ambassador Hoagland: From the beginning of this issue our Secretary of Defense Robert Gates has said that we have other alternatives to the base in Kyrgyzstan. We are continuing to study those other alternatives. But let me tell you that the question of a military base in Uzbekistan is not currently on the table.
The government of Uzbekistan has offered to use the airport at Navoy for the transport of non-lethal supplies to the American troops in Afghanistan. These supplies arrive by air at Navoy and then are transferred to trucks for transportation into Afghanistan. But that’s not a military base.
The only other thing I would add on this issue, I know that the press speculates a lot about U.S. intentions for military bases in Central Asia, but that speculation is usually not correct.
Question: Svoboda Slova Newspaper - Could you please give us more detailed information on the topics discussed during your meeting with foreign Minister Tazhin, the range of those issues.
The second question is the new stage in development of the United States relations with the Islamic world that began with the visit and speech of President Obama in Egypt. Do you think that it was not a very successful beginning of this new stage, given numerous arrests of students in Egypt, including some students from Kazakhstan?
Ambassador Hoagland: First, about the meetings that your Foreign Minister, Marat Tazhin, had in Washington. I can certainly tell you the general issues, but you know the tradition of diplomacy is that a lot of the information is simply private between governments. But I will respond to the question.
The Foreign Minister had many meetings in Washington at different levels, but the three most important meetings are what I will tell you.
First, the Foreign Minster met with our National Security Advisor, General Jim Jones. They discussed for the most part Kazakhstan’s partnership with the United States and with NATO in helping to stabilize and reconstruct Afghanistan.
The next meeting that was important was with our Secretary of Energy, Steven Chu. The topics of their discussion of course included energy cooperation as well as cooperation in non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.
And the Foreign Minister met with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. The great majority of that meeting was discussion about Kazakhstan’s chairmanship of the OSCE in 2010.
I want to emphasize that each of these three meetings was very positive. There was very much agreement on issues, and I think it was an important step forward for United States-Kazakhstan cooperation and partnership.
Now, your second question. What President Obama did with his speech in Cairo was to dramatically change the tone of U.S. foreign policy in relation to Muslims and to Muslim governments all over the world.
You can’t change the world and make it a perfect place with only one speech. Some of the problems that President Obama discussed have existed for over half a century: for example, the problem of Israel and Palestine.
Unfortunately these kinds of things, the arrest of students, will probably continue to happen not only in Egypt but other incidents in other countries. But the point is that I think the U.S. government and its diplomats will begin to look at these issues in different ways and try to solve these problems. So it’s a step by step process, but of course it’s going to be a very long process.
Question: Megapolis Newspaper - I have two questions. The first is what is your opinion on frequent arrests, numerous arrests of government officials, high ranking government officials?
The second question is related to a criminal investigation against the president of Kazatomprom National Company, Mukhtar Dzhakishev, who according to the Committee for National Security back in 2005 sold a number of uranium mines to Canadian businessman Frank Giustra. The contract on the sale of those mines was signed after the visit of former President of the United States Bill Clinton. How can you comment?
Ambassador Hoagland: Both of these questions, of course, I believe are related. And both of these questions are really the internal affair of the government of Kazakhstan. So as a foreign diplomat I really have no right to interfere in these kinds of questions. But I’ll continue.
If in fact the arrests are part of a serious government campaign to reduce corruption in Kazakhstan then that’s positive because it will benefit in the long term the people of Kazakhstan. I can say that in principle the view of the United States is that all trials should be open and should be fair and should be transparent.
If people are convicted of real crimes, that’s a matter for the courts. But we do object to political motivations for such arrests and for such trials.
That’s a general principle. That is one of our ideals. And I do not mean to imply at this time that there are any political motivations.
I really have no comment about what happened with President Clinton because I was not here at that time and I have no information about it.
Question: ERA TV - Recently there was an announcement that Russia, Kazakhstan, and Belarus will access the WTO together. What is your opinion on that? And on the customs union?
Ambassador Hoagland: This is a very timely question because I saw the Itar-Tass report in which the Prime Minister of Russia announced a policy for Kazakhstan. I think we need to wait to hear the official policy of Kazakhstan on this issue.
In reality there are some very complex technical questions that are involved here that need much further study. Because there are some experts who believe that individual members of customs unions can continue their accession negotiations as individual countries with the WTO. And others think that individual countries that are members of customs unions must enter as a union. So I think this needs much further technical study before Russia can announce Kazakhstan’s policy.
Question: We can see a tendency for Kazakhstan to get closer to Russia within the framework of such an organization as the CIS, EurAsSec and others. At the same time the Department of State of the United States places Kazakhstan in the Bureau of South Asian countries. Why is that?
Ambassador Hoagland: First, let me say that I think regional organizations like Shanghai Cooperation Organization, Commonwealth Security Treaty Organization, EurAsSec, can play an important role in regional relations and in global relations. At the same time, I’m going to repeat what I have said before many times. We, the United States, do not see a great game in this part of the world between Russia and the United States - or China - for influence and control of these independent countries.
Every country in Central Asia is independent and sovereign and makes its own decisions, and we see that every day. When the State Department reorganized during the administration of President George W. Bush and placed the countries of Central Asia in the South Asia Bureau, that was much much more simply a bureaucratic question than it was a question of ideology.
Previously the countries of Central Asia and Kazakhstan had been part of the Bureau of Europe and Eurasia which was responsible for almost 50 countries and organizations. At that same time the South Asia Bureau had only a handful of countries, 5 or 6 countries. So part of the thinking was that the countries of Central Asia could receive much more attention if they were in a bureau that showed a geographic entity that had fewer countries. So in general it was a question of bureaucratic organization.
Question: I’m sure you heard that a number of web sites are being blocked, internet sites are being blocked in Kazakhstan. The lower chamber of the parliament of Kazakhstan passed a new internet law and tomorrow the other chamber of parliament will pass it.
Whereas Kazakhstan’s civil society activists and journalists and international experts spoke against that new law as a law that will lead to further shrinking of the freedom of speech in Kazakhstan. How can you comment on that?
Ambassador Hoagland: I saw the press reports that some activists had delivered to parliament a computer mouse that was wrapped in chains, as if the mouse itself had been imprisoned. I think the possibility of such civil action shows that there is a reasonable amount of freedom for speech and civil action in Kazakhstan.
Now for the law itself. In principle the United States firmly opposes any law that restricts access to the internet for political purposes. We hope that the Senate, the upper chamber of parliament, will take a very close and serious look at this law before it takes any action on it.
Question: Khabar TV - During his presidential campaign Barack Obama emphasized that it was one of the major issues which he disclosed that he will close Guantanamo Bay. But in fact nothing has changed. How can you comment on that?
Ambassador Hoagland: I know that President Obama’s final goal is certainly to close the prison at Guantanamo Bay. The problem that he is facing is that there are indeed a number of very serious terrorists in that prison. The question is, where do you move those prisoners?
What has developed is that several governors of states in the United States have said we don’t want them in our prisons in our states. But I’m sure that this problem will be solved. It will just take some more time.
I would also note that in a return to American ideals of fairness and justice the first prisoner from Guantanamo has begun his court case in the United States in the Southern District Court of New York, and that’s an important development.
Question: Kursiv Newspaper - I want to ask you about the bank of nuclear fuel. There was information that there were negotiations between the governments of the United States and Kazakhstan. Have any specific agreements been reached?
Ambassador Hoagland: Good question, because it allows me to clarify this issue. The government of Kazakhstan and the government of the United States are not negotiating this issue at all. Why? It’s because the International Atomic Energy Agency controls the International Nuclear Fuel Bank Initiative. So the government of Kazakhstan is working with the International Atomic Energy Agency to present its proposal and to negotiate the points in that issue.
However, Kazakhstan is a leader in non-proliferation in the world and the government of the United States welcomes the proposal by Kazakhstan and we will support this proposal in the future.
Question: In view of the meeting between [Foreign Minister] Marat Tazhin and Hillary Clinton in which they discussed Kazakhstan’s upcoming chairmanship of the OSCE, what do you think of the repressive measures taken against mass media, such as the closing of Taszhargan newspaper and the arrest of the chief editor of Almaty Info newspaper for publishing KNB correspondence?
Ambassador Hoagland: We are not shy to raise these issues with the government of Kazakhstan. The government of Kazakhstan is very clear on our position about the treatment of mass media including individual newspapers and individual editors.
No country is perfect. No country is absolutely black and white, including my own country. We believe that the government of Kazakhstan will take its responsibilities for OSCE very seriously, and that there will continue to be incremental progress in all of these areas.
Question: Astana TV - The government of Kazakhstan has been trying for a long time to get Rakhat Aliyev extradited from Austria, but with no success. What is your opinion, as a diplomat, of this problem?
Ambassador Hoagland: This is an issue that is between Kazakhstan and Austria, and I do not speak for Austria. You need to ask the Ambassador from Austria.
Question: I want to ask you about the current economic situation in the United States in light of the ongoing crisis. Are there any signs of recovery of your economy? And in future, will this present administration continue the investment policy pursued by the previous administration?
Ambassador Hoagland: What kind of investment policy?
Question: Investments into the oil and gas sector [in Kazakhstan].
Ambassador Hoagland: President Obama has said many times and has said very recently this is a historically difficult problem and it will take a long time to solve completely. However, there are some positive signs. Some of the banks are beginning to provide credit to businesses again, and that had been stopped for many months so that will help businesses to recover and to grow. Also some of the biggest banks feel strong enough now that they are beginning to repay the loans that the U.S. government gave to them during the worst part of the crisis.
But there’s still a long way to go. What the government of President Obama is doing is creating new ways to regulate the economy and the financial institutions to prevent this from happening in the future.
For investment in Kazakhstan, investment by the United States is by private businesses. The U.S. government can sometimes help, but we don’t have a real investment policy. Businesses invest here because they think it’s a good place to invest. So the international energy companies will continue their investments here and they will look for new investments here.
But there’s something else very encouraging. During the last two or three months, senior executives from major American corporations have come to Kazakhstan to look for opportunities for new investment. And this is not in the oil and gas sector; it’s for diversification.
So as the economy improves I think we are going to see more important U.S. investment in Kazakhstan.
Question: Mr. Ambassador, there is a list of the most respected, the most beneficial in the long term actions taken by President Obama after his election.
Ambassador Hoagland: It’s very early in this new administration. I think there were at least two very important economic laws that were passed by Congress that President Obama asked for. One was to provide almost $800 billion more to help support businesses during the economic crisis. And the other was passing the new budget for the United States which really dramatically changes some of our domestic policies.
So President Obama has said that his highest priorities for domestic policy include universal health care for all citizens, access to universities for all citizens, and there’s a third one. It will come to me in a minute. [Laughter]. The third one, of course, is to begin to work seriously on the question of global warming.
Question: Kaztag Agency - The UN Security Council is now working on a resolution on North Korea on non-proliferation of nuclear weapons. What in your opinion should this resolution include? What measures should be taken to prevent these nuclear weapons?
Ambassador Hoagland: Because this is diplomacy in progress I think I should not make my recommendations as the Ambassador to Kazakhstan about North Korea. So it’s a good question but I don’t think that I am qualified to answer it.
Question: About a month ago, American analysts spoke seriously or contemplated seriously about introduction of a new currency in America. I wanted to ask you to share your opinion not as a diplomat but as a citizen of the United States. Do these speculations have any realistic value behind them?
The second question is whether there are any plans for further economic policies if oil prices increase, if oil prices grow.
The third question refers to North Korea. As we know, two journalists were detained in North Korea. What does the government of the United States, what actions does the government take to release them?
Ambassador Hoagland: Both as official and as a private citizen I am certain that the dollar is not going to disappear from the United States. At least not in my lifetime.
If we look at the example of Europe, it took almost 25 years to introduce the new currency, the Euro, into the members of the Euro zone. A national currency is one of the strong, emotional symbols of independence and especially sovereignty. So when these proposals are made they’re very interesting and they probably have some degree of merit. But the implementation of such a proposal, especially worldwide, would be very difficult and take very many years.
The second question, oil prices. In fact, the rise of oil prices is helping a number of governments around the world who were having severe problems because of the current economic crisis. There are a number of international economic analysts who believe that the price of $80 a barrel for oil will probably be a stable price for at least the period of this economic crisis. And it will help the recovery of countries, for example, like Kazakhstan that relies on income from oil for an important part of its national budget.
Please remind me again. What was your third question?
Question: Steps taken by the government to release the reporters jailed in North Korea.
Ambassador Hoagland: For a country to sentence two young female reporters to prison, hard labor, for 12 years simply because they were not registered to report in that country is an international outrage. Of course, our government has protested at the highest levels in very strong terms. But in fact, the resolution of this kind of problem requires some degree of cooperation and goodwill from the other government.
We continue to hope that the government of North Korea will find a degree of cooperation and goodwill to release these young women.
I would also note that there was a parallel example recently, because Iran arrested an American-Iranian young woman, a journalist, and put her on trial and sentenced her to prison. We protested that arrest very strongly, and the appeals court in Iran overturned this decision and released this young female journalist so she could return to her family in California. I think that’s an example of goodwill and cooperation on the part of the government of Iran.
Question: Since this press conference is focused on President Obama’s Cairo speech, do you think the United States will draw on Kazakhstan’s experience in dealing with intercultural issues?
Ambassador Hoagland: President Obama’s intention was to create a new atmosphere of understanding and cooperation. Obviously the initiatives by the government of Kazakhstan in this area are very welcome. President Nazarbayev made a very positive reply to the speech, and I am absolutely convinced that Kazakhstan not only has been but will be a very strong partner in this initiative.
Question: Kazakhstan is an Islamic republic. What do you want to say to all the Muslims in Kazakhstan?
Ambassador Hoagland: What I would say to the Muslim citizens of Kazakhstan. I hope that you had an opportunity to read the complete text of President Obama’s speech because it showed a strong new understanding for the history and culture of the Islamic world. I think that will become the basis for our policy with the Islamic world.
Thank you very much. You had many intelligent questions.
Media Links