Embassy of Kazakhstan - 06.04.2004

Embassy of Kazakhstan

Kazakh Foreign Minister Meets Sec. Powell and Members of Congress, Says Bilateral Relations Improved


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Kassymzhomart Tokaev, Kazakhstan’s Foreign Minister, said this week relations between Kazakhstan and the United States have significantly improved over the past several months. He attributed it to Kazakhstan’s marked progress in building democratic institutions. 

Minister Tokaev said this was the message he heard in meetings in Washington this week with Secretary of State Colin L. Powell, as well as high-ranking members of both the Senate and the House of Representatives.

Tokaev said his discussions with Powell focused on Kazakhstan’s continued assistance in Iraq, and on problems of regional security in Central Asia, particularly growing drug trafficking out of Afghanistan, as well as ongoing democratic processes in Kazakhstan. Recently, Kazakhstan has adopted advanced law on elections and vetoed a proposed media bill which would have imposed tough restrictions on the news media. The Minister said these were important signs of Kazakhstan’s continued commitment in moving towards a more developed democracy.

Secretary Powell thanked Kazakhstan for “the important job” done by its army engineers in Iraq. Minister Tokaev confirmed Astana stands by its commitment to help stabilize Iraq and welcomes the increasing involvement of the United Nations in the process there.

In a June 4 article in the Washington Times (www.washingtontimes.com), Minister Tokaev was quoted as saying that “it is very much in our interest that Iraq becomes a secular nation, a democratic nation. If not, Iraq will be a much more dangerous place.” 

Kazakhstan, a Muslim majority country, sent 27 military engineers to Iraq on a “humanitarian mission” after the ouster of Saddam Hussein. Kazakhstan is the only Central Asian nation to contribute to the U.S.-led security mission. So far, they have destroyed more than a million explosive devices in Iraq.

Minister Tokaev acknowledged that the government of President Nursultan Nazarbayev was “paying a political price” at home for sending this small deployment to Iraq. But the Minister said Kazakhstan’s presence was an important symbol of its commitment to stability. Despite deep differences over the U.S. led war, “we strongly believe the international community must come together to help the U.S. cope with this difficult situation,” he said in the interview. 

Kazakhstan’s top diplomat also raised the issue of drug trafficking out of Afghanistan as the source of growing and dangerous threat to the region in talks at the State Department. In the Washington Times article, he stressed the failure of international forces to curb Afghanistan’s soaring poppy production threatens destabilization of the entire Central Asian region and could bankroll a new generation of terrorists. The Foreign Minister detailed his country’s viewpoint on Iraq and Afghanistan crises in an op-ed which appeared in The Hill on June 1 (www.thehill.com).

While in Washington, Kazakhstan’s minister met Senator Ted Stevens (R-AK), chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Rep. Henry Hyde (R-IL), chairman of the House International Relations Committee. He also met Rep. Robert Wexler (D-FLA), cochairman of the U.S.-Kazakhstan Interparliamentary Friendship Group, and members of the group, Rep. Darrel Issa (R-CA) and Rep. Chris Bell (D-TX).

Chairman Hyde said he welcomed the “growing friendship” between the two countries, and hoped that Kazakhstan will continue “setting an example” in economic and political development. He stressed the importance of conducting the upcoming parliamentary election in the fall of 2004 in a free and fair manner.

During the Minister’s visit to Washington, a regional Trade and Investment Framework Agreement was signed between Kazakhstan, four other Central Asian countries and the U.S. (see below for full story). The Minister said his visit was a “successful and productive” one.