Press Conference with Ambassador Pamela L. Spratlen

Ambassador Spratlen's Press Conference

24.kg News Agency

Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan

May 24, 2011 

Ambassador Spratlen: Good afternoon.  My name is Pamela Spratlen and I am delighted to be here to address you, ladies and gentlemen of the press, here at my very first press conference after having presented my credentials officially to President Otunbayeva this morning.  I met yesterday with Foreign Minister Kazakbaev.   

All right, I will give everybody just a moment to get a little bit settled.  We have a full crowd here today, which is wonderful.  I would first like to just note that I am delighted to have been nominated and selected by the President of the United States and the Secretary of State to represent the government of the United States and the people of the United States here in the Kyrgyz Republic.  The Kyrgyz Republic for the last 20 years has been an important partner of the United States, and I look forward to being the eighth Ambassador who is here to strengthen the bonds of friendship and the bilateral relationship between our two countries based on shared values, mutual interests, and mutual respect.   

As Ambassador I intend to address the full spectrum of issues in our growing bilateral relationship with our fine team of Americans at the Embassy.  For many years we have been working with encouraging the political reform and openings towards democracy that have been occurring in this country, especially in this last year with the new constitution, a new parliament, and new government.   

In addition, we are very interested in the economic development of the Kyrgyz Republic.  We want the young people of this country to be able to find their future here, and we have a robust program of assistance that I will certainly promote while I am here to try to help strengthen the economic development of the country.  

Of course, the events taking place in the larger region are extremely important, and in this context the United States has been very grateful to the Kyrgyz Republic for its role as host of the Manas Transit Center for the last ten years to assist in the efforts to stabilize Afghanistan.   

Of course, in all of the assignments that I have had recently I have been very interested in the young people of the country, and so it is my great hope that I will get a chance to get out and meet and talk to members of civil society, students and many other people all over the country.  This is a country with a vibrant civil society and a vibrant press, and I look forward to getting out all over the country and meeting and talking with many people.   

I would just like to say a few words about the meeting I had this morning with the President and some of the issues that we were able to discuss.  We had a wide ranging discussion.  It was a very, very cordial, warm meeting.  I expressed my gratitude to the President for the way in which the Kyrgyz people and the Kyrgyz government have received me.  The fact that I have had my meeting with her on my second official day here in the Kyrgyz Republic I think is extremely important.   

We talked about the democratic reform process now underway in the country.  We discussed the issues of economic development.  We talked about counter narcotics and the President's satisfaction with some of the assistance that has been provided by the United States.  I was able to express appreciation to the President again for authorization to host the Transit Center here in the Kyrgyz Republic.  We also had an open discussion about the events tragically that took place in June of last year in the country and the report, the independent Kiljunen report that came out recently about it.  She noted that there are several reports from Parliament that are due to come out very, very soon, so there is very much a focus on the whole issue of the social relations of the country and how to improve those not only in the southern part but really all over the country.  The President also indicated an interest in getting together soon to have another discussion of the security situation more broadly.  It was a very, very good meeting this morning, a very warm reception, and I am very, very grateful to be here in the Kyrgyz Republic.  

Well with that I think I have been able to give you a broad understanding of my very early tenure here.  Over the next three years I very much look forward to getting to know this country extremely well.  With that I will close my remarks and take the opportunity to take your questions with the ground rules that were established by our host.  Please let me take this opportunity to thank 24.KG for hosting this event today.  I very much appreciate that, and I have been watching the website and a number of the other press organizations, and as I say the media here is very vibrant, and I look forward to your questions.  With that, let us open the questions.   

Question:  Leyla Saralayeva from Associated Press.  What can you say about the official Transit Center after or post July 2014?  This related to the often very frequent remarks of the Prime Minister who says that after this year the Transit Center will turn into an international Transit Center.  Do you agree with this?  

Ambassador Spratlen:  Thank you very much for your question.  The first thing I would just like to say is that the security situation in the region as a whole is of great importance to the United States, and where we are focused right now is the current role that the Transit Center is playing at Manas International Airport.  The question of what may happen in the future is one that I think will be discussed in the fullness of time.  I am aware of the statements that have been made by the Prime Minister, but of course that is very interesting to hear his views, but I think we will have to see in the future what role may be played by the Transit Center.  I think the focus, as I said, for the United States Government is really right now on the current very important role that the Transit Center is playing.    

Question:  Radio Azattyk.  Dear Ambassador, welcome to Kyrgyzstan.  During the recent visit of President Otunbayeva to the United States she met briefly with President Obama, and during the meeting they discussed the possibility of opening a training center in the south of Kyrgyzstan in Batken.  What is the status of this discussion, and do you think you will continue or promote this during your tenure?   

Ambassador Spratlen:  Thank you very much for your question.  It concerns regional security again, and of course this is extremely important to us.  There have been discussions about a facility, but the exact nature of it, the role it would play, whether or not the United States is actually in a position to do it, I think we do not have any details yet on any specific proposal from the government and so I am not in a position to comment yet.   

Question:  ELTR TV. President Obama very often says that it is time to complete military actions in Afghanistan.  What would be your comments about these statements? 

Ambassador Spratlen:  What I would say is that the stabilization of Afghanistan is of course a high priority for the United States.  We have been engaged with our international partners and working on this for some time.  The year 2014 is often invoked as a magical year, but again I would say that we with respect to anything that concerns the Kyrgyz Republic are focused very much on the role that the Kyrgyz Republic is playing right now with respect to the Manas Transit Center.  The issues about the future I think are very much under discussion, but I think I will leave those to the people in Washington.  The main focus here is to continue the very good cooperation that we have had from Kyrgyz authorities with respect to our cooperation at Manas.   

Question:  24.KG Information Agency.  Probably you are aware that there is a Russian-Kyrgyz joint enterprise which is planning to supply up to 50 percent of air fuel to the Transit Center.  What is the United States' position on this joint enterprise?  Also, Prime Minister Atambayev has mentioned that there will be created one additional similar joint enterprise which will be involved in supplying the remaining portion of the air fuel to the Transit Center.  What would be the US position on this additional joint enterprise?  

Ambassador Spratlen:  I know that there has been great public interest and questions concerning the supply of fuel, and of course the most important criterion is that whoever is the supplier of the fuel needs to be able to do so consistently and reliably.  The United States government is currently in negotiations on a new fuel contract.  The questioner is correct that there is a new state-owned enterprise, the Russian-Kyrgyz enterprise, and that that is part of the discussions, but exactly the nature of who will get what when, I think this is the subject of discussions now, and rather than try to say anything specific let me just let you know that it is true that there are discussions ongoing and we are very hopeful that they will be successful and they will complete successfully.   

Question:  Madam Ambassador from Azattyk News Agency, probably as a US Ambassador you are aware about the contents of the reports of the international commission inquiry headed by Mr. Kiljunen, and the European Union is recommending to implement all of the recommendations which are in this report.  What would be the United States' position on this question?   

Ambassador Spratlen:  Thanks for the question about the Kiljunen report.  The first thing I would like to say is that the United States applauded the efforts of the government of the Kyrgyz Republic just in initiating the independent review of the events of June of last year.  It is never easy for any government to look at a situation carefully that isn't entirely positive, where there was loss of life, where there was loss of property, and where tensions remain, and nonetheless the government in fact did that and fully cooperated with the Kiljunen report.  The report was issued and the government has prepared its own response.                                                                             

I would like to add that the United States sees the Kiljunen report as a very valuable contribution to a review of the situation of the events.  We see the report as having been very thorough and very serious.  There were some 700 interviews, some 750 documents that were reviewed.  An attempt was made to consider the points of view of all parties, and therefore the report is a very, very serious document.  It has a number of recommendations, and I will speak to the recommendations after the interpreter.   

The recommendations covered a number of issues.  I would say those that have to do with ensuring impartiality of judicial proceedings are extremely important.  Those that have to do with making sure that there is full attention to the needs and the life of all of the citizens whose issues were touched by the report regardless of the group that they belonged to.  This is extremely important.  The key is for the government to review these recommendations very, very seriously and to take action as quickly and as completely as the government possibly can.  I think we are encouraged by the efforts that the government has already made on some of the recommendations, but I think pursuing an effort to ensure that those who committed acts that were illegal, those that participated in any kind of violence are brought to justice.  I think the government's attention to that is extremely important.  I think based on everything that I have heard there is an attempt on the part of the government to take this report very, very seriously and to use it as a point of departure for making some changes that I think the United States and other members of the international community would see as necessary in order to improve the situation for ethnic tolerance in the region, improve the functioning of the judicial system, and improve the life of citizens who were affected by the violence of last year.   

Question:  Madam Ambassador, have you read news reports on 24.KG which contains preliminary findings from the parliamentary commissions reports, and if you have read these reports do you find that there are contradictions between the parliamentary commission reports and the international commission inquiry reports and what would be your comments regarding these possible contradictions?  

Ambassador Spratlen:  Thank you very much.  As I just arrived on Sunday, and it is my understanding that these reports are fairly new and there isn't a single parliamentary report but I believe that there are several, I have not had a chance to review them, so I am not in a position to make any comment about any distinctions between the independent commission that was commissioned by the government of the Kyrgyz Republic and the parliamentary report or reports, but I look forward to reading those and perhaps at that point I can say something.  

Question:  Interfax News Agency.  How can you comment on the scandal which is raised in Finland related to accusations against Kiljunen corruption and accusations that he has made the content in favor of certain parts of the conflict not for free, that he was paid for that?  

Ambassador Spratlen:  I am not aware of any such allegations, and the only thing I would say is that Mr. Kiljunen is very distinguished, was a very distinguished member of the Finnish parliament.  He was called to do this report because of his role in the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, the Parliamentary Assembly.  He was the head of the Kiljunen Commission, but there were a number of other members of the commission.  It was an international group, and it took pains to be extremely careful to look at the issue very, very carefully.  As I said, the United States sees the report as a very serious document that is worthy of consideration based on evidence, based on interviews, and it is a very serious report that we think bears consideration, and that is the way in which the government has taken it.  That is something that we applaud.   

Question:  My name is Lily.  I am a free-lancer Lily Jamali.  Welcome Madam Ambassador.  I wanted to ask you about the situation of American families hoping to adopt children from Kyrgyzstan.  I am not sure if that is an issue that you have had a chance to look at, but do you see yourself taking a role in that process?  Most recently there were reports that the Kyrgyz ban had been lifted.  Is that the case to your knowledge?  

Ambassador Spratlen:  Thank you very much for your question.  The first thing I would like to say is of course for any ambassador what is happening with the American citizens in the host country is extremely important.  There are some 65 families that had started the adoption process when the moratorium was imposed a few years ago here in the Kyrgyz Republic.  This is an issue that is of concern to me because I am concerned about American citizens and I am also concerned about what should be a win-win on the issue of international adoptions, which is a great home for children who need them and great parents willing to provide the love and the care that children need.  It is in this context that when I met with the Foreign Minister yesterday I noted that this was an issue that was of concern to me; this was an issue that I would be following closely.  I have met with Ambassador Jacobs in Washington.  We were very encouraged by some of the early reports we heard about the lifting of the moratorium.  In fact, there are several other steps that need to occur before that actually could be considered complete.  I will be getting up to speed on this issue and working very vigorously to try to make progress on this because I do think the issue is important and I am very hopeful that we will be able to come to an agreement that is mutually beneficial to the Kyrgyz Republic, to the children who are involved, and to the American families.   

Question:  As we have seen in the past, three previous Ambassadors were focused on specific issues in bilateral relationships.  Ambassador Young was focused on colored revolutions, whereas Ambassador Yovanovitch was focused on party construction and reforming the party system, whereas Ambassador Gfoeller was focused on securing the Transit Center in the Kyrgyz Republic, especially after the statement of President Bakiyev, which he made in Moscow.  Which areas will you be focused on during your tenure?  

Ambassador Spratlen:  Thank you for that question.  It is certainly true that I joined a long line of very distinguished professionals who have previously served as US Ambassador to the Kyrgyz Republic.  What I would say is that like my predecessors I was sent here not to focus on one issue but to focus on strengthening the entire bilateral relationship across all of the issues that we have.  That would be true for me, as well.  In terms of areas of focus, since I have just arrived I am interested in the process of political reform.  I am interested in economic development.  I am interested in regional security.  I am interested in youth, and I am interested in women.  I am interested in the environment.  There are a number of issues that we have to address.  With the team that I have working with me I am hopeful that we will be able to make progress on a number of fronts.  I don't have one specific focus.  I think my predecessors have also had a broad focus.  I will continue that, and I will look to see where we can make the most progress and of course will concentrate a lot of my efforts there.  I don't want to say anything and lock myself into any corners right now except that the main priorities of the United States have been consistent over time, and I think that I will, like my predecessors, work on all fronts to improve the bilateral relationship between our two counties and the mutual understanding between our peoples.   

Fighting corruption, trafficking in persons, counter narcotics, international adoptions, as we have heard.  There is a very, very long list of issues that we are going to be addressing together, and I look forward ladies and gentlemen to working with the very energetic and talented members of the government of the Kyrgyz Republic as we work on a wide variety of issues.  Civil society, the media, I could go on.