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DE RUEHAH #0876/01 2360858
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 240858Z AUG 07
FM AMEMBASSY ASHGABAT
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 9236
INFO RUCNCIS/CIS COLLECTIVE
RUCNMEM/EU MEMBER STATES COLLECTIVE
RUCNCLS/ALL SOUTH AND CENTRAL ASIA COLLECTIVE
RUEHAK/AMEMBASSY ANKARA 2683
RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 0510
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RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC//DHO-2/REA/NMJIC-J2//
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHINGTON DC//J5/RUE//
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ASHGABAT 000876 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
STATE FOR SCA/CEN, EUR/PPD, PA/OBS/BS 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL PROP KPAO OPRC OIIP TX
SUBJECT: HARD-WON 2007 TV CO-OP ON ECOLOGICAL ISSUES A GOLDEN 
OPPORTUNITY FOR TURKMEN JOURNALISTS 
 
 
¶1.  (U) Sensitive but unclassified.  Not for public Internet. 
 
¶2.  (SBU) SUMMARY:  In late June, a three-man crew of Turkmenistan 
state television journalists completed a high-spirited and 
enlightening TV CO-Operative Project focused on urban environmental 
issues.  Despite worse-than-usual bureaucratic hurdles prior to 
departure, the crew's experience in the United States far exceeded 
expectations.  The crew traveled to Washington D.C., New York, Reno 
and Los Angeles, conducted 18 interviews and shot 12 hours of 
footage to develop a report for Turkmen state television.  Post will 
continue to support the TV-Coop alumni in their efforts to tailor 
and place the footage shot on Turkmenistan state television. 
Embassy's PAO recently reviewed the first 25-minute long documentary 
for broadcast and found it to be acceptable and even mildly 
pro-American.  END SUMMARY. 
 
MAKING IT HAPPEN: A CHALLENGE IN ITSELF 
 
¶3.  (SBU) In the three years since post's first TV CO-OP project, 
state media has expressed eagerness to participate in such 
opportunities while the Ministry of Culture (which oversees state 
media) has dragged its feet on participants, funding, and other 
crucial details.  The host government delivered the names of this 
year's team, journalist/editor Enebay Kakabayeva, cameraman Revshen 
Hadjiyev and interpreter Shohrat Pirmuhammedov, only in the week 
prior to departure, having shuffled out those with whom post had 
been communicating for the past year.  Nonetheless, the crew eagerly 
picked up the project envisioned by the previous nominees to examine 
the public, private, and nonprofit roles in developing environmental 
policy and practice in U.S. cities.  The topic is of particular 
relevance to Turkmenistan, where urban development equals 
beautification and environmental protection means planting thousands 
of non-native trees around Ashgabat -- both policies determined by 
diktat without a plan for sustainability. 
 
WASHINGTON D.C. 
 
¶4.  (U) The crew began their project June 2 in Washington D.C. with 
six interviews of representatives of the George C. Marshall 
Institute, National Environmental Trust, Environmental Protection 
Agency, Washington D.C. City Hall, and World Resources Institute. 
The crew also interviewed civil rights activist and speaker Dr. 
Elbert Ransom, who had visited Turkmenistan in early March as a 
Black History Month speaker.  (NOTE:  Post wishes to reinforce such 
connections whenever possible, as personal relationships are central 
to Turkmen culture -- including political culture.  END NOTE.)  The 
crew also visited the Foreign Press Center and U.S. Department of 
State. 
 
NEW YORK CITY 
 
¶5.  (U) Having traveled by train to New York City on June 6, the 
crew conducted five interviews at a variety of places, including the 
New York Council on the Environment, Natural Resources Defense 
Council, Department of Environmental Science of Barnard College, and 
Green Market Managers Stand.  The crew also spent a day 
sight-seeing. 
 
NEVADA 
 
¶6.  (U) On June 10, the TV crew flew to Reno, Nevada -- which has a 
sister state partnership with Turkmenistan spearheaded by the Nevada 
National Guard.  Here the crew felt most at home, where the weather 
and small-town atmosphere are reminiscent of Turkmenistan.  Reno's 
rapid growth rate was another parallel, although the frank public 
discussion of these issues is not.  Nevada National Guard leadership 
and staff gave two interviews and detailed the active 11-year sister 
state partnership of which the journalists had previously been 
unaware.  (NOTE:  Post tries to drum up state media interest in the 
partnership activities on a case-by-case basis but the Reno visit 
will encourage better Turkmen media coverage of such events.  END 
NOTE.)  The crew reported they were touched by the Guard's personal 
investment in the partnership and were surprised to see a Turkmen 
corner at the NNG headquarters with souvenirs and photographs from 
Turkmenistan.  The crew later met with the Reno-Sparks Visitors and 
Convention Bureau and visited Lake Tahoe, Lake Pyramid Indian 
Reservation, Reno TV Station, and the Director of the Department of 
Environmental Sciences at the University of Nevada for interviews 
 
ASHGABAT 00000876  002 OF 003 
 
 
focusing on the environment. 
 
¶7.  (U) In Virginia City, PA/OBS/BS Bill McGuire encouraged the crew 
to take interviews on the street and in shops with local residents, 
who spoke openly about the city's issues.  Following lunch in Carson 
City, at local watering hole "Hattie's," the crew decided to do a 
feature on the restaurant where the manager and customers welcomed 
them as visitors from Turkmenistan and gave their greetings for 
eventual airing on Turkmenistan television.  The crew also met with 
local environmental activists and finished the day with a dinner and 
home stay with two local musicians, who compose 
"environmentally-friendly" music for hospitals.   The crew noted the 
warmth of their hosts and were surprised by the family's -- and 
especially the children's -- high degree of engagement in their 
community. 
 
LOS ANGELES 
 
¶8.  (U) On June 13, the crew flew to Los Angeles and over three days 
conducted five interviews at the Eaton Canyon Nature Preserve in 
Pasadena, Environmental Information Center of Los Angeles, Tree 
People in Beverly Hills and at public television station KCET of Los 
Angeles.  Among the interviewees was Dr. Gregory Payne, who visited 
Turkmenistan in early March as a communication and media speaker. 
 
¶9.  (U) The crew returned to Washington D.C. on June 16 and departed 
the United States June 19. 
 
CREW IMPRESSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS 
 
¶10.  (U) Upon their return to Turkmenistan, the crew gave Public 
Affairs Staff an ecstatic review of their trip.  They were impressed 
by the U.S. government's commitment to environmental issues and 
surprised at the level of non-state engagement in policy issues 
there.  The home-stay and personal connections they made with 
interviewees and people on the street enriched the program and broke 
up a busy schedule of interviews and travel.  The crew regretted 
that they lacked the time to record additional places and themes 
they know would have appealed to their viewers, but acknowledged 
that greater pre-program planning would have mitigated this issue. 
The crew showered praise on McGuire, whose professionalism and 
flexibility ensured the program's success under difficult 
circumstances.  The crew urged additional such projects for state 
media journalists to improve their professional skills and broaden 
their creative horizons. 
 
FOLLOW-UP 
 
¶11.  (U) The Ministry of Culture also appears to be supporting the 
journalists' efforts to produce a follow-up report for state 
television -- a very good sign in an environment where exchange 
alumni have been ostracized by or even fired by their state 
employers.  In mid-August, the crew provided a required transcript 
and recording of their first installment of two planned reports on 
environmental issues.  The narration of the report is itself a 
positive sign because it calls on the viewers to draw their own 
conclusions about environmental issues.  After balanced discussion 
of major U.S. environmental problems, the report ends with a 
positive message about the concerns and efforts of Americans in 
protecting the environment.  The crew also plans to do a longer, 
general "Americana"-themed piece featuring the interviewed Americans 
who had visited Turkmenistan and their small town restaurant 
coverage in Carson City, Nevada. 
 
¶12.  (SBU) COMMENT: The TV CO-OP program and other hands-on exchange 
and training opportunities are critical for posts such as 
Turkmenistan.  Here, political isolation has given state media more 
than usual power to craft the public's perceptions of the outside 
world.  Although the host government just reopened a faculty of 
journalism at a major state university and has stated support for 
exchange programs, state journalists lack opportunities for 
professional development, Internet is severely limited, and their 
work is heavily monitored and censored.  The Ministry of Culture's 
acceptance of and support for this program, and the journalists' 
positive experiences, will encourage further progress in the media 
sector.  Our special thanks go to PA/OBS/BS George Santulli and Bill 
McGuire without whose efforts and commitment this project would not 
have been possible to implement.  END COMMENT. 
 
ASHGABAT 00000876  003 OF 003 
 
 
 
HOAGLAND