VZCZCXRO6309
PP RUEHIK
DE RUEHAH #1542 3371140
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 031140Z DEC 09
FM AMEMBASSY ASHGABAT
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 3826
INFO RUCNCLS/ALL SOUTH AND CENTRAL ASIA COLLECTIVE
RUCNCIS/CIS COLLECTIVE
RUCNMEM/EU MEMBER STATES COLLECTIVE
RUEHAK/AMEMBASSY ANKARA 5942
RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 3641
RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO 3500
RUEHIT/AMCONSUL ISTANBUL 4184
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
RHMCSUU/CDR USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHDC
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHDC
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC
RUEHVEN/USMISSION USOSCE 4133

UNCLAS ASHGABAT 001542 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR SCA/CEN 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PGOV UN ZK TX
SUBJECT: TURKMENISTAN: CENTRAL ASIAN DIPLOMATS ATTEND UN 
SEMINAR ON PREVENTIVE DIPLOMACY 
 
¶1. (U) Sensitive but unclassified.  Not for Internet 
distribution. 
 
¶2. (SBU) The Ashgabat-based UN Regional Center for Preventive 
Diplomacy for Central Asia (UNRCCA) conducted a seminar on 
preventive diplomacy for junior-level diplomats from the five 
Central Asian countries on November 3-6.  The event was 
organized jointly with the UN Institute for Training and 
Research (UNITAR), which arranged for the speakers.  The 
sessions aimed at strengthening knowledge and skills in 
conflict analysis and negotiation.  According to UNRCCA 
Political Officer Armands Pupols, the goal of the seminar was 
to bring young diplomats from the five countries together for 
an exchange of views.  Seven Turkmen officials attended, as 
well as three from Uzbekistan and five from each of the other 
countries.  Uzbek participation was uncertain, as the Uzbek 
government provided names at the last minute.  The Turkmen 
government provided no advance list of names, but Pupols said 
the Turkmen participants were surprisingly active and 
attended all the sessions. 
 
¶3. (SBU) Pupols noted that a highlight of the seminar was the 
presentation by Vladimir Garayev, a UN civil servant who 
worked in Tajikistan during its civil war and stood behind 
efforts to establish the UNRCCA.  He explained the origin of 
the UNRCCA as a proposed response in 1999-2000 to incursions 
by extremists in Kyrgyzstan's southern region.  Garayev 
described how the concept for the UNRCCA was passed over by 
both Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan before it was accepted in 
Turkmenistan.  He also talked about the peace process in 
Tajikistan to end its civil war, which the Tajik participants 
did not contradict, but supplemented with their own 
observations.  Pupols characterized Garayev's presentation as 
"just on the edge of what he could say and get away with," 
given the audience. 
 
¶4. (SBU) Experts from Essex University in the UK led a module 
on preventive diplomacy through support for human rights.  A 
representative from the OSCE's High Commissioner for Human 
Rights focused on low-key engagement, so-called  "silent 
diplomacy."  An American from Falls Church-based Consilium 
International LLC conducted practical exercises, such as a 
mock UN Security Council and role playing, that did not 
involve regional politics and were detached from Central 
Asian reality.  Pupols thought the practical exercises were a 
good contrast to the regional issues discussed by the experts 
from Essex.  Also, the UNRCCA did not want the seminar to 
delve deeply into regional issues that might lead to problems 
since there were officials from all five Central Asian 
countries present. 
 
¶5. (SBU) Pupols indicated that participant feedback was very 
positive and that the UNRCCA would like to hold more such 
events in future years.  Next on the schedule is a May 2010 
two-week seminar on international law for lawyers from the 
region's foreign ministries and presidential administrations. 
 
 
¶6. (SBU) COMMENT: Seminars such as this one address two 
aspects of the UNRCCA's mandate: to build capacity for 
preventive diplomacy in Central Asia and to serve as a forum 
for the exchange of views among the region's governments. 
The UNRCCA's ability to organize such events, not an easy 
task in Central Asia, demonstrates its current and potential 
effectiveness as a mechanism for dialogue within the region. 
END COMMENT. 
ECKSTROM