VZCZCXRO0240
RR RUEHDBU RUEHLN RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHAH #1088/01 2891221
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 161221Z OCT 06
FM AMEMBASSY ASHGABAT
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 7911
INFO RUCNCIS/CIS COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ASHGABAT 001088 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR INR/R/MR, IIP/T, IIP/G/NEA-SA, SA 
SCA/CEN, SCA/PAB, SCA/INS, SCA/RA, SCA/PPD, DRL 
CENTCOM PUBLIC AFFAIRS-MAJ.BALDWIN/SGT. BAKER 
USCINCPAC FOR POLAD R. HUSO 
SECDEF FOR PA 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KMDR KPAO OIIP PREL PGOV AF TX
SUBJECT: SEPTEMBER TURKMENISTAN MEDIA COVERAGE OMITS MYRADOVA, 
KATZEN COVERAGE 
 
REF: 1) ASHGABAT 1002, 2) 998, 3) 987, 4) 963, 5) Embassy Press 
Releases on 9/22/06 and 9/27/06 
 
SUMMARY 
------- 
 
¶1.  (U) Local media coverage of mission events in September featured 
the embassy's ceremony announcing the 2006-2007 Ambassador's Fund 
for Cultural Preservation grant winners.  While generally positive 
and colorful, the coverage failed to mention the U.S. Government's 
substantial financial investment in preserving Turkmenistan's 
cultural heritage.  Meanwhile, local media provided no coverage of 
the death in custody of journalist Ogulsapar Myradova or the visit 
of Peace Corps Regional Director for Europe, the Mediterranean and 
Asia Jay Katzen.  End Summary. 
 
COVERAGE OF AMBASSADOR'S FUND 2006-07 GRANTS POSITIVE BUT INACCURATE 
 
--------------------------------------------- -------- 
 
¶2.  (U) On September 28, state dailies "Neytralniy Turkmenistan" 
(Russian, circ. 33,221) and "Turkmenistan" (Turkmen, circ. 28,161) 
printed articles, based on embassy statements, about the embassy's 
September 27 ceremony to announce the winners of the 2006-2007 
Ambassador's Fund for Cultural Preservation grants.  The articles 
inaccurately quoted Charg d'Affaires a.i. Jennifer Brush that "the 
U.S. Government has been facilitating implementation of various 
scientific projects and supporting the preservation of cultural 
heritage in Turkmenistan."  (Note:  Brush's statement did not 
mention "scientific" cooperation, but the term "scientific" is often 
used by the host government to lend greater academic weight to 
events such as Ruhnama conferences.  End Note.)  The dailies 
accurately described the purpose and content of the two new 
projects, as well as recently completed and ongoing Ambassador's 
Fund projects in Turkmenistan. 
 
¶3.  (U) On September 30, semi-independent weekly 
"Zaman-Turkmenistan" (Turkmen, circ. 18,535) drew heavily from the 
embassy's press release and misquoted Charge Brush, stating that 
"such projects on cultural preservation would give great opportunity 
to Americans to learn more about Turkmen cultural heritage and 
history."  (Note:  Brush's statement emphasized that both Americans 
and Turkmen could learn from the project.  End Note.) 
 
¶4.  (U) The Russia-based state-sponsored website TURKMENISTAN.RU 
(English, Russian) posted an article with similar content.  On 
September 29, the Times of Central Asia newswire (English) provided 
coverage based on the TURKMENISTAN.RU article. 
 
¶5.  (U) None of these outlets provided detail on the U.S. 
Government's financial commitment to preserving Turkmenistan's 
heritage; per post's press release, the United States has 
contributed over $80,000 for cultural preservation projects in 
Turkmenistan over the past five years. 
 
STATE MEDIA IGNORES DEATH OF LOCAL JOURNALIST 
--------------------------------------------- 
 
¶6.  (U) From September 14 through September 27 major international 
newswires Associated Press, Dow Jones International News, BBC 
Monitoring, Reuters, Agence France Presse and ITAR-TASS provided 
broad coverage of international concern over the death in jail of 
local journalist Ogulsapar Myradova.  The reports described the 
concern of the United States, the UN and other international 
organizations over Myradova's death and of public protests by 
members of human rights groups and by Reporters Without Borders at 
the Turkmenistan Embassies in France and Russia.  These 
international reports drew from a small amount of information that 
Myradova's body bore a major head injury and evidence of 
strangulation, and speculated that the death resulted from abuse in 
prison.  U.S. newswires U.S. Fed News, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, 
Raw Story and Lawrence Journal World provided similar coverage of 
the issue. 
 
¶7.  (U) Meanwhile, local media completely ignored the event and had 
ceased coverage of Myradova's case in late June; she was sentenced 
to six years in prison on August 25 on weapons possession charges. 
State media provided no coverage of the trial.  (Note: Watan TV news 
aired a story on June 20 accusing Myradova of the charges for which 
she was eventually sentenced.  End Note.) 
 
JAY KATZEN VISIT RECEIVES NO STATE MEDIA COVERAGE 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
 
 
ASHGABAT 00001088  002 OF 002 
 
 
¶8.  (U) On September 21, Peace Corps Regional Director Jay Katzen 
had official meetings with Minister of Foreign Affairs Rashit 
Meredov and Deputy Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers Gurbanguly 
Berdimuhammedov.  The embassy's press release emphasized that, 
during his meetings, Katzen stressed the importance of the 
educational cooperation to the health of the U.S.-Turkmenistan 
bilateral relationship.  Neither of the meetings received state 
media coverage. 
 
COMMENT 
------- 
 
¶9.  (U) Post noted that, despite inaccuracies and gaps in coverage 
of the September 27 Ambassador's Fund event, local media provided 
more than the customary level of detail in drawing from embassy 
statements.  In contrast, state media continued to avoid coverage of 
topics that could be construed as critical of the current regime by 
ignoring both Myradova's death and Katzen's visit.  Post did not 
anticipate a complete blackout on the Katzen visit, as stories on 
Peace Corps volunteers and events tend to receive positive and 
high-profile coverage. 
 
BRUSH