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C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 04 ASHGABAT 001167 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR SCA/CEN (PERRY) 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/07/2016 
TAGS: PGOV PREL PINR EPET PHUM GE TX
SUBJECT: GERMAN FOREIGN MINISTER STEINMEIER MEETS NIYAZOV 
 
REF: ASHGABAT 899 
 
ASHGABAT 00001167  001.2 OF 004 
 
 
Classified By: Charge d'Affaires, a.i. Jennifer L. Brush for reasons 1. 
4 (B) and (D). 
 
 Summary 
-------- 
 
¶1. (C) German Foreign Minister Steinmeier's November 2 visit 
to Turkmenistan provided him a telescoped confirmation of the 
challenges to developing democracy in Turkmenistan, according 
to an outbrief provided by German Ambassador to Turkmenistan 
Hans Mondorf.  Not only were Steinmeier and his delegation 
treated rudely, but Steinmeier was subjected to a three-hour 
rant by the president on Turkmenistan's spectacular 
achievements, spotless human rights record and enormous 
economic potential  Niyazov had his cabinet individually deny 
any knowledge of the government's de facto confiscation of a 
joint venture chicken farm which had been under the 
protection of a bilateral investment protection treaty. 
Niyazov angrily denied Steinmeier's observation that 
education had deteriorated in Turkmenistan and ruled out 
regional cooperation, saying it was "dangerous."  During a 
subsequent "four-eyes" meeting between the two, he had 
Steinmeier play Freud as Niyazov described his life as an 
orphan.  According to Mondorf, Steinmeier's mission in 
Central Asia was primarily "information-gathering," and that 
Steinmeier did not divulge his impressions of Niyazov or 
Turkmenistan to Mondorf.  Mondorf said he suspected his 
foreign minister was waiting to draw any conclusions until he 
had visit all five Central Asian capitals.  End Summary. 
 
Schlechte Manieren 
------------------ 
 
¶2.  (C) Mondorf starting off his November 6 briefing of the 
second tier (Charge's characterization) of the U.S., 
Georgian, Romanian and Turkish COMS (he briefed the French 
and UK Ambassadors on November 3) by complaining about the 
embarassing lack of manners displayed by the government 
during Foreign Minister Steinmeier's November 2 visit to 
Ashgabat.  Mondorf said only the minister and a few 
high-ranking advisors had been exempted from visa fees and 
that the delegation was forced to pay $2,000 in visa fees 
before they were permitted to leave the airport.  Mondorf 
claimed Turkmenistan was the only country in Central Asia to 
charge the delegation visa fees. 
 
¶3.  (C) Mondorf said that even as the delegation was paying 
the $2k, Turkmenistan's MFA Protocol was insisting the 
delegation run out and buy two wreaths for laying at the 
Niyazov family mausoleum in Gypjak and the Independence 
Monument.  Steinmeier protested saying only the Prime 
Minister was authorized to lay wreaths and compromised by 
agreeing to lay a bouquet at the mausoleum only, there was no 
time for both sites. 
 
¶4.  (C) The meeting with the president had been scheduled to 
last 45 minutes, instead it lasted for three and a half hours 
with the president speaking for the bulk of the time.  The 
length of the presidential meeting seriously delayed 
follow-on meetings including with the Central Bank and with 
the Parliament (Mejlis).  Though members of the German 
delegation had planned these as calls separate from Minister 
Steinmeier's meetings, local government representatives 
refused to speak until they heard the presidential meeting 
had been concluded. 
 
¶5.  (C) The government then attempted to postpone a meeting 
the embassy had planned at the German Ambassador's residence 
with representatives of international organizations by having 
MFA Protocol literally beg the minister to lay flowers at the 
 
ASHGABAT 00001167  002.4 OF 004 
 
 
Gypjak mausoleum.  Following the Gypjak event, with the 
international organizations representatives still waiting, 
MFA Protocol whispered to Steinmeier's local driver, "take 
them to the Independence Monument now,"  This instruction, 
fortunately, was overheard by the embassy's translator who 
got the German delegation to protest.  Even so, Mondorf said, 
the motorcade escorts proceeded to drive back into town at 
the speed of a cortege and, Mondorf claims, intentionally led 
the delegation on a 30 minute crawling goose chase through 
the residential suburbs of Ashgabat.  Mondorf claims his 
driver was frantically honking his horn and attempting to 
wave the escort in the direction of the ambassador's house, 
to no avail.  The meeting with the international 
organizations eventually occured, almost an hour late and for 
a shorter duration. 
 
Freud 
----- 
 
¶6.  (C) Steinmeier's meeting with Niyazov, according to 
Mondorf, consisted of three hours of a Niyazov monologue and 
30 minutes of substance.  Mondorf said that the press 
coverage of the meeting basically was accurate, the president 
talked about: 
 
-- Bilateral Economic Cooperation - Room for growth in the 
oil and gas sector. 
 
-- Achievements since Independence - GDP per capita has grown 
from $7 in 1992 to $8,000 in 2006. 
 
-- Oil and Gas - Current customers only included Russia and 
Iran (Comment:  Interesting he didn't mention Ukraine); 
future customers could be China, India and UAE.  Niyazov also 
bragged about his new deal with Gazprom selling 50 bcm for 
$100/tcm.  Niyazov asked for German assistance in building a 
new pipeline, through Kazakhstan, along the northern coast of 
the Caspian.  (Comment:  Local press reported that Steinmeier 
agreed to assist with the pipeline, Mondorf says, Steinmeier 
only agreed to "consider all questions."  End Comment.) 
 
¶7.  (C) Following this Steinmeier raised his and EU 
priorities in Central Asia, noting that a new approach to 
Central Asia would be a key theme of the German Presidency of 
the EU.  Steinmeier said Germany were interested in pursuing 
the following in Central Asia: 
 
-- Regional Cooperation - Steinmeier thanked Turkmenistan for 
its contributions to the global war on terror and in 
particular for Turkmenistan's assitance in the reconstruction 
of Afghanistan.  Steinmeier also noted Turkmenistan and 
Germany shared a common interest in preventing Iran's nuclear 
armaments program and encouraged Turkmenistan to take a more 
active role.  "We've wasted three years talking to them," 
Steinmeier said, according to Mondorf, "we need more pressure 
on Iran from the region."  Steinmeier urged all five Central 
Asian states to work together on this and other issues saying 
the the EU example had been that working together gave the 
region as a whole more political weight. Not only would 
Central Asia as a group have more weight in dealing with 
Russia and China, he said, but also in dealing with the EU 
and the United States.  "That's a dangerous idea," Niyazov 
responded.  "We're developing at different speeds and there 
are no conditions for closer cooperation."  He added, 
"Neither the Kazakhs nor Uzbeks have anything we want to 
buy."  Later in the conversation Niyazov added that 
Turkmenistan was on the brink of becoming a "big power," and 
cited the plans of his 2007-2030 oil and gas plan.  In terms 
of assistance to Afghanistan Niyazov said Turkmenistan 
already was selling cheap gasoline and electricity across the 
border.  He also said he was considering Afghanistani 
President Karzai's request that Turkmenistan forgive its $10 
 
ASHGABAT 00001167  003.2 OF 004 
 
 
million debt.  Niyazov also insisted that Turkmenistan was 
not a problem in terms of drug trafficking from Afghanistan, 
"the traffickers go through Uzbekistan and Tajikistan," he 
said.  In terms of Iran, though, drug trafficking was a 
problem he said, noting that the Iranians use the three 
million ethnic Turkmen living in Iran to carry out their drug 
trafficking. "We've killed 30 ethnic Turkmen smugglers, this 
year alone," he bragged.  Niyazov also told Steinmeier that 
Turkmenistan had prevented Iranian planes carrying nuclear 
materials from North Korea to transit Turkmenistan and said, 
"we recently denied a South Korean (sic) request for one its 
planes to land for repairs."  Also in terms of Iran, Niyazov 
noted that Iranian President Ahmadinejad was recalling the 
current Iranian Ambassador to Turkmenistan and replacing him 
with one of his, Ahmadinejad's, supporters, after the 
ambassador embraced Niyazov during Ahamdinejad's July visit 
to Turkmenistan. 
 
-- Economic Cooperation - According to Steinmeier, 
Turkmenistan was not living up to its economic potential. 
Its geographic isolation and generally unfavorable investment 
climate discouraged more foreign investment in Turkmenistan. 
In this context, Steinmeier said, the experience with German 
citizen Dogan and his chicken farm set a dangerous example. 
Enraged, Niyazov stood up and claimed no knowledge of "this 
Dogan."  He made his entire cabinet stand up and one by one 
asked all of them, including Meredov, if they had heard of 
"this Dogan."  "No Dear Leader," they all, including Meredov, 
responded.   (Comment:  Not only does Niyazov know about 
Dogan, but the chicken farm is practically the only issue 
Mondorf has raised with Meredov during his four year 
assignment to Turkmenistan.  Former Ambassador Jacobson and 
Charge also have raised the chicken farm issue with Meredov. 
End Comment.)   At this point Steinmeier produced a letter 
from the German Economy Minister to the president saying 
Turkenistan was in violation of its bilateral investment 
protection agreement and that the arrest of Dogan's local 
partners had been under false pretences.  (Note:  Dogan's 
partners, a father and two sons, had received three jail 
terms for "illegally fertilizing land."  End Note.) 
 
 
-- Human Rights - Steinmeier noted the EU's recent decision 
to suspend its Partnership and Cooperation Agreement because 
of "internal political developments in Turkmenistan," and 
also general EU concern about deteriorating education in 
Turkmenistan."  Niyazov angrily responded, "I don't know why 
you shout at us about human rights violations, I know it's 
the United States feeding you this disinformation.  We  have 
no human rights violations here, we have freedom of opinion, 
there is no surveillance, you Europeans give safe haven to 
our terrorists.  Even Turkey is voting with the United States 
because they think it will help get them into the EU. Of 
course we have one political party here and no opposition 
because the people are happy with their government." 
Steinmeier reminded Niyazov that the EU was a sophisticated 
mature political body that made its own decisions indepedent 
of the United States.  Steinmeier recommended that Niyazov 
try to learn how to better handle the EU.  "We're not 
perfect, but we're not repressive," Niyazov said.  Niyazov 
rejected Steinmeier's offer to send an experts group to 
assess human rights in Turkmenistan saying, "that's not 
necessary when you let four bandits sit in Europe getting 
money from the United States after they tried to assassinate 
me in 2002."  Warming up to his favorite subject, Niyazov 
then told Steinmeier that the assassination attempt had been 
orchestrated by the Russians, in particular then MOD Chief 
Sergei Ivanov who "had planes ready to land at Mary and 
Ashgabat to support the coup plotters." 
 
¶8.  (C) At the end of the meeting, Steinmeier asked to meet 
alone with Niyazov for five minutes.  This meeting lasted 35 
 
ASHGABAT 00001167  004.2 OF 004 
 
 
minutes.  Mondorf was not sure what was discussed except to 
say Niyazov tried to explain to Steinmeier the trauma of 
being raised an orphan.  Mondorf said he thought Steinmeier 
also raise the death in prison of local journalist Myradova, 
but said Steinmeier did not brief him on the details of the 
meeting. 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶9.  (C) Formerly one of Niyazov's biggest apologists on the 
local diplomat circuit, Mondorf was clearly embarrassed to 
have hosted his boss for such a strange visit.  Post 
considers it more likely that the Department will get a 
fuller briefing on Steinmeier's impressions of Central Asia 
than Mondorf will.  Post would clearly welcome a stronger EU 
presence here and hopes that Steinmeier will see the great 
need and strategic importance of Turkmenistan, as he digests 
his first taste of Niyazov.  End Comment. 
BRUSH