VZCZCXRO2370
RR RUEHLN RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHDBU #0121/01 0190733
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 190733Z JAN 07
FM AMEMBASSY DUSHANBE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 9457
INFO RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC
RHEHAAA/NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL WASHINGTON DC
RUCNCIS/CIS COLLECTIVE
RUEHAK/AMEMBASSY ANKARA 1920
RUEHBUL/AMEMBASSY KABUL 1935
RUEHIL/AMEMBASSY ISLAMABAD 1977
RUEHNE/AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI 1957
RUEHDBU/AMEMBASSY DUSHANBE 1029

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 DUSHANBE 000121 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR SCA/CEN 
EMBASSY TASHKENT FOR JOHN BALLARD 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL TI
SUBJECT: A TRUE TRAVEL STORY FROM HELL 
 
DUSHANBE 00000121  001.2 OF 003 
 
 
¶1.  SUMMARY:  With 67 returning Kazakh hajjis and nearly one 
hundred tired and hungry expats on board, Turkish Airlines 
flight 1344 bound for Dushanbe, Tajikistan, could not land for 
nearly two days due to fog, rain and snow, uncooperative Central 
Asian governments, indecisive Turkish Airlines representatives 
and aggressive passengers.  On January 11, after the plane 
failed its first attempt to land at Dushanbe airport at six in 
the morning due to poor visibility, the flight diverted to 
Tashkent, Uzbekistan.  Unlucky Dushanbe PolOff describes a 
travel disaster that could only occur in Central Asia.  END 
SUMMARY. 
 
¶2.  A commercial plane flew between Dushanbe and Tashkent for 
the first time since 1994 - the last regularly scheduled flight 
between Uzbekistan and Tajikistan.  Turkish Airlines flight 1344 
bound for Dushanbe attempted to land three times at Dushanbe 
airport, but failed due to heavy fog.  Many other incoming 
flights to Dushanbe were directed to smaller local airports 
where Tajik and Russian pilots were brave enough to attempt 
landing in heavy fog on poor runways.  The Turkish Airlines 
pilot chose to rely on his multi-million dollar equipment to 
tell him that he could not see well enough to land that day and 
diverted instead to Tashkent -- not once but three times.  By 
the time the plane returned to Tashkent airport after the last 
attempt, it was eight in the evening and Uzbek authorities 
refused to allow passengers to disembark to the transit lounge. 
Passengers had endured the plane for nearly twenty hours with 
only a brief break in the Tashkent transit lounge earlier in the 
day.  Most had been en route for more than twenty hours, 
including one passenger who began traveling from San Francisco 
two days earlier. 
 
ANGRY KAZAKHS OR HAJJI HIJACKERS? 
 
¶3.  After failing for the third time to land in Dushanbe and 
returning to Tashkent for refueling, a group of Kazakhs 
returning from hajj demanded that the flight be redirected to 
Almaty, having already missed their connecting flight in 
Dushanbe (COMMENT: Who connects through Dushanbe?  Fire my 
travel agent!  END COMMENT).  Turkish Airlines representatives, 
eager to accommodate passengers, entered into a negotiation with 
the Kazakhs.  The Hajjis persuaded Turkish Air reps that flying 
to Almaty would allow passengers to easily obtain visas, spend 
the night in a hotel, and catch connecting flights to Dushanbe. 
After succeeding to get Uzbek authorities to allow the plane to 
change its flight plan and fly over Uzbek airspace into 
Kazakhstan, the plan failed when Kazakhstan refused entry for 
the plane. 
 
¶4.  Unlike earlier in the day, Uzbek airport authorities refused 
to allow passengers off the plane onto the slightly more 
comfortable concrete floor of the Soviet-era transit lounge. 
Even passengers holding valid Uzbek visas were not allowed to 
exit the transit lounge.  Past midnight, flight attendants 
announced that whatever food was left would be rationed, women 
and children first.  Passengers raised their eyebrows, then 
raised their blood sugar level by breaking out and sharing 
stashes of chocolate, beef jerky, and bottles of wine. 
 
¶5.  When the pilot announced on the intercom that the plane, 
having no other alternative and with the Uzbeks pressuring it to 
leave the airport, would return to Istanbul, the angry Kazakhs 
rushed towards the cockpit.  A blue-eyed woman covered in an 
abaya led the charge and demanded to return to Almaty. 
Passengers allegedly heard some verbal threats including forcing 
the pilot to change course towards Almaty in mid-air.  Turkish 
Airlines employees had clearly lost control of the situation and 
many passengers genuinely feared a dangerous situation brewing. 
Earlier in the flight, several hajjis proselytized fellow 
passengers and chastised them for drinking wine, causing many to 
be unnerved.  Several passengers later called the U.S. Embassy 
in Dushanbe, insisting the Kazakhs be arrested for "hijacking" 
the plane.  The argument with the Kazakhs continued, despite the 
fact that their own government refused the plane landing rights. 
They even woke the Kazakh Deputy Foreign Minister to discuss the 
problem, but the attempts were futile. 
 
¶6.  At three o'clock in the morning, passengers were allowed 
into the transit lounge where they slept on the floor and in 
chairs, with the promise that more news would be forthcoming at 
five o'clock, almost 24 hours after they should have landed in 
Dushanbe.  Five o'clock became eight o'clock.  Without clear 
 
DUSHANBE 00000121  002.2 OF 003 
 
 
information from Turkish Airlines, the rumor mill churned at 
full blast and travelers became desperate.  A group of about ten 
American citizens, including Dushanbe PolOff, gathered to 
discuss a united strategy.  Knowing full well the Uzbek 
government was unlikely to grant visas to Americans, the group 
decided to advocate for a last attempt to land in Dushanbe or 
return to Istanbul, with or without the Kazakhs.  After PolOff's 
negotiations with the Turkish Airlines representative, Turkish 
Airlines decided to proceed to Dushanbe in one last landing 
attempt.  If that attempt should fail, the plane would then head 
back to Istanbul where passengers would receive food, lodging 
and a flight back to Dushanbe. 
 
¶7.  Not so fast.  The Kazakh problem remained.  The Kazakh 
embassy was able to provide the Kazakhs land transportation back 
to Almaty and other cities, however, the Kazakh passengers would 
not depart without their baggage from the plane.  Uzbek airport 
authorities did not have permission to remove baggage not marked 
with Tashkent as its final destination.  Local embassies 
pressured the authorities into making an exception and allow the 
baggage off so the other passengers could continue. 
 
¶8.  Embassies in Tashkent made valiant efforts to the assist 
their citizens, including the U.S. Embassy which provided 
constant support and information.  However, due to the Uzbek 
government's hostile attitude and inflexibility, some embassy 
representatives, including from the American Embassy,  were not 
even permitted in the transit lounge. 
 
YOU WILL FLY US SOMEWHERE! 
 
¶9.  At one o'clock in the afternoon, after successfully 
negotiating with airport authorities to unload the Kazakh 
baggage, Turkish Airlines announced it would begin to board 
passengers for a two o'clock departure.  Passengers hurried as 
the plane only had a one hour time frame at three o'clock with 
adequate landing visibility.  At this point, a British travel 
writer leading a group of European Union citizens restrained the 
Turkish Air representative and prevented him from preparing for 
departure.  They demanded he sign a yellow piece of notebook 
paper with nothing but the names and passport numbers of all the 
EU passengers on it.  They wanted assurance that Turkish Air 
would provide meals, lodging and a return flight for all 
passengers, but the paper had no words to that effect. 
 
¶10.  Knowing the document would have no legal bearing, PolOff 
and other Americans urged the Europeans to back down, follow the 
plan and allow Turkish Airlines to do its job.  Many Europeans 
had bought into a rumor that Turkish Airlines was conspiring to 
secretly fly the passengers straight back to Istanbul, where 
 
SIPDIS 
they would strand the passengers and abandon all responsibility. 
 The Europeans wanted to land later in the evening when they 
thought the weather might have cleared.  If it hadn't, they 
hoped to return to Uzbekistan, where they assumed they would be 
able to receive visas on a Friday evening.  (COMMENT: Fat 
chance! They would have probably ended another night in the 
transit terminal.  For many Americans with no hope at a visa and 
families with children who did not want to suffer another night 
in the transit lounge, this was not a viable option. END 
COMMENT.)   The issue soon took on an EU versus America 
undertone, and after several minutes of heated debate in a scrum 
and two o'clock in the afternoon drawing near, PolOff freed the 
sweat-drenched Turkish Airlines representative to get the flight 
moving. 
 
¶11.  During the flight back to Dushanbe, the entire plane, sans 
the Kazakhs, was silent and tense.  After circling Dushanbe for 
a few minutes, the plane descended and successfully landed in 
Dushanbe with passengers cheering with gratitude and immense 
relief.  The plane made the one-hour time frame with eight 
minutes to spare, almost 16 hours after it was originally 
scheduled to land.  Shortly after wheels down, heavy snowfall 
hit Dushanbe. 
 
¶12.  COMMENT:  The majority of foreigners traveling in and out 
of Tajikistan often opt for the twice a week Turkish Airlines 
flight, a comfortable plane that doesn't serve hardboiled eggs 
and neon green sodas.  However, even Turkish Airlines cannot 
thrive in a region whose governments impose political and 
bureaucratic barriers and are inflexible to accommodating 
emergency situations.  The Turkish Airlines representative in 
Uzbekistan confided to PolOff that he found working in Central 
 
DUSHANBE 00000121  003.2 OF 003 
 
 
Asia to be extremely difficult and was looking forward to 
leaving.  Clearly this is not the first time he has had to deal 
with difficult airport authorities.  Scaring away western and 
private companies, particularly those that provide transport 
links, only impedes economic development in the region.  END 
COMMENT. 
JACOBSON