VZCZCXRO2970
RR RUEHDBU RUEHLN RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHAH #0216/01 0521102
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 211102Z FEB 07
FM AMEMBASSY ASHGABAT
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 8428
INFO RUCNCIS/CIS COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ASHGABAT 000216 
 
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 
 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KMDR KPAO OIIP PREL PGOV AF TX
SUBJECT:  MODEST VICTORIES TO ACHIEVE COVERAGE OF A/S BOUCHER VISIT 
 
Reftel:  Ashgabat 215 
 
Summary 
------- 
 
¶1.  (U) Local and international media provided relatively accurate 
and full coverage of the Ashgabat portions of the visit of Assistant 
Secretary for South and Central Asia Richard Boucher.  However, host 
 
SIPDIS 
government efforts to ban local and international coverage of his 
appearance at the Turkmenabat Pedagogical Institute were successful, 
despite post's efforts to work around these barriers.  Nonetheless, 
a backup media event in Ashgabat permitted Boucher to highlight the 
heavy emphasis his visit placed on education -- and to help combat 
persistent media attention to peripheral issues and rumors, such as 
Mary airbase plans. 
 
Pre-Inauguration Speculation 
---------------------------- 
 
¶2.  (U) Prior to Assistant Secretary Boucher's arrival in 
Turkmenistan, both international press -- Reuters, Itar Tass and 
others -- and Turkmenistan state media reported his impending 
attendance at the February 14 inauguration ceremony.  Some outlets 
-- particularly Russian sources -- suggested that his participation, 
like that of representatives from other countries in Europe and the 
former Soviet Union, was an attempt to get a foot in the door on 
post-inaugural gas deals and similar ventures.  One such piece ran 
in the Russian Press Digest -- Russica Izvestia -- on February 15. 
 
¶3.  (U) BBC World Service's World Update radio program conducted a 
phone interview with Boucher on February 14 which was rebroadcast 
almost in full and excerpts of which appeared on that website the 
same day.  The interviewer had asked what role the United States was 
to play in a new "great game" in the region, to which Boucher 
replied "We're not here to play games.  We have made it clear 
throughout this region that we're not here to contend with anybody 
or to push anybody out. We're here to maximize the independence of 
these nations." 
 
¶4.  (U) International outlets covered some of the bilateral meetings 
Boucher held after the inauguration, such as that with Tajikistan's 
President Emomali Rahmanov, and with Kazakhistan's President 
Nursultan Nazarbayev.  Coverage was brief and emphasized efforts to 
expand regional cooperation.  State media did not cover the 
bilateral meetings. 
 
State Media Coverage Comically Unprofessional 
--------------------------------------------- 
 
¶5.  (U) Immediately following his February 15 meeting with President 
Gurbanguly Berdimuhammedov, state press took an interview with 
Boucher, with Embassy FSN translation into Turkmen.  Post issued 
Turkmen state television a revised Turkmen translation and a Russian 
translation, for its eventual broadcast of the story.  State 
television did not use post's revised Turkmen translation -- but 
rebroadcast the Russian translation in full up to the end, cutting 
off the ending statement "So today we talked about the future, how 
we can work together and how we can develop our relationship." 
 
¶6.  (U) The February 16 editions of the state dailies "Neytralniy 
Turkmenistan" (Russian, circ. 35,091) and "Turkmenistan" (Turkmen, 
circ. 28,091) both gave the Boucher-Berdimuhammedov meeting 
high-profile, above-the-fold coverage with photographs; by contrast, 
Berdimuhammedov's meeting with Russian Prime Minister Mikhail 
Fradkov appeared below the fold in the same editions.  However, the 
text accompanying the photo used only those segments of Boucher's 
interview that praised Turkmenistan or gently suggested plans for 
educational reform.  (Note:  The same issue placed Berdimuhammedov's 
two educational decrees -- described reftel -- directly to the right 
of Boucher's photographs.  End Note.)  The regional newspapers for 
each welayat printed the same text on February 17 but placed the 
stories differently.  Comically, Balkan, the Balkan Welayat weekly, 
printed a photograph of the European Union delegation meeting with 
Berdimuhammedov under the title "U.S. Secretary of States meets with 
President" while the photograph of Boucher and Charge d'Affaires 
Brush appeared on the inside of the paper's front page, under the 
heading that the Libyan delegation had met with the new president. 
 
 
State Strictly Controls Turkmenabat Press Event 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
 
¶7.  (U) Post pressed to ensure that both state and international 
press would be able to attend Boucher's visit February 16 to the 
Turkmenabat Pedagogical Institute, where Boucher delivered comments 
emphasizing the U.S. Government's high priority on educational 
 
ASHGABAT 00000216  002 OF 002 
 
 
development in Turkmenistan.  The Ministry of Foreign Affairs 
refused permission to both local and international journalists to 
travel to Turkmenabat, and refused to give permission to state press 
to cover the event.  Post distributed an embargoed copy of Boucher's 
remarks on February 15, on the request of stringers from Associated 
Press and Reuters, and followed up by distributing photos of the 
event to journalists at a late February 16 press conference at the 
Public Affairs Section in Ashgabat.  Post has not seen any 
international or state coverage of the Turkmenabat Pedagogical 
Institute event. 
 
International Take on Boucher Press Conference 
--------------------------------------------- - 
 
¶8.  (U) Reuters printed several articles before and after the 
February 14 inauguration and after the February 16 press conference, 
emphasizing international criticism of Turkmenistan for human rights 
abuses, and in this context noted that "Boucher said he was hopeful 
for change, defending a policy of engaging with Turkmenistan before 
it demonstrates progress on human rights."  The Washington Post ran 
a Reuters article on February 16 that draws accurately from 
Boucher's statements at the press conference and which included 
Boucher's refutation of a suggestion, made by a Le Monde reporter, 
that the U.S. Government would support expansion of its current 
overflight rights -- to include establishment of a base in Mary.  Le 
Monde and the Associated Press both ran pieces on the inauguration 
and Boucher's presence, drawing from Boucher's remarks at the press 
conference. 
 
COMMENT 
------- 
 
¶9.  (U) State press successfully hampered post's efforts to achieve 
maximum press exposure of Boucher's visit.  Journalists' questions 
at the press conference revealed a continuing desire by 
international press to cast the U.S. Government's interest in terms 
of oil and gas issues or another "great game" -- reinforcing the 
importance of the concluding press conference and earlier BBC 
interview in which Boucher had an opportunity to refute such claims. 
 
 
¶10.  (U) Post has attempted to have the video of the Turkmenabat 
Pedagogical Institute event or at least Boucher's cleared comments, 
placed in state press but these attempts have been rejected. 
Nonetheless, state press' willingness to accept and rebroadcast 
post's re-translation of Boucher's remarks to state press indicate 
at least a modest desire to provide coverage of high profile USG 
visits.  End Comment. 
 
BRUSH