VZCZCXRO2059
RR RUEHDBU RUEHLN RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHAH #0650/01 1841027
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 031027Z JUL 07
FM AMEMBASSY ASHGABAT
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 8940
INFO RUCNCIS/CIS COLLECTIVE
RUEHLM/AMEMBASSY COLOMBO 0382
RUEHKA/AMEMBASSY DHAKA 0404
RUEHBUL/AMEMBASSY KABUL 0841
RUEHIL/AMEMBASSY ISLAMABAD 2092
RUEHNE/AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI 0889

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ASHGABAT 000650 
 
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:  ROMANOWSKI DELEGATION RECEIVES UNPRECEDENTED COVERAGE IN 
TURKMENISTAN'S STATE MEDIA 
 
Reftel:  Ashgabat 
 
Summary 
------- 
 
¶1.  (U) The May 2-5 visit to Turkmenistan of an education delegation 
led by Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Alina L. Romanowski 
received wide coverage in state media.  Her meetings with government 
officials from Turkmenistan's Mejlis (parliament), Ministry of 
Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Education received Turkmenistan 
media attention.  State media also gave wide coverage to 
Romanowski's visit to the Dashoguz region, where she met with local 
authorities, visited a local school and attended the closing 
ceremony of Aksaray Ding Tower restoration project, funded through a 
U.S. State Department "Ambassador's Fund for Cultural Preservation" 
(AFCP) grant.  State media ignored some events in Romanowski's 
program and inaccurately reported her visit to School 27 in 
Ashgabat.  End Summary. 
 
State Media Highlights Romanowski's Arrival 
------------------------------------------- 
 
¶2.  (U) On May 2, state-run Watan TV News announced Romanowski's 
arrival and purpose of discussing a new direction in 
Turkmenistan-American cooperation in education, culture, and sports. 
 The report accurately stated that Romanowski coordinated 
professional, cultural, and youth exchange programs.  The report 
praised her meetings with representatives of the Mejlis, Ministry of 
Foreign Affairs, and Ministry of Education.  Romanowski expressed 
the United States' desire to cooperate in the large-scale education 
reforms initiated by President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov.  The 
report highlighted appreciation of bilateral partnerships in 
education, specifically naming Fulbright, FLEX, Edmund Muskie and 
other U.S. exchange programs.  Hundreds of Turkmenistanis studied in 
the United States through those exchange programs, where they 
improved their knowledge of English and made friends with American 
colleagues, according to the broadcast.  (Comment: Post fights 
yearly to keep these programs alive, let alone get any positive 
media coverage on them.  End Comment.)  The report described 
Romanowski's visit to School 27 in Ashgabat and her trip to Dashoguz 
City to meet with local authorities, visit School 13, and travel to 
the Aksaray Ding AFCP.  The reported noted that Turkmenistan and 
American specialists reconstructed this historical monument with 
funding from the "Ambassador's Fund for Cultural Preservation" 
grant.  (Note: No American specialists were directly involved; only 
the funding was American.  End Note.)  The next day, state dailies 
"Neutral Turkmenistan" (Russian, circ. 35,211) and "Turkmenistan" 
(Turkmen, circ. 28,091) gave coverage with similar content. 
 
Inaccuracy and Omission in State Media Coverage 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
 
¶3.  (U) Both May 2 state Watan TV News and May 3 state dailies 
coverage inaccurately reported that Romanowski had already visited 
School 27 in Ashgabat, when she did not do so until noon of May 3. 
(Note:  Turkmenistan's media often inaccurately report details of 
PAO events to give lip-service support but to prevent interested 
locals from attending on their own initiative.  End Note.)  The 
state media also omitted Romanowski's visit to Magtymguly Turkmen 
State University and meetings with the governor of the Dashoguz 
region and education department officials. 
 
State Media Highlights Dashoguz Visit 
------------------------------------- 
 
¶4.  (U) Romanowski and her delegation's May 4 visit to Dashoguz 
Province received broad coverage on state Watan TV News (Turkmen) 
the following day.  The news broadcast reported on her visit to 
School 13 and the Beki Seytakov Pedagogical School.  The broadcast 
played various video scenes displaying the delegation arriving at 
School 13, sitting at student desks, watching performances by 
students, visiting classrooms, speaking to students and holding 
discussions at the pedagogical institute.  (Note: Interestingly, the 
video never included the Dashoguz deputy governor, who sat at a 
student's desk next to Romanowski.  End Note.)  The news broadcast 
put a heavy emphasis on Romanowski's closing ceremony of the Aksaray 
Ding tower restoration project.  The broadcast quoted Romanowski: 
"Now this monument will be preserved for future generations."  The 
coverage of the ceremony included video scenes of Romanowski giving 
 
ASHGABAT 00000650  002 OF 002 
 
 
remarks and speaking to locals.  The broadcast followed with a long, 
accurate interview, where she summarized the purpose of her visit 
and the U.S. government's willingness to expand cooperation with 
Turkmenistan in the education sphere.  Romanowski expressed support 
for President Berdimuhamedov's ideas of reforming education to meet 
international standards through the exchange of specialists.  She 
also expressed the United States' plans to expand these academic and 
professional exchange programs.  Romanowski noted the Aksaray Ding 
project was one of seven "Ambassador's Fund for Cultural 
Preservation" program projects in the country and expressed 
satisfaction in supporting Turkmenistan's ancient and rich history. 
On May 5, the Dashoguz visit received coverage in state dailies 
"Neutral Turkmenistan" (Russian, circ. 35,211), "Turkmenistan" 
(Turkmen, circ. 28,091) and on the pro-government website 
TURKMENISTAN.RU (Russian, English). 
 
¶5.  (U) On May 11, state TV-4 Channel (Turkmen, Russian, English, 
French, Chinese, Arabic, and Persian) aired a 20-minute long program 
about Romanowski and her delegation's visit to Turkmenistan.  The 
program gave coverage similar to that used in Watan TV News on the 
visit to the Dashoguz region and included personal interviews of the 
five other members in the delegation.  The interviewees gave a 
summary of their areas of interest, purpose of their visit, and gave 
their impressions of Turkmenistan.  Embassy's PAO gave background 
information about the "Ambassador's Fund for Cultural Preservation" 
projects in Turkmenistan and the Aksaray Ding tower restoration 
project.  State TV-4 replayed the program several times on 
subsequent days. 
 
COMMENT 
------- 
 
¶6.  (U) State media gave positive coverage to Romanowski's program 
throughout her visit.  State media praised American-Turkmen 
cooperation in the areas of education and cultural preservation. 
The level of coverage was truly unprecedented in comparison with 
other VIP visits or Embassy programs.  Post was astonished and 
pleased with the coverage state media gave on Romanowski visit.  End 
Comment. 
 
BRUSH