VZCZCXRO1935
RR RUEHAST RUEHDBU RUEHFL RUEHLA RUEHLN RUEHMRE RUEHPOD RUEHROV RUEHSR
RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHAH #0697/01 1941148
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 131148Z JUL 07
FM AMEMBASSY ASHGABAT
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 9000
INFO RUCNCIS/CIS COLLECTIVE
RUCNOSC/OSCE POST COLLECTIVE
RUEHLM/AMEMBASSY COLOMBO 0411
RUEHKA/AMEMBASSY DHAKA 0433
RUEHIL/AMEMBASSY ISLAMABAD 2121
RUEHBUL/AMEMBASSY KABUL 0870
RUEHKT/AMEMBASSY KATHMANDU 0203
RUEHNE/AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI 0918
RUEHCG/AMCONSUL CHENNAI 0119
RUEHKP/AMCONSUL KARACHI 0168
RUEHCI/AMCONSUL KOLKATA 0090
RUEHLH/AMCONSUL LAHORE 0104
RUEHBI/AMCONSUL MUMBAI 0129
RUEHPW/AMCONSUL PESHAWAR 0442
RHMFIUU/CDR USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC//DHO-2/REA/NMJIC-J2//
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHINGTON DC//J5/RUE//
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 ASHGABAT 000697 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
STATE FOR SCA/CEN (SNELSIRE); SCA/PPD (KAMP) 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ENRG PINR PREL PGOV TX US AF
SUBJECT: PIPELINES DOMINATE FEIGENBAUM PRESS COVERAGE 
 
ASHGABAT 00000697  001.2 OF 004 
 
 
SUMMARY 
------- 
 
¶1.  (U) Despite Deputy Assistant Secretary Evan A. Feigenbaum's 
emphasis on developing a multidimensional relationship with 
Turkmenistan, media mostly focused on the single dimension of gas 
pipelines.  Most media headlines, including pro-Government of 
Turkmenistan sites, contained the words "Trans-Caspian" and drew 
from the same state media sources but provided different 
interpretations of Turkmenistan's interest in the project.  Emphasis 
on 'Great Game' politics overshadowed brief descriptions of other 
areas of cooperation.  Ironically, the state Watan television 
channel gave the most accurate and fullest coverage of the visit's 
true purpose as well as other events.  End Summary. 
 
WATAN AND NCA ACCURATE FOR ONCE 
------------------------------- 
 
¶2.  (U) The June 25 Watan TV News broadcast thoroughly covered the 
range of topics discussed by President Berdimuhammedov and 
Feigenbaum.  The story stated that Feigenbaum was a high-ranking 
U.S. diplomat and that he had sought to improve the already positive 
and growing U.S.-Turkmenistan relationship.  Berdimuhammedov had 
cited that they had accomplished a great deal already and he looked 
forward to continued cooperation on an "equal and mutually 
beneficial basis."  Feigenbaum had noted the five previous 
delegations, the proposals for cooperation that they had submitted 
to the Government of Turkmenistan, and new ideas for expanding 
business and cultural cooperation such as renewing the 
Ashgabat-Albuquerque sister-city status.  Berdimuhammedov had 
thanked Peace Corps for their service, favored expanding exchanges 
in higher education, and emphasized Turkmenistan's policy of 
supporting multiple gas transport routes. 
 
¶3.  (U) The story continued that Berdimuhammedov had wished to 
develop multi-facted relationships with numerous countries but that 
the "superpower" role of the United States "provides conditions for 
more comprehensive and equal-footed collaboration on the whole range 
of cooperation."  Thus, he was ready to increase cooperation in 
economic and humanitarian areas.  The broadcast then carried 
Feigenbaum's full interview where he emphasized the long 
U.S.-Turkmenistan relationship and U.S. desire to expand relations 
in security, economy, trade, energy, democracy and human rights. 
(Note:  The broadcast did not mention the Trans-Caspian pipeline or 
any other specific route at any time.  End Note.)  The following 
day, state dailies "Neutral Turkmenistan" (Russian, circ. 35,141) 
and "Turkmenistan" (Turkmen, circ. 28,091) gave front-page treatment 
to an article with similar content to Watan TV News.  In subsequent 
days, state weeklies "Watan" (Turkmen, circ. 26,091), "Turkmen 
Gundogary" (Turkmen, circ. 44,160), "Dashoguz Habarlary" (Turkmen, 
circ. 27,070) also gave front-page treatment to the same article 
from the dailies.  The weeklies "Balkan" (Turkmen, circ. 24,630) and 
"Ahal Durmushy" (Turkmen, circ. 35,391) reprinted the article. 
 
¶4.  (U) News Central Asia (NCA) posted an article on June 26 that 
emphasized the multidimensional topics in Feigenbaum's meetings. 
The unnamed author stated that Feigenbaum visited Turkmenistan "fast 
on the heels of" Fallon and that "the sides appeared to be making 
some headway in several areas."  Berdimuhammedov had wanted multiple 
pipelines and the Trans-Caspian was a possible option.  Overall, the 
article was a summary of the Watan news broadcast with the specific 
mention of the Trans-Caspian being the only difference.  (Note:  The 
weaker English and positive tone of the article implies that the 
author is different from a separate anti-American NCA piece on 
Feigenbaum.  See below.  End Note.) 
 
STATE MEDIA COVERS ANTI-DRUG EVENT 
---------------------------------- 
 
 
ASHGABAT 00000697  002.2 OF 004 
 
 
¶5.  (U) On June 26, Watan TV News (Turkmen) aired an interview with 
Feigenbaum during a drug burn to highlight Turkmenistan's 
counter-narcotics efforts.  Feigenbaum expressed satisfaction with 
the improved relations between the United States and Turkmenistan. 
He noted that counter-narcotics was a good example of positive 
cooperation since no single country could fight this problem on 
their own.  He added that it was unfortunate that humanity dealt 
with narcotics addiction and trafficking in the modern era. 
Finalizing his remarks, Feigenbaum thanked Turkmenistan's government 
for the opportunities to exchange experiences, develop united 
approaches, discuss results and review potential for future 
cooperation.  The following day, state dailies "Neutral 
Turkmenistan" (Russian, circ. 35,141) and "Turkmenistan" (Turkmen, 
circ. 28,091) published Feigenbaum's remarks, along with his 
picture, from the counter-narcotics event with similar content to 
Watan TV News.  In subsequent days, state weeklies "Nesli" (Turkmen, 
circ. 22,311), "Balkan" (Turkmen, circ. 24,630) reprinted the same 
article from the dailies. 
 
TRANS-CASPIAN: YES, NO, MAYBE-SO 
-------------------------------- 
 
¶6.  (U) The June 26 Associated Press newswire article by Alexander 
Vishinin focused exclusively on President Berdimuhammedov's 
tentative backing of the Trans-Caspian pipeline based on state media 
articles.  The rest of the article gave background on the 
significance of this decision in the context of a continued 
competition between the United States and Russia for influence in 
Turkmenistan.  The author also cited the visit of Admiral Fallon in 
the previous week as another U.S. effort for influence.  The article 
also cited the agreement between Russia, Kazakhstan, and 
Turkmenistan to build a gas pipeline on the Caspian Sea's eastern 
shore as a major victory for Russia in this back-and-forth struggle. 
 The article contained Feigenbaum quotes taken during the drug burn 
but did not provide any detail or explanation of this event.  The 
final sentence mentioned the overflight agreement between the United 
States and Turkmenistan for planes bound for Afghanistan.  The 
"Moscow Times" carried a shortened version of this article that 
focused purely on the gas pipeline and emphasized how Turkmenistan 
is "cautious" in supporting this project. 
 
¶7.  (U) The June 26 posting on Turkmenistan.ru headlined with the 
Trans-Caspian as a "possible" option even though discussion of the 
pipeline only appeared in the last paragraph.  The article detailed 
the high level of this and previous visits and that the U.S. sought 
to increase bilateral relations in the areas of culture and 
business.  The author added a quotation by President Berdimuhammedov 
that directly supported the expansion of U.S. scholars visiting 
Turkmenistan.  The AKIpress also carried a short article emphasizing 
that President Berdimuhammedov considered the Trans-Caspian a 
"possible" route.  After dedicating most of the article to details 
and quotes about gas, the article mentioned that Feigenbaum and the 
president had talked about a wide range of issues and that five U.S. 
delegations had visited Turkmenistan since January. 
 
¶8.  (U) ITAR-TASS' June 25 article stated that Turkmenistan 
"supports" a Trans-Caspian pipeline project.  The article used 
quotes and statements from both the president and Feigenbaum with 
optimistic assessments of implementing the project.  The end of the 
article briefly mentioned the desire for both parties to expand 
business and cultural cooperation.  The author used the 
Turkmensitan.ru quotation by Berdimuhammedov that supported the 
expansion of U.S. scholars visiting Turkmenistan.  The World Press 
Service posted a similar article on June 27 that cited international 
and state media with Turkmenistan "backing" a Trans-Caspian pipeline 
in its headline.  The article repeated mentions of expanded business 
and cultural cooperation with the United States.  The same 
Berdimuhammedov quote calling for more U.S. scholars also appeared 
here.  The final paragraph detailed competition between the United 
 
ASHGABAT 00000697  003.2 OF 004 
 
 
States and Russia over Turkmenistan's gas reserves by supporting 
different gas pipelines. 
 
¶9.  (U) The Journal of Turkish Weekly carried an article on June 27 
from News Central Asia that the United States believes Turkmenistan 
"supports" a Trans-Caspian pipeline.  This thesis based its logic on 
several quotes from Feigenbaum about his meeting with the president. 
 The article also described Feigenbaum's comments on U.S. regional 
energy policy as "the rut that is called U.S. foreign policy." 
(Note:  News Central Asia frequently reveals an anti-western bias 
through similar comments.  End Note.) 
 
RUSSIAN LANGUAGE COVERAGE POSITIVE 
---------------------------------- 
 
¶10.  (U) From June 25-27, newswires and news agencies, such as RIA 
Novosti, ITAR-TASS, WPS Sentralno-aziatskiye novosti, Ferghana.ru, 
Yezhednevniye novosti himicheskih predpriyatiy SNG, Xinhua News 
Agency and Georgian Business Consulting gave coverage on 
Feigenbaum's visit to Turkmenistan in Russian.  The coverage, 
referring to Turkmenistan's state media, was generally accurate and 
had similar content to other foreign articles.  However, all 
headlines reflected Turkmenistan's support for a Trans-Caspian 
pipeline, backed by the United States. 
 
IWPR ARTICLE BOTCHES THE FACTS 
------------------------------ 
 
¶11.  (U) An article posted on the US-supported Institute for War and 
Peace's website (English and Russian) interpreted Berdimuhamedov's 
statement from Feigenbaum's meeting, "Turkmen-American relations 
should not be politicized," as a sign he will not embark on 
democratic reforms.  The article cited a News Briefing Central Asia 
(NBCA) analyst's comment that the remark displayed Turkmenistan's 
wariness of the United States demanding democratic reforms.  The 
article quoted Vyasheslav Mamedov, leader of emigre group, the Civil 
Democratic Union of Turkmenistan, that Berdimuhamedov's statement 
meant "there would be no political reforms in the near future."  He 
stated that "politics", referred to international pressure to 
democratize Turkmenistan.  Mamedov added that the United States 
would probably agree to keep "politics" off the agenda to gain 
influence in Central Asia and thus weaken the region's dependence on 
Russia.  The United States would focus on education and cultural 
projects instead.  The article reported that an NBCA observer based 
in Ashgabat agreed because the president feared that the people 
might become infected with the "spirit of freedom."  The observer 
incorrectly added that the state media constantly promoted the idea 
that "Western" democracy was alien to its people.  (Note: This is 
hardly a ?constant? message.  End note.) 
 
¶12.  (U) The article noted that diplomatic dialogue between the 
United States and Turkmenistan had become much more active this 
year.  But it incorrectly cited Berdimuhamedov's meetings with 
Fallon in early June, Assistant Secretary Richard Boucher in April, 
Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Steven Mann, and State 
Department Spokesman Sean McCormack.  (Comment: Fallon visited in 
late June.  Boucher has not returned to Turkmenistan since February. 
 The McCormack meeting never took place.  End Comment.)  It added 
that the United States had been providing educational exchange 
programs to Turkmenistan's military and police personnel and 
incorrectly noted English courses at American colleges for small 
groups of schoolchildren.  (Note:  Post has no such program for 
children.  End Note.) 
 
COMMENT 
------- 
 
¶13.  (SBU) Despite most of the same source material, many outlets 
came up with a wide range of conclusions and most focused on the 
 
ASHGABAT 00000697  004.2 OF 004 
 
 
possibility of building a Trans-Caspian pipeline.  Focus on this 
issue illustrates the dominance of energy and ?great game? 
worldviews in the international press -- even though these were 
merely secondary issues for Feigenbaum's visit.  The Institute for 
War and Peace Reporting's poor mastery of easily verifiable facts 
and its spin, showed that international newsmedia can be too reliant 
on opposition exiles whose information is exaggerated or 
out-of-touch with reality in Turkmensitan.  Whereas Turkmenistan 
state media and Feigenbaum emphasized multiple dimensions of the 
bilateral relationship.  Surprisingly Turkmen State News Media and 
News Central Asia, neither of which is known for its journalistic 
credibility, had the stories which best reflected Feigenbaum's 
visit.  End Comment. 
 
HOAGLAND