VZCZCXRO4486
PP RUEHAG RUEHAST RUEHBI RUEHCI RUEHDBU RUEHDF RUEHIK RUEHLH RUEHLN
RUEHLZ RUEHPW RUEHROV RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHAH #1089/01 2821349
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 091349Z OCT 07
FM AMEMBASSY ASHGABAT
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 9514
INFO RUCNCLS/ALL SOUTH AND CENTRAL ASIA COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUCNCIS/CIS COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUCNMEM/EU MEMBER STATES COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHAK/AMEMBASSY ANKARA PRIORITY 2854
RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING PRIORITY 0675
RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO PRIORITY 0551
RUEHIT/AMCONSUL ISTANBUL PRIORITY 1127
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHDC PRIORITY
RHMFIUU/CDR USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL PRIORITY
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC PRIORITY
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC PRIORITY
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHDC PRIORITY
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHDC PRIORITY

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ASHGABAT 001089 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR SCA/CEN, SCA/PPD, DRL 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM SOCI SCUL KPAO TX
SUBJECT:  TURKMENISTAN'S BALKAN PROVINCE:  ALUMNI KEEPING THE FLAME 
ALIVE IN AN ISOLATED DESERT 
 
REF:  ASHGABAT 1074 
ASHGABAT 0971 
ASHGABAT 0970 
ASHGABAT 0968 
ASHGABAT 0966 
 
¶1.  (U) Sensitive but unclassified.  Not for public Internet. 
 
¶2.  (SBU) SUMMARY.  Meetings with FLEX alumni during a recent trip 
to Balkan province demonstrated the considerable thirst for greater 
exposure to the world beyond Turkmenistan's borders.  Emboff also 
met a blind pastor of a still-unregistered evangelical Christian 
church who, for the first time, is being allowed to leave 
Turkmenistan so that he can receive an operation to restore his 
sight; young exchange alumni who are seeking to carry on the 
Halloween traditions that they learned during their time in the 
United States; and a young UGRAD alumna having problems getting back 
into her medical-school  program.  END SUMMARY. 
 
¶3.  (U) During an October 1-2 visit to Balkan to observe the 
province's cotton harvest (septel), Emboff met with Balkanabat-based 
alumni of the Future Leaders high school exchange program (FLEX) in 
the IREX-run Internet Access and Training Program (IATP) Center in 
Balkanabat, visited the Avaza district of Turkmenbashy City where 
the government proposes to build a glitzy new resort area, and 
talked with a Turkmenbashy-based pastor of an unregistered church 
and with Turkmenbashy-based FLEX alumni. 
 
BALKANABAT:  "PLEASE OPEN AN AMERICAN CORNER HERE!" 
 
¶4.  (SBU) In Balkanabat, Emboff met with about 12 local FLEX alumni 
at the city's newly reopened IATP Center.  Although the Center -- 
forced to relocate to its current site as a result of government 
pressure on its former landlord -- has been open at its current 
location since late June, it had only gained Internet access two 
days before Emboff's visit.  (NOTE:  The director indicated that the 
Center had been told there was a shortage of Internet lines.  END 
NOTE.)  Nonetheless, Center personnel were busy giving lessons on 
using computers to five teenagers.  The director reported that the 
Center had about 1,200 users, and the Center's average of 50-60 
users per day included both young and many older people. 
 
¶5.  (SBU) The alumni, many of whom had participated in the 2006-2007 
FLEX program, were mostly upbeat about their exchange experiences. 
They said it had been extremely difficult to return to Turkmenistan 
-- and especially to the isolation of Balkanabat.  They missed 
exposure to new ideas.  Many acknowledged that they had never been 
to the IATP Center before, and were pleased to hear that they could 
have cost-free access to Internet there.  Noting that Balkanabat is 
the only provincial capital in Turkmenistan without an American 
Corner, they pleaded with Emboff to pass on their request to 
establish an American Corner there, in hopes of increasing their own 
and others' exposure to the world outside (see para 12 below). 
 
¶6.  (SBU) One participant in the session was a UGRAD university 
exchange program alumna who had returned to Turkmenistan just a few 
months ago.  This alumna, who had been in medical school before she 
left for the United States, reported that she had not had any 
success in returning to the medical program that she had interrupted 
for the exchange program.  Her medical school was standing firm in 
insisting that she needs to work for a year at a government-run 
medical facility before she will be allowed to return.  The young 
woman reported that she had been unsuccessful in finding a job at a 
hospital or other medical facility in the Balkanabat region, so she 
was just staying at home. 
 
¶7.  (SBU) All of the FLEX students who just returned from the United 
States reported they were receiving an extra (10th) year of 
mandatory education this year.  While all expressed support for the 
increased schooling, they complained that the tenth year curriculum 
was "boring" and still too raw to be really useful.  Notwithstanding 
their disappointment with the tenth-year curriculum and the 
cautionary tale that the UGRAD alumna offered, all FLEX alumni were 
upbeat about the changes that they had seen in their country since 
 
ASHGABAT 00001089  002 OF 002 
 
 
former President Niyazov's death.  All said they were planning to go 
on to university -- albeit, many at the American University in 
Central Asia -- so that they could return to Turkmenistan to assist 
in developing their country. 
 
"WORD OF LIFE" PASTOR CONTINUES TO FIGHT FOR REGISTRATION 
 
¶8.  (SBU) In Turkmenbashy, embassy officer met with the pastor of 
the "Word of Life" (unregistered) minority evangelical Christian 
group, Timur Muradov.  Muradov, who was blinded in a chemical fire 
12 years ago, smilingly reported he had some good news:  he would 
travel to Kyiv for eye surgery on October 11, and he fully expected 
in a few weeks to be able to see the Emboff -- and all his other 
friends at the Embassy -- for the first time.  Less positively, 
however, he noted that, even though his "Word of Life" group was 
closely affiliated to the "Source of Life" evangelical group 
registered just a week ago, the Council on Religious Affairs had 
told the "Source of Life" pastor that the "Word of Life" group would 
not be allowed to register.  [NOTE:  We will follow up.  END NOTE.] 
 
STRUGGLING TO CONTINUE OUTREACH WITHOUT AN AMERICAN CORNER 
 
¶9.  (SBU) In Turkmenbashy, where the American Corner still has not 
re-opened after being closed more than a year ago, Emboff met with 
the American Corner director and eight FLEX alumni who are 
struggling to keep the Corner's outreach mission alive.  These FLEX 
alumni were much more positive than their Balkanabat peers about 
their school year.  Most, however, were also eager to conclude their 
extra year of schooling so that they could go to the university, 
then return to Turkmenbashy to participate in the plan to develop 
the city's Avaza district into an extravagant resort. 
 
¶10.  (SBU) Emboff noted that she had visited the Avaza district that 
morning, and had seen little indication that the new development 
project has gone beyond the paper stage.  The FLEX students agreed, 
but stated that already real estate prices are skyrocketing in the 
city as a growing number of speculators are purchasing residential 
property in Turkmenbashy City in hopes of being able to cash in. 
While one of the FLEX students expressed some concern that the Avaza 
development ultimately would be unsuccessful, due to the absence of 
any provisions for private-sector involvement, even he believed that 
the program would help resuscitate the crumbling port city, which 
has been slowly going downhill over the last 15 years. 
 
¶11.  (SBU) As Emboff left, the American Corner director took 
advantage of the gathering to begin planning a Halloween event. 
Following the mayor's refusal to allow the group to hold a party for 
orphans, as they had done in previous years, she and the group of 
alumni began planning another way of bringing Halloween to 
Turkmenbashy. 
 
¶12.  (SBU) COMMENT:  One of the most important functions of the 
American Corners is their ability to bring new access to the outside 
world to Turkmenistan's still-isolated provinces.  In most cities, 
American Corners serve as incubators for encouraging young people to 
think beyond their current limits, and the FLEX alumni are the 
greatest evidence of the Corners' success.  Post has just submitted 
a diplomatic request to open a new Corner in Balkanabat and is 
making progress on re-opening the Corner in Turkmenbashy.  In the 
meantime, post is pleased that the alumni in both cities remain so 
eager to carry on the American Corners mission.  END COMMENT. 
 
 
HOAGLAND