VZCZCXRO1953
PP RUEHAG RUEHAST RUEHBI RUEHCI RUEHDF RUEHIK RUEHLH RUEHLN RUEHLZ
RUEHPW RUEHROV RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHAH #1352/01 3481140
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 141140Z DEC 07
FM AMEMBASSY ASHGABAT
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 9880
INFO RUCNCLS/ALL SOUTH AND CENTRAL ASIA COLLECTIVE
RUCNCIS/CIS COLLECTIVE
RUCNMEM/EU MEMBER STATES COLLECTIVE
RUEHAK/AMEMBASSY ANKARA 3105
RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 0920
RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO 0794
RUEHIT/AMCONSUL ISTANBUL 1370
RUEABND/DEA HQS WASHINGTON DC
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
RHMFIUU/CDR USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHDC
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHDC
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 1353
RUEHVEN/USMISSION USOSCE 1996

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ASHGABAT 001352 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR SCA/CEN, INL, 
DUSHANBE FOR DEA 
MOSCOW FOR DEA 
ISLAMABAD FOR DEA 
ANKARA FOR DEA 
AID/W FOR EE/AA (BOB WALLIN) 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL SNAR EAID TX
SUBJECT: TURKISH INSTRUCTORS MAKE OBSERVATIONS AT 
ANTI-CRIME TRAINING FOR TURKMENISTAN LAW ENFORCEMENT 
OFFICERS 
 
 
¶1.  (U) Sensitive but unclassified.  Not for public Internet. 
 
¶2.  (SBU) SUMMARY:  Two officers from Turkey's Ministry of 
the Interior, Department of Anti-Smuggling and Organized 
Crime led a workshop sponsored by the United Nations Office 
on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) for a group of Turkmenistan law 
enforcement officers.  These workshops are opening up new 
worlds to the participants in terms of outlook on their 
career and the scope and magnitude of crime in Turkmenistan. 
The Turkish instructors stressed the importance of continuing 
these law enforcement capacity-building programs in 
Turkmenistan.  More INL funding and additional programs would 
be beneficial to further promote this type of training.  END 
SUMMARY. 
 
¶3.  (SBU) Two officers from Turkey's Ministry of the 
Interior, Department of Anti-Smuggling and Organized Crime 
taught a group of law enforcement officers from around 
Turkmenistan in a UNODC-organized workshop.  Meret Berdiyev, 
the head of Customs International Department, attended the 
graduation ceremony on November 30.  The instructors -- 
Mikail Ucak and Anadolu Atayun -- made several observations 
regarding the participants in the UNODC training program and 
Turkmenistan's capacity to fight crime. 
 
LESSON ONE:  ORGANIZED CRIME IS A REALITY IN TURKMENISTAN 
 
¶4.  (SBU) Ucak and Atayun noted that training of this type 
opened up new worlds to the officer-students, by introducing 
new law enforcement concepts.  They claimed the most 
important of these concepts is the idea that organized crime 
is a reality in Turkmenistan -- and not just in terms of 
narcotics.  Use of the Internet to locate organized crime 
figures was also a revelation to the students. 
 
LESSON TWO:  POLICE WORK IS A PROFESSIONAL CAREER 
 
¶5.  (SBU) In the Turks' view, previously, these 
officer-students had the impression that police work was an 
elementary job, and they performed duties such as 
investigations and interrogations at a rudimentary level. 
Therefore, Ucak and Atayun asserted, various scholarly works 
available on the field of law enforcement presented during 
the training served as an eye-opener and made the 
officer-students see their jobs in a different light.  Thanks 
to UNODC training, the officer-students better understand the 
pivotal role that they play in their society's safety and 
well-being. 
 
TURKISH INSTRUCTORS SEE SOME RESISTANCE, BUT PREDICT IT WILL 
FADE WITH TIME 
 
¶6.  (SBU) Social interaction with students is a valuable part 
of any law enforcement training class.  The Turks predicted 
that the officer-students will have the ability to forecast 
crime trends due to this training.  They found the students 
to be very open and willing to observe and learn.  Ucak and 
Atayun acknowledged, however, that there were some 
"hardliners" (i.e., close-minded individuals) in the class, 
but they did not affect the tenor of the class overall.  Ucak 
and Atayun emphasized the importance of continuing law 
enforcement education programs in Turkmenistan, both due to 
Turkmenistan's strategic location and to the interregional 
nature of narcotics and organized crime issues in Central 
Asia. 
 
 
ASHGABAT 00001352  002 OF 002 
 
 
¶7.  (SBU) COMMENT:  Turkmenistan is in a period of transition 
which will inevitably lead to positive outcomes, but also 
most likely increased crime.  Speaking similar languages and 
coming from a culture similar to that of Turkmenistan's, Ucak 
and Atayun were able to connect very quickly with these 
officers.  Their observations reinforce post's opinion that 
more INL funding and additional programs would be beneficial, 
both regionally and for the U.S.-Turkmen relationship.  END 
COMMENT. 
CURRAN