VZCZCXRO5996
PP RUEHAG RUEHAST RUEHBI RUEHCI RUEHDF RUEHIK RUEHLH RUEHLN RUEHLZ
RUEHPW RUEHROV RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHAH #0153/01 0311029
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 311029Z JAN 08
FM AMEMBASSY ASHGABAT
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0168
INFO RUCNCLS/ALL SOUTH AND CENTRAL ASIA COLLECTIVE
RUCNCIS/CIS COLLECTIVE
RUCNMEM/EU MEMBER STATES COLLECTIVE
RUEHAK/AMEMBASSY ANKARA 3304
RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 1120
RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO 0990
RUEHIT/AMCONSUL ISTANBUL 1559
RHEBAAA/DEPT OF ENERGY WASHDC
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHDC
RHMFIUU/CDR USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHDC
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHDC
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC
RUEHVEN/USMISSION USOSCE 2151

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ASHGABAT 000153 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR SCA/CEN, SCA/PPD 
DOE FOR HUEPER/THOMPSON 
PLEASE PASS TO USTDA DAN STEIN 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM EAID EAGR EPET KPAO TX
SUBJECT: TURKMENISTAN: "WARMING OF A PRODUCTIVE 
TURKMEN-AMERICAN DIALOG" -- WITHIN LIMITS 
 
REF: A. ASHGABAT 0061 
     ¶B. ASHGABAT 0058 
 
¶1.  (U) Sensitive but unclassified.  Not for public Internet. 
 
¶2.  (SBU)  SUMMARY:  "Neytralniy Turkmenistan," the official 
Russian-language government newspaper, published an article 
summarizing Senator Richard Lugar's Janury 24 letter to 
President Berdimuhamedov.  The article mentioned Lugar's 
points on proposed assistance projects, U.S. interest in 
expanding cooperation in hydrocarbons, and the offer of 
establishing the Nunn-Lugar Program in Turkmenistan.  The 
article closed with Senator Lugar's hope to welcome 
Berdimuhamedov to Washington in the near future,  However, it 
omitted Senator Lugar's offer of technical and financial 
experts from the oil and gas industry, encouragement to 
continue improving Turkmenistan's relationship with 
Azerbaijan and Georgia, request to consider U.S. companies 
for on-shore petrochemical exploration, and congratulations 
on abatement of the harassment of Radio Free Europe/Radio 
Liberty reporters.  The U.S.-Turkmen relationship has 
progressed rapidly, but the state media still practice 
"selective coverage" of controversial, to them, topics.  END 
SUMMARY. 
 
"NEYTRALNIY TURKMENISTAN" PROMINENTLY COVERS SENATOR LUGAR'S 
LETTER 
 
¶3.  (U) The official Russian-language government newspaper, 
"Neytralniy Turkmenistan," published an article, "On the road 
to warming of a productive Turkmen-American dialog," on the 
front page (below the fold), summarizing a letter sent by 
Senator Richard Lugar to President Berdimuhamedov on January 
¶24.  Senator Lugar visited Turkmenistan January 11-12.  Watan 
TV news and "Turkmenistan" newspaper (in Turkmen) also 
summarized the letter.  Only the following sentence from the 
letter was duplicated word-for-word in the article:  "I 
enjoyed our conversation and appreciated your strong vision 
for Turkmenistan in numerous areas, including agricultural 
reform, energy cooperation, and student exchanges." 
 
¶4.  (U) The remainder of the article summarized Senator 
Lugar's letter, stating that the Senator was pleased about 
the progress of the (U.S.-Turkmen) partnership, noting the 
work done through USAID's humanitarian and agricultural 
sectors projects.  According to the article, Senator Lugar 
said that every one of the areas (of assistance) presents a 
significant possibility for Turkmen-American cooperation, and 
that he is prepared to provide his personal support in the 
aims of strengthening and increasing productive ties.  The 
article reported Senator Lugar addressed the United States' 
strong interest in expanding hydrocarbon cooperation and said 
the experience the United States has offered to Turkmenistan 
in this area could prove to be useful.  The article also said 
that Senator Lugar asked Berdimuhamedov to consider taking 
part in the Nunn-Lugar Program, which is directed towards 
reducing global threats.  The article closed with the 
Senator's warm and sincere thanks to Berdimuhamedov for the 
cordial meeting in Ashgabat, and with the his hope to welcome 
Berdimuhamedov in Washington and the U.S. Senate in the near 
future. 
 
WHAT WAS NOT MENTIONED IN THE ARTICLE 
 
¶5.  (SBU) In the letter, Senator Lugar states that "United 
States' experience in management of oil and natural gas 
production, revenues, and government regulation may be useful 
in enhancing the capacity of the Turkmenistani energy sector. 
 I am hopeful that our governments might also facilitate 
exchanges of experts in this area.  Turkmenistan may also 
 
ASHGABAT 00000153  002 OF 002 
 
 
benefit from an international oil company's expertise in 
off-shore production and ability to provide project finance, 
as well as their proven technological expertise to exploit 
deep sub-salt gas on-shore.  I...ask that you seriously 
consider the possibility of a joint venture on-shore."  The 
"Neytralniy Turkmenistan" article also omits mention of 
comments in Senator Lugar's letter about the possibility of a 
Trans-Caspian Pipeline and the benefits this would bring to 
Turkmenistan.  Finally, the article does not mention Senator 
Lugar's congratulations on the progress in Turkmenistan's 
relationships with Azerbaijan and Georgia, the benefits 
Azerbaijan and Georgia have gained vis-a-vis their respective 
sovereignty from the construction of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan 
and South Caucasus pipelines, and Azerbaijan and Georgia's 
wider cooperation with the United States on security and 
economic matters. 
 
¶6.  (SBU) Specifics on other pending proposals in the letter 
but absent from the newspaper article:  partnerships between 
Texas A&M University and Turkmen universities, the Department 
of Agriculture's Faculty Exchange Program for Agricultural 
Economics, and a crop livestock forage production project 
with the University of Nevada/Reno.  Also, the article did 
not mention Senator Lugar's acknowledgment and appreciation 
that Turkmenistan halted the harassment of Radio Free 
Europe/Radio Liberty reporters. 
 
¶7.  (SBU) COMMENT:  The very mention in print of Senator 
Lugar's letter to President Berdimuhamedov, especially under 
such a positive headline, is worth noting.  Some of the items 
omitted from the article tended to be the more controversial 
ones, such as a Trans-Caspian pipeline and the benefits to 
sovereignty Azerbaijan and Georgia gained from pipelines that 
bypassed Russia.  Ashgabat is careful to ballance its 
big-power relationships and knows the  Russians, Chinese, 
Iranians, and others pay close attention to press reports of 
meetings with visiting Americans.   END COMMENT. 
HOAGLAND