VZCZCXYZ0009
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHAH #0436/01 0981244
ZNR UUUUU ZZH (CCY CCY ADX4FB646 MSI3466-623)
R 081244Z APR 09
FM AMEMBASSY ASHGABAT
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 2609
INFO RUCNCIS/CIS COLLECTIVE
RUCNMEM/EU MEMBER STATES COLLECTIVE
RUCNCLS/ALL SOUTH AND CENTRAL ASIA COLLECTIVE
RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 2800
RUEHAK/AMEMBASSY ANKARA 5047
RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO 2665
RUEHIT/AMCONSUL ISTANBUL 3291
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
RUEHVEN/USMISSION USOSCE 3440
RHMFIUU/CDR USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHDC
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHDC
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC

UNCLAS ASHGABAT 000436 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR SCA/CEN, SCA/PPD, IIP, ECA 
 
C O R R E C T E D  C O P Y   (GARBLED TEXT) 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PGOV SCUL KPAO TX
SUBJECT:  TURKMENISTAN:  MARCH MEDIA REACTION - MEDIA PRAISE GROWING 
TURKMEN-US RELATIONSHIP 
 
¶1.  (U) Sensitive but unclassified.  Not for public Internet. 
 
¶2.  (U) SUMMARY:  In March, media favorably and accurately covered 
events reflecting U.S.-Turkmenistan cooperation in education and 
health care, and highlighted various U.S. visits.  The visit by 
USAID Regional Director William Frej in early March, and USAID 
projects in Turkmenistan received wide and accurate coverage.  The 
state media also accurately covered educational delegations from 
Harriman Institute of Columbia University and American University in 
Bulgaria.  END SUMMARY. 
 
USAID REGIONAL DIRECTOR'S VISIT, MOSTLY WELL-COVERED 
 
¶3.  (U) On March 10-11, RFE/RL Turkmen Broadcast service carried 
accurate interview pieces with visiting USAID regional director 
William Frej.  On March 10, RFE/RL website carried an article 
(English) based on the radio story, in which Mr. Frej was quoted 
misleadingly out of context, implying that medical care for mothers 
and children is in a critical state in Turkmenistan, while the 
intention was to note the high level of attention paid to this issue 
by the government and USAID programs.  Upon embassy request, RFE/RL 
added slightly more context and reposted the article.  Overall, the 
article accurately outlined USAID projects in Turkmenistan and 
hailed its activities in the country.  The following day, "The Times 
of Central Asia" (English) reprinted the RFE/RL article.  On March 
17, "Turkmenistan" TV channel (Russian, Turkmen, English, Chinese, 
Arabian, Persian, French) carried an accurate report on the visit, 
highlighting an interview with Frej and USAID Country 
Representative.  The TV program gave a broad image of 
USAID-implemented projects in Turkmenistan and praised the growing 
U.S.-Turkmenistan relationship. 
 
MEDIA HIGHLIGHT USAID PROJECTS IN TURKMENISTAN 
 
¶4.  (U) On March 13, Azeri News agency "Trend" (English),  posted an 
article based on the Embassy press release about USAID-organized 
training on March 12 to raise Avian Influenza response capacity in 
Turkmenistan.  The same day, Kyrgyzstan-based "CA-NEWS" (Russian) 
reprinted the exact content of the same press release.  The 
following day, the government-run website "Turkmenistan - Golden 
Age" (www.turkmenistan.gov.tm) (Turkmen, Russian and English) also 
posted an accurate article about the event.  On March 16, state-run 
dailies "Neutral Turkmenistan" (Russian, circ. 47,091) and 
"Turkmenistan" (Turkmen, circ. 36,091) reprinted the web article. 
 
¶5.  (U) On March 24, the government-run website "Turkmenistan - 
Golden Age" (www.turkmenistan.gov.tm) (Turkmen, Russian and 
English), based on an Embassy press release, carried an accurate and 
lengthy article about USAID's conference dedicated to World 
Tuberculosis Day in Turkmenistan.  The article gave accurate details 
on the event and accurately quoted the U.S. Charge d'Affaires.  The 
following day, state-run dailies "Neytralniy Turkmenistan" (Russian, 
circ. 47,091) and "Turkmenistan" (Turkmen, circ. 36,091) reprinted 
the web article.  On March 25, "Turkmenistan" TV channel (Russian, 
Turkmen, English, Chinese, Arabian, Persian, French) carried a short 
report on the event on its ten minute news program.  The following 
day, the TV channel carried a separate feature-length story on the 
event.  The program praised the state health policy and emphasized 
USAID's role.  The story featured interview remarks by Turkmen 
representatives at the event, but omitted interview remarks by the 
U.S. Charge d'Affaires and USAID Country Representative.  The TV 
channel gave no explanation for cutting U.S. officials' remarks. 
 
MEDIA PRAISE US-TURKMEN EDUCATIONAL EXCHANGES 
 
¶6.  (U) On March 23, the government-run website "Turkmenistan - 
Golden Age" (www.turkmenistan.gov.tm) (Turkmen, Russian and 
English), state-run dailies "Neytralniy Turkmenistan" (Russian, 
circ. 47,091) and "Turkmenistan" (Turkmen, circ. 36,091) and "Watan" 
TV evening news program (Turkmen) gave brief and accurate report on 
the visiting American University in Bulgaria (AUBG) delegation.  The 
following day, the independent news website www.turkmeninform.com 
(Russian) also posted an article on the visit.  On March 26, state 
 
newspaper "Watan" (Turkmen, circ. 31,691) gave a short report on the 
visit.  On March 24, "Watan" TV news program (Turkmen) accurately 
highlighted the delegation's meeting with the students and faculty 
of Turkmen State University.  The news story carried interview 
remarks by the AUBG president, who expressed willingness to 
establish contacts with the Ministry of Education of Turkmenistan 
for educational exchanges.  On March 26, "Turkmenistan" TV channel 
(Russian, Turkmen, English, Chinese, Arabian, Persian, French) 
accurately highlighted the delegation's meetings at the Turkmen 
State University and the Institute of International Affairs.  The 
program featured interview remarks by the delegation members, 
professors from the universities and Embassy's Public Affairs 
Officer.  On March 31, "Turkmenistan" TV channel (Russian, Turkmen, 
English, Chinese, Arabian, Persian, French) accurately highlighted 
the delegation's meeting at Turkmenistan's Ministry of Education 
with follow-up interview remarks by AUBG's president. 
 
¶7.  (U) On March 12, the government-run website "Turkmenistan - 
Golden Age" (www.turkmenistan.gov.tm) (Turkmen, Russian and English) 
carried a short introduction on delegations from the Harriman 
Institute at Columbia University and the U.S. Department of 
Agriculture.  The following day, state-run dailies "Neytralniy 
Turkmenistan" (Russian, circ. 47,091) and "Turkmenistan" (Turkmen, 
circ. 36,091) reprinted the web article.  Independent news website 
www.turkmeninform.com (Russian) also carried a news piece on 
Columbia University delegation's visit, based on state media 
reporting.  On March 16, "Watan" TV evening news program (Turkmen) 
accurately highlighted the Columbia delegation's visit to Turkmen 
State University, followed with interview remarks by the delegation 
members.  The March 17 article in state-run daily "Neytralniy 
Turkmenistan" (Russian, circ. 47,091) praised education exchange 
opportunities between the United States and Turkmenistan.  The 
following day, another state weekly "Mugallymlar gazeti" (Teachers' 
newspaper) (Turkmen, circ. 94,091) carried an article praising the 
cooperation between Columbia University and Turkmen State 
University. 
 
STATE MEDIA COVERS U.S. CSIS REPRESENTATIVE'S MEETINGS WITH 
GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS OF TURKMENISTAN 
 
¶8.  (U) On March 17, "Watan" TV evening news program (Turkmen) 
accurately highlighted a visit by senior fellow of U.S. Center for 
Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) Mr. Edward Chow.  The 
following day, the state-run dailies "Neytralniy Turkmenistan" 
(Russian, circ. 47,091) and "Turkmenistan" (Turkmen, circ. 36,091) 
gave a short introduction on the visit and Mr. Chow's meetings.  On 
March 24, "Turkmenistan" TV channel (Russian, Turkmen, English, 
Chinese, Arabian, Persian, French) carried accurate interview with 
Mr. Chow, where he spoke about the purpose of his visit and his 
assessment of Turkmenistan's oil and gas prospects. 
 
STATE TV NEWS PROGRAM CARRIES U.S. CHARGE D'AFFAIRES INTERVIEW 
DURING TREE PLANTING CAMPAIGN 
 
¶9.  (U) On March 14, "Watan" TV news program accurately carried 
interview remarks by Charge d'Affaires regarding a tree planting 
campaign, attended by President of Turkmenistan.  During the 
interview the Charge stressed the importance of initiatives such as 
planting trees. 
 
STATE TV CHANNEL HIGHLIGHT THE VISIT OF THE HEAD OF "FIT 
INTERNATIONAL" COMPANY FROM USA 
 
¶10.  (SBU) On March 26, "Turkmenistan" TV channel (Russian, Turkmen, 
English, Chinese, Arabian, Persian, French) carried accurate story 
on "Fit International" company's visit.  The story introduced the 
purpose of the visit, and highlighted meetings at different 
ministries of Turkmenistan.  In his interview remarks, the head of 
the company praised Turkmenistan and expressed readiness to expand 
cooperation in education, tourism and sports.  He also praised 
business opportunities for American investors in Turkmenistan. 
(NOTE: "Fit International" is affiliated with the "Friends of the 
Turkmen" a group which has independently cultivated ties with the 
 
Turkmen government. END NOTE.) 
 
¶11.  (SBU) COMMENT:  The past month saw continued success in gaining 
positive coverage of Embassy events, particularly USAID programs, in 
both state and non-state media.  A year ago, USAID's World TB event 
was recorded by state TV, but never aired, perhaps due to the 
sensitive nature of the topic.  Thus, this year's coverage, even 
without U.S. interview remarks, represents improvement.  In 
addition, state media reps continue their open contact with the 
Public Affairs Section, requesting interviews with official visitors 
or simply to fish for new stories.  RFE/RL's correction of their web 
story (para. 3) represents the second time that an embassy request 
for a correction was honored.  END COMMENT. 
 
MILES