VZCZCXRO4690
RR RUEHAG RUEHAST RUEHBI RUEHCI RUEHDBU RUEHDF RUEHIK RUEHLH RUEHLN
RUEHLZ RUEHNEH RUEHPW RUEHROV RUEHSK RUEHSR RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHAH #0508/01 1110507
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 210507Z APR 09
FM AMEMBASSY ASHGABAT
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 2695
INFO RUCNCLS/ALL SOUTH AND CENTRAL ASIA COLLECTIVE
RUCNCIS/CIS COLLECTIVE
RUCNMEM/EU MEMBER STATES COLLECTIVE
RUEHAK/AMEMBASSY ANKARA 5112
RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 2862
RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO 2727
RUEHIT/AMCONSUL ISTANBUL 3356
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 0973
RHMFIUU/CDR USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL
RUEHVEN/USMISSION USOSCE 3489
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHDC
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHDC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ASHGABAT 000508 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR SCA/CEN, DRL 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM KDEM SOCI TX
SUBJECT:  LEGAL NGO SUPPORTS CHARITABLE ACTIVITIES BY OFFERING 
INCOME GENERATING SERVICES 
 
REF: 08 ASHGABAT 1084 
 
¶1. (U) Sensitive but Unclassified.  Not for Internet distribution 
 
¶2. (SBU) SUMMARY:  Six months after reports of questionable business 
practices (reftel), Post checked in with local NGO "Bosfor" for an 
update on its activities.  The NGO carries out youth outreach and 
provides legal services, including a legal library.  It operates 
under the umbrella of Turkmenistan's Youth Union, but as a rare, 
independently registered NGO.  The group uses fees collected by its 
business-related legal consultations to fund its other activities. 
Despite its affiliation with the Youth Union, the NGO faces ongoing 
red tape with licensing and registration requirements, which also 
resulted in the discontinuation of its public Internet center. 
While the international community has not re-engaged with Bosfor, it 
might have hit on a formula for a sustainable independent NGO with 
its business-oriented revenue stream.  END SUMMARY. 
 
YOUTH OUTREACH AND LEGAL ASSISTANCE 
 
¶3. (SBU) The Director General of "Bosfor", Zalina Rossoshanskaya, 
recently briefed Embassy Political Assistant about the 
organization's background and activities.  Bosfor, founded in 1999 
by Turkmenistan's Youth Union under the Law on State Youth Policy, 
conducts educational and awareness programs for young people. 
Bosfor also provides consultation services to the public, mostly 
youth, on legal, labor and business issues and runs a legal library. 
 The organization consists of six staff members and works on a 
self-financed basis.  All employees are lawyers by education each 
specializing in a specific area such as labor law, civil law, 
housing law, military service, and business consulting. 
 
¶4. (SBU) Bosfor's youth outreach programs include lectures to youth 
groups on subjects such as children's rights, universal human rights 
(at a local Russian school), and on compulsory military service (at 
the Military Enlistment Office of the Ministry of Defense).  Its law 
library includes printed and electronic versions of national 
legislation in Turkmen and Russian languages received from 
unofficial sources in the Ministry of Justice (MOJ).  The problem of 
compilation of Turkmen legislation, according to Rossoshanskaya, is 
that "not all legislation is being published, therefore, Bosfor 
turns to its unofficial contacts in MOJ to obtain non-published 
pieces for its library."  The UN, OSCE, and UK Embassy provide 
Bosfor with the texts of foreign legislation in English.  Bosfor 
also has a computer room with 12 computers for visitors to use. 
Most visitors are young people, students who use the law library's 
services for preparing their school assignments. 
 
FEES FOR BUSINESS LAW CONSULTATIONS PAY THE BILLS 
 
¶5. (SBU) Bosfor provides legal consultations to the public, 
including disadvantaged groups such as religious minorities and 
refugees.  At its law library, these groups and individuals find 
legislation that they cannot access elsewhere.  According to 
Rossoshanskaya, "knowing that these groups have no other place to 
turn for legal assistance, we always welcome them at Bosfor." 
Bosfor also provides legal advice concerning business matters on a 
fee basis.  This activity is its main revenue source to pay staff 
salaries, rent, and telephone and utility bills.  With regard to 
international cooperation activity, earlier this year, Bosfor 
conducted a review of the situation of homosexuals in Turkmenistan 
for a Croatian organization. 
 
PUBLIC ACCESS INTERNET CENTER SHUT DOWN 
 
¶6. (SBU) From 2005 to 2006 Bosfor implemented a UK Embassy project 
that involved operating an Internet center in the NGO's premises. 
The UK Embassy provided equipment (eleven computers) for this 
purpose, and Bosfor charged fees for Internet use to make the 
venture self-supporting.  Despite the fact that the Center was quite 
popular among visitors, in late 2007, the Ministry of Communications 
(MOC) closed the Center and fined Bosfor on the grounds that the NGO 
 
ASHGABAT 00000508  002 OF 002 
 
 
did not hold a license allowing it to provide Internet services. 
 
KEEPING REGISTRATION CURRENT IS AN ONGOING CHALLENGE 
 
¶7. (SBU) Although Bosfor was registered when established in 1999, it 
had to re-register in 2004 after the Law on Public Organizations was 
adopted.  This law required re-registration of all public 
organizations (NGOs).  In 2007, Bosfor had to register again for the 
purpose of specifying the kinds of educational activities that it 
carries out.  In accordance with the January 2009 Presidential 
decree that re-denominated the national currency, all financial and 
economic entities, including those such as Bosfor, will have to 
re-register before the end of 2009.  Currently, Bosfor is also in 
the process of obtaining a license for its educational activities 
from the Ministry of Education, which will issue it only with 
preliminary approval of the Supreme Council on Science and 
Technology.  Bosfor's parent organization, the Youth Union, is 
assisting it in getting the license. 
 
GOVERNMENT'S VIEW ON CIVIL SOCIETY ACTIVITIES 
 
¶8. (SBU) When asked which civil society activities the government 
would support, Rossoshanskaya first offered to name areas of 
activity that irritate the government.  Those fields are mass media, 
religion, and monopoly law.  With regard to religion, she said that 
in the past Bosfor initiated a roundtable for religious groups to 
bring them and authorities together to facilitate understanding 
among them.  It also developed a proposal to raise youth awareness 
of various religious groups existing in the country.  However, it 
was not allowed to hold such an event.  Among areas that the 
government likes, Rossoshanskaya named tourism and small business 
development. 
 
¶9. (SBU) Regarding areas in which civil society is needed the most, 
Rossoshanskaya mentioned prisons, detention centers, and 
tuberculosis centers.  According to her, individuals released from 
prison have problems finding employment.  Employers refuse 
employment as soon as they find out that they were imprisoned. 
These individuals often turn to Bosfor for legal assistance, 
however, "there is almost nothing we can do for them," said 
Rossoshanskaya. 
 
¶10. (SBU) COMMENT:  In a tough climate for NGOs, Bosfor persists, 
despite the continuous challenge of coping with government 
bureaucracy and the drying up of funds from international 
organizations.  There clearly is a need for the kinds of legal 
information and services that Bosfor provides, and it has taken 
advantage of this niche to generate revenues that support its 
nonprofit side.  The nonprofit side also meets a need, as Post has 
received favorable testimonials from harassed religious groups who 
commented that, but for Bosfor, they would have nowhere to turn for 
legal advice.  It is unfortunate that the group was not able to 
maintain sufficiently high ethical standards needed for it to 
continue enjoying the confidence and support of the international 
donor community.  END COMMENT. 
 
MILES