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DE RUEHAH #0720/01 1600929
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 090929Z JUN 09 ZDK
FM AMEMBASSY ASHGABAT
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 2932
INFO RUCNCIS/CIS COLLECTIVE
RUCNMEM/EU MEMBER STATES COLLECTIVE
RUCNCLS/ALL SOUTH AND CENTRAL ASIA COLLECTIVE
RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 3011
RUEHAK/AMEMBASSY ANKARA 5277
RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO 2876
RUEHIT/AMCONSUL ISTANBUL 3521
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
RUEHVEN/USMISSION USOSCE 3597
RHMCSUU/CDR USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHDC
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHDC
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ASHGABAT 000720 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR SCA/CEN, SCA/PPD, IIP, ECA 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PGOV SCUL KPAO TX
SUBJECT:  TURKMENISTAN: MEDIA REACTION ON MAY POST EVENTS 
 
REF: (A) ASHGABAT 562 (B) ASHGABAT 518 
 
ASHGABAT 00000720  001.3 OF 003 
 
 
¶1.  (U) Sensitive but unclassified.  Not for public 
Internet. 
 
¶2.  (U) SUMMARY:  Embassy Ashgabat maintained a high 
profile in state media during the month of May.  Post 
organized events such as USAID's 15th anniversary 
celebration of partnership with Turkmenistan in early 
May, a one-week tour of the U.S. Air Force band 
"Mirage," and USAID-sponsored study tours to Kazakhstan 
and the U.S. received generally accurate and positive 
media coverage.  The Fifth Annual Fulbright conference in 
mid-May, sponsored by the Embassy, received positive and 
accurate coverage in state media, but also saw inaccurate 
and misleading stories on non-state websites.  Other 
programs and media opportunities for the Embassy received 
positive coverage as well.  END SUMMARY. 
 
USAID's 15TH ANNIVERSARY IN TURKMENISTAN 
 
¶3.  (U) On May 6, the government-run website 
"Turkmenistan Golden Age" (www.turkmenistan.gov.tm) 
(Turkmen, Russian and English) and Azeri News agency 
"Trend" (Russian), based on Embassy handouts and press 
release, carried accurate stories on the 15th anniversary 
celebration of USAID's work in Turkmenistan.  The same 
day, "Watan" TV evening news program (Turkmen) reported 
on the event.  No video followed.  The following day, 
state-run dailies "Neutral Turkmenistan" (Russian, circ. 
47,091) and "Turkmenistan" (Turkmen, circ. 36,091) ran 
the "Turkmenistan Golden Age" story and Turkish newspaper 
"Zaman-International's" Turkmenistan edition (Turkmen, 
circ. 34,100) highlighted the event.  Russia based pro- 
government website "Turkmenistan.ru" (Russian, English) 
and independent news website www.turkmeninform.com 
(Russian) posted accurate articles on the event based on 
state media reports.  Russian "RIA OREANDA" (English) May 
8 article reprinted the state-run daily story and "Asia- 
PLUS Daily Blitz" (English) reprinted the story from 
"Turkmenistan.ru".  On May 11, state "Turkmenistan" TV 
channel (Russian, Turkmen, English, Chinese, Arabic, 
Persian, French) carried an accurate ten minute story 
highlighting the event.  The story included a video of the 
event and accurate interview remarks by U.S. Charge 
d'Affaires, USAID Acting Regional Director, as well as 
USAID's Country Director.  On May 18, "The Times of 
Central Asia" (English) ran an accurate article based on 
the Embassy press release. 
 
ANNUAL FULBRIGHT CONFERENCE IN ASHGABAT 
 
¶4.  (U) On May 16, the government-run website 
"Turkmenistan Golden Age" (www.turkmenistan.gov.tm) 
(Turkmen, Russian and English) posted an accurate article 
on the 5th International Fulbright conference, which was 
the first ever to be jointly organized with 
Turkmenistan's Supreme Council for Science and Technology 
(SCST).  The article emphasized active participation of 
foreign and state scholars in the conference, and carried 
accurate quotes by U.S. Charge d'Affaires from the 
opening ceremony.  The same day, "Watan" TV evening news 
program (Turkmen) also carried an accurate short story on 
the event.  The "Turkmenistan Golden Age" article 
appeared on state-run dailies "Neutral Turkmenistan" 
(Russian, circ. 47,091) and "Turkmenistan" (Turkmen, 
circ. 36,091) on May 18.  On May 19, state newspaper 
"Ashgabat" (Turkmen, circ. 23,091), based on state daily 
stories, ran a short article on the event. 
 
¶5.  (U) On May 17, the hourly news program of 
"Turkmenistan" TV channel (Russian, Turkmen, English, 
Chinese, Arabic, Persian, French) carried a short, 
accurate story on the Fulbright conference.  On May 19, 
 
ASHGABAT 00000720  002.2 OF 003 
 
 
the same TV channel carried a separate longer story about 
the conference.  The program carried accurate interview 
remarks by U.S. Charge d'Affaires, Public Affairs 
Officer, and participating scholars from the U.S., 
Afghanistan, and Azerbaijan.  On May 23, Turkish 
newspaper "Zaman-International's" Turkmenistan edition 
(Turkmen, circ. 34,100) ran an accurate article on the 
conference, also using the Embassy-provided information 
and photos.  On May 21, Russian news agency "Ejednevnye 
novosti - Energetika i energoresursy Ukrainy i SNG" also 
posted an accurate article on the event. 
 
WEBSITES DISTORT FULBRIGHT CONFERENCE 
 
¶6.  (U) On May 24, the opposition website "Chronicle of 
Turkmenistan" (www.chrono-tm.org) (Russian, English) 
posted an inaccurate story on the Fulbright conference, 
accusing the U.S. Embassy of preventing journalists from 
participating in the conference.  In fact, the Public 
Affairs Section invited many working-level journalists, 
both state and foreign stringers, to the event, resulting 
in the coverage noted above.  In the past, the website 
had carried responses from the PAO which corrected 
inaccuracies.  However, in this case "Chronika" ignored 
two submissions by PAO which sought to correct the 
record. 
 
¶7.  (SBU) On or about May 27, "IWPR" (International War 
and Peace Reporting) posted a similar article accusing 
Turkmenistan's SCST of forbidding journalists at the 
joint conference.  The "CA-NEWS" website (Russian) re- 
posted the same IWPR article on May 27.  "IWPR" removed 
the article without explanation soon after receiving a 
response from PAO correcting the story's inaccuracies. 
(NOTE:  PAO later met with the IWPR correspondent who 
reported on the conference.  Septel.  END NOTE) 
 
MEDIA COVERAGE OF U.S. AIR FORCE BAND TOUR TO 
TURKMENISTAN 
 
¶8.  (U) On May 6, "Turkmenistan" TV channel carried 
accurate coverage on the public performance in Ashgabat 
by the U.S. Air Force band "Mirage."  The program praised 
the concert as a sign of growing Turkmen-American 
cultural dialogue, and carried accurate interview remarks 
by U.S. Embassy officials and "Mirage" band members.  On 
May 11, "States News Service" (English) posted an 
accurate lengthy article on the "Mirage" music tour of 
Turkmenistan, describing its public performances 
throughout the country.  The article praised the role of 
music in uniting two different cultures by citing the 
examples of joint performances by American and Turkmen 
military bands. 
 
UNIVERSITY WEBSITE HIGHLIGHTS TV CREW VISIT TO TEXAS 
UNDER TV CO-OP PROGRAM 
 
¶9.  (U) On May 5, the U.S. website "Texas A&M The 
Battalion - College Station, TX, USA" posted a long 
article, accurately highlighting the visit by a TV crew 
from Turkmenistan under the State Department's TV CO-OP 
project.  The crew toured the university in early April. 
The story in particular emphasized the importance of U.S. 
experience for the TV crew and praised their visit to the 
university. 
 
RFE/RL ARTICLE ON USCIRF TURKMENISTAN REPORT 
 
¶10.  (U) On May 5, the Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty 
website posted an article noting that the U.S. Commission 
on International Religious Freedom had urged Washington 
to appoint a U.S. Ambassador to Turkmenistan.  The 
story accurately carried PAO's remarks that human rights 
issues are regularly discussed with Turkmenistan's 
 
ASHGABAT 00000720  003 OF 003 
 
 
Government. 
 
MEDIA HIGHLIGHT USAID-FUNDED TOURS OF TURKMEN 
REPRESENTATIVES 
 
¶11.  (U) On May 19, Kazakh News agency "KZ Press-Club" 
(Kazakh) carried an accurate story on a study tour by 
Turkmen media specialists to Kazakhstan, organized within 
the joint project from USAID and the "Internews Network." 
The article emphasized the significance of the tour for 
Turkmen specialists to get acquainted with the media 
environment in Kazakhstan. 
 
¶12.  (U) On May 21, the "U.S. Fed News" (English) posted 
an accurate article on the USAID-funded tour for Turkmen 
governmental delegation to the U.S. under the Local 
Governance program.  The story highlighted the goal of 
the program to promote professional dialogue between 
government officials of Turkmenistan and the United 
States. 
 
OPPOSITION WEBSITE GIVES "BIO" ON POST'S CHARGE 
D'AFFAIRES 
 
¶13.  (U) On May 28, the opposition website "Gundogar" 
(Russian) posted a lengthy unsolicited article about the 
career of the U.S. Charge d'Affaires to Turkmenistan, 
Ambassador Richard Miles.  The article highlighted Miles' 
diplomatic career, with an emphasis on his presence or 
role in "revolutions" in Yugoslavia, Georgia and Ukraine, 
and praised Ambassador Miles as a supporter of democracy. 
(NOTE:  There is no link to the Orange Revolution in 
Ukraine, but Post determined that there was no need for a 
response.  END NOTE.) 
 
STATE TV CHANNELS CARRY PAO'S REMARKS ON TURKMEN CARPET 
HOLIDAY 
 
¶14.  (U) On May 30, "Altyn Asyr" TV channel's (Turkmen) 
afternoon broadcast carried a congratulatory message on 
Turkmenistan's national carpet holiday by PAO.  Later in 
the day, "Miras" TV channel (Turkmen) also carried an 
accurate message by PAO from the event.  Both interviews 
emphasized Americans' respect for Turkmen carpets and one 
included PAO's comments about the Turkmen carpet located 
in the Foreign Service Institute's main lobby. 
 
¶15. COMMENT:  During the month of May, Post continued to 
work in conjunction with state and foreign media to cover 
U.S. Embassy events and visits and often took advantage 
of targets of opportunity with state media.  At key 
events, PAS staff noted the collegial, open approach of 
state and non-state media with each other and with the 
Embassy staff.  This represents continued openness and 
improvement in a tightly controlled media environment, 
even though there has been little concrete reform in the 
field of media.  On a less positive note, post was 
disappointed that opposition and even US-funded media 
(IWPR) carried innaccurate stories on the Fulbright 
Conference (paras. 6 and 7).  Ironically, state media 
provided more accurate coverage of the same event, pro- 
Turkmen government spin notwithstanding. 
 
MILES