VZCZCXRO5738
RR RUEHIK
DE RUEHAH #1488/01 3271147
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 231147Z NOV 09
FM AMEMBASSY ASHGABAT
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 3774
INFO RUCNCIS/CIS COLLECTIVE
RUCNMEM/EU MEMBER STATES COLLECTIVE
RUCNCLS/ALL SOUTH AND CENTRAL ASIA COLLECTIVE
RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 3608
RUEHAK/AMEMBASSY ANKARA 5905
RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO 3467
RUEHIT/AMCONSUL ISTANBUL 4147
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
RUEHVEN/USMISSION USOSCE 4101
RHMCSUU/CDR USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHDC
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHDC
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ASHGABAT 001488 
 
UNCLASS 
SIPDIS 
 
REF: ASHGABAT 01255 
 
STATE FOR SCA/CEN, SCA/PPD, IIP, ECA 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PGOV SCUL KPAO TX
SUBJECT:  MEDIA HIGHLIGHT DAS GEORGE KROL VISIT TO HEAD U.S. 
DELEGATION AT OIL AND GAS TURKMENISTAN EXPO 2009 
 
ASHGABAT 00001488  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
¶1.  (U) Sensitive but unclassified.  Not for public distribution. 
 
¶2.  (U) SUMMARY:  The official visit of Deputy Assistant Secretary 
for South and Central Asian Affairs, Ambassador George A. Krol to 
Turkmenistan on November 16-18 received generally accurate and 
widespread media coverage.  Ambassador Krol headed a delegation from 
the United States to the "Oil and Gas Turkmenistan 2009 (OGT 2009)" 
International Conference and Exposition.  Krol held a press 
conference with foreign media stringers in Ashgabat and gave a few 
exclusive interviews to foreign stringers.  Adviser to Special Envoy 
on Eurasian Energy Daniel Stein accompanied Krol and answered a few 
questions at the press conference.  Foreign media accurately 
highlighted Krol's OGT remarks.  END SUMMARY 
 
MEDIA HIGHLIGHT DAS KROL MEETING WITH TURKMEN LEADER 
 
¶3.  (U) On November 16, the Azeri news agency "Trend" (English) 
announced Krol's arrival based on the U.S. Embassy's press release. 
The following day, the "Watan" evening TV news program (Turkmen) 
gave a generally accurate highlight story on Krol's meeting with 
President Berdimuhamedov, praising both sides' interest in 
developing partnership in key Turkmen-American partnership areas, 
such as trade, economy and humanitarian sectors.  The story also 
underlined the meeting's particular focus on cooperation in the fuel 
and energy sectors.  The broadcast carried Krol's interview remarks 
following the meeting.  Krol gave a few greetings in Turkmen and 
noted the meeting was efficient.  Krol also gave positive remarks 
about the oil and gas conference, emphasizing its importance for 
Turkmenistan. The following day, state-run dailies "Neytralniy 
Turkmenistan" (Russian, circ. 49,091) and "Turkmenistan" (Turkmen, 
circ. 38,091) printed stories that mirrored the "Watan" story on 
their front pages.  The government-run website "Turkmenistan Golden 
Age"(www.turkmenistan.gov.tm) (Turkmen, Russian and English) 
accurately highlighted the meeting with a similar story as carried 
on the "Watan" broadcast. 
 
¶4.  (U) On November 17-18, Russian news agencies "ITAR-TASS" 
(Russian, English) and "RIA Orienda" (English), Azeri news agency 
"Trend" (Russian) carried accurate stories on the meeting based on 
state media reporting.  On November 19, Kyrgyzstan-based news 
website "CA-News" (Russian) also published an accurate story on the 
meeting. 
 
MEDIA HIGHLIGHT PRESS CONFERENCE WITH KROL AND STEIN 
 
¶5.  (U) On November 17, Deputy Assistant Secretary Krol gave 
exclusive interviews to "Reuters" and RFE/RL's Turkmen language 
service.  The same day "Reuters" (English) and RFE/RL's Turkmen 
language service carried generally accurate stories based on their 
interviews with Krol.  Krol stressed the interest of U.S. companies' 
in investing in Turkmenistan's oil and gas infrastructure. 
 
¶6. (U) A November 20 article at "Eurasianet.org" accurately cited 
Krol's remark from the press conference on the issue regarding 
Turkmenistan's restrictions on international travel for a number of 
students studying at American Universities.  Krol noted he had 
raised the issue with the Foreign Minister and indicated 
Turkmenistan's intentions to solve the issue. 
 
¶7.  (U) On November 17, highlighting the press conference, several 
media outlets cited Stein's remarks regarding the Caspian dispute 
between Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan.  The "Associated Press" 
(English) accurately quoted Stein as saying that it was still 
possible to carry energy projects across the Caspian Sea without 
final agreements over territorial delimitation and noted that the 
United States and Europe had encouraged the sides to reach an 
agreement.  He also emphasized that American companies, with their 
great experience of working in difficult conditions, would be 
helpful in developing Caspian blocks.  The same day, "CNBC" 
reprinted the "Associated Press" story.  Russian news agency "RIA 
Novosti" (Russian) carried similar remarks by Stein but extrapolated 
that the United States offered assistance in resolving the dispute. 
 
ASHGABAT 00001488  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
The same day, Kazakh information agency "Novosti-Kazakhstan" 
(Russian), Azeri news agencies "News.Az" (English) and "Azer-Press" 
(English, Russian) carried stories with similar content and carried 
the same inaccuracy.  In subsequent days, Azeri based "ABC.AZ" 
(English, Russian), "APA" (English) and Russian news source "What 
the Paper Says (WPS)" (Russian, English) also carried the same 
misleading reports. 
 
MEDIA HIGHLIGHT KROL'S REMARKS AT OGT 2009 
 
¶6.  (U) On November 18, Deputy Assistant Secretary Krol gave his 
remarks as the first foreign speaker at the OGT 2009.  The same day, 
Russian news agency "ITAR-TASS" (Russian), Azeri news agency "Trend" 
(Russian, English) highlighted Krol's address at the conference. 
The stories carried accurate quotes from Krol's remarks about the 
importance of energy diversification, economic reforms and 
transparency.  Krol also emphasized that the United States 
considered energy security to be a priority issue and that Central 
Asia was an important region in the global energy picture.  (NOTE: 
The Embassy prepared and distributed the transcript of Krol's OGT 
remarks in English, Russian and Turkmen on the same day.  END 
NOTE.) 
 
¶8.  (U) State "Turkmenistan" TV channel (Russian, Turkmen, English, 
Chinese, Arabic, Persian, French) scheduled its story to highlight 
their interview with Krol from OGT 2009 for later in the week. 
 
¶9.  (SBU) COMMENT:  In general, the media widely covered DAS Krol 
and accurately quoted him.  As usual, the Turkmen state-run media 
ignored the substance of his remarks, choosing instead to focus on 
President Berdimuhamedov and generalities instead of specifics. 
Interestingly, while Krol received no print coverage after his 
remarks at the conference, Chevron Executive Doug Uchikura's remarks 
received front-page treatment in both "Neytralniy Turkmenistan" 
(Russian, circ. 49,091) and "Turkmenistan" (Turkmen, circ. 38,091). 
END COMMENT. 
 
CURRAN