VZCZCXRO9196
PP RUEHIK
DE RUEHAH #1568/01 3410929
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 070929Z DEC 09
FM AMEMBASSY ASHGABAT
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 3849
INFO RUCNCLS/ALL SOUTH AND CENTRAL ASIA COLLECTIVE
RUCNCIS/CIS COLLECTIVE
RUCNMEM/EU MEMBER STATES COLLECTIVE
RUEHAK/AMEMBASSY ANKARA 5957
RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 3651
RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO 3510
RUEHIT/AMCONSUL ISTANBUL 4199
RUEHRC/DEPT OF AGRICULTURE WASHDC
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
RHMCSUU/CDR USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHDC
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHDC
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC
RUEHVEN/USMISSION USOSCE 4141
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 1286
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHDC
RHEBAAA/DEPT OF ENERGY WASHDC
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHDC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ASHGABAT 001568 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR SCA/CEN; 
ANKARA FOR AGRICULTURE COUNSELOR 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: EAGR PGOV PREL SCUL TX
SUBJECT: TURKMENISTAN: AGRICULTURAL UNIVERSITY EXCHANGE 
STALLED 
 
ASHGABAT 00001568  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
¶1. (U) Sensitive, but unclassified.  Not for Internet 
distribution. 
 
¶2. (U) On November 27, Poloff met with the Rector of the 
Turkmen Agricultural University, Gurbandurdy Mammetgulyev, 
and Chary Taganov, Head of the Academics Department, to 
discuss the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) funded and 
organized faculty exchange between the University of Nevada, 
Reno and the Turkmen Agricultural University.  The first 
stage of the exchange program took place in September, when 
four faculty members from Turkmenistan traveled to the United 
States to visit agricultural universities and research 
facilities.  During that two-week trip the Turkmen 
participants were introduced to U.S. agricultural university 
curricula, particularly focusing on agricultural economics. 
 
¶3. (SBU) The exchange program has stalled, however, while 
Post awaits permission for two locally resident US citizens 
to teach courses in English language and economics at the 
Turkmen Agricultural University.  Permission from the Turkmen 
Government was initially requested in July, with instruction 
meant to begin at the start of the school year in September. 
When asked if there was a problem with the program that would 
account for the delay, the Rector insisted that he welcomed 
the program.  However, because the Agricultural University is 
subordinate to the Ministry of Education, the program would 
need to be approved by that ministry.  Mammetgulyev offered 
the theory that the piece of paper to approve the US teachers 
had gotten lost in a pile on someone's desk, or that an 
employee had been replaced and not transferred the necessary 
piece of paper to his successor. 
 
¶4. (U) The Rector of the Agricultural University continued 
with descriptions of various programs that the university 
conducts with foreign universities and organizations, in 
order to prove his point that he was more than willing to 
continue this exchange program with the U.S.  He said that 
his university is participating in three TACIS programs, as 
well as programs with Spanish, Hungarian, and Italian 
institutions.  In addition, John Deere and Case New Holland 
have sponsored centers that Agricultural University faculty 
use to teach about agricultural equipment.  GTZ, the German 
Technical Cooperation enterprise, conducted a program very 
similar to the U.S. Faculty Exchange Program.  10-12 students 
from the Agricultural University took 10 months of German 
classes at the University.  They subsequently took a test and 
the best students were selected to go to Germany for a 
six-month long Master's course. 
 
¶5. (SBU) Both Mammetgulyev and Taganov indicated that these 
exchange programs were important to them because they improve 
the quality of education for Turkmen agricultural 
specialists.  The Rector boasted that he made sure all of his 
students  had hands-on experience, as well as classroom 
lectures.  He said that 71 percent of the agricultural 
education program was theoretical, and 29 percent practical. 
He added that the Agricultural University had 25 hectares of 
land at the campus in Ashgabat, as well as five institutions 
around Turkmenistan. 
 
¶6. (SBU) COMMENT: Both the Rector and the Head of the 
Academics Department seemed genuinely open to cooperation 
with foreign universities, including US institutions.  The 
Head of the Academics Department was himself one of the 
participants in the first stage of the USDA Faculty Exchange 
Program.  Therefore, it does seem plausible that any problems 
getting permission for the English language and economics 
courses are coming from outside the Agricultural University. 
 
ASHGABAT 00001568  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
The Rector didn't seem to think his intervention with the 
Ministry of Education on behalf of the program would be 
helpful.  Instead, he suggested that post continue to raise 
the issue with appropriate officials in the government, 
particularly at the Ministry of Education.  END COMMENT 
ECKSTROM