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RUCNCIS/CIS COLLECTIVE
RUCNMEM/EU MEMBER STATES COLLECTIVE
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RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHDC
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC
RUEHVEN/USMISSION USOSCE 4400

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 05 ASHGABAT 000211 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR SCA/CEN; 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PGOV TX
SUBJECT: SCENESETTER FOR SRAP HOLBROOKE'S VISIT TO 
TURKMENISTAN 
 
ASHGABAT 00000211  001.2 OF 005 
 
 
¶1. (U) Sensitive but unclassified.  Not for Internet 
distribution. 
 
¶2. (SBU) SUMMARY:  Embassy Ashgabat warmly welcomes your 
visit to Turkmenistan as an opportunity to strengthen our 
bilateral diplomatic dialogue and highlight our desire for 
greater cooperation involving Afghanistan.  Key issues are 
our need to increase the number of humanitarian overflights 
for U.S. military aircraft headed to Afghanistan, the 
resumption of blanket landing permission for U.S. military 
aircraft at Ashgabat airport, and greater Turkmen involvement 
in humanitarian and reconstruction activities in Afghanistan. 
 President Berdimuhamedov attended UNGA in September 2009, on 
the margins of which he also met with U.S. companies and was 
warmly received in Trenton, New Jersey.  Foreign Minister 
Rashid Meredov traveled to Washington in June 2009 for 
consultations with USG officials.  Under Secretary Burns met 
with both Berdimuhamedov and Meredov in Ashgabat during a 
July 2009 visit.  CENTCOM Commander General Petraeus met with 
Berdimuhamedov in August. 
 
¶3. (SBU) Now in the third year of his presidency, President 
Berdimuhamedov appears self-confident in his role as 
Turkmenistan's supreme authority.  He will not hesitate to 
speak his mind during your meeting.  Instead of the 
widespread, rapid reform that was hoped for after his rise to 
power, we have seen little substantive change in policies 
that impact the general public.  While Turkmenistan will 
gradually bring its legislation more in line with 
international levels, implementation of revised laws remains 
ineffective.  In foreign policy, Berdimuhamedov actively 
pursues contacts in all directions, but applies the country's 
"neutrality" policy to limit the substance of its foreign 
engagement.  The Turkmen government would like to see a 
UN-brokered peace in Afghanistan and sends humanitarian 
assistance to Afghanistan on a bilateral basis.  The Turkmen 
government relies heavily on top-down decision making. 
Presidential backing is considered both essential and 
sufficient for the successful and timely implementation of 
any policy initiative.  END SUMMARY. 
 
SECURITY 
 
¶4. (SBU) The U.S. security relationship with Turkmenistan 
continues to unfold, with slow but consistent cooperation. 
Although basing is not an option, Turkmenistan remains an 
important conduit to Afghanistan for the U.S. military. 
Maintaining blanket overflight permission and restoring 
blanket landing permission for U.S. humanitarian airflights 
at Ashgabat Airport remain key U.S. goals.  We have 
repeatedly asked, so far without success, for an increase of 
the number of overflights.  We received a firm refusal of 
permission for overland transit of nonlethal supplies to 
Afghanistan. 
 
¶5. (SBU) Turkmenistan allows the United States a generous 
overflight agreement (relative to other countries), which was 
renewed on November 29, 2009.  The Turkmenistan blanket 
clearance number 999C was first granted to U.S. military 
aircraft in 2003.  It has never provided unlimited permission 
to operate within Turkmen airspace and for this reason is 
sometimes described as a restricted blanket clearance.  The 
blanket permission is authorized solely for delivery of 
humanitarian assistance and to help stabilize and rebuild the 
nation of Afghanistan.  Aircraft must follow strict flight 
profiles and can utilize only select call signs.  Aircraft 
are required to file an international flight plan prior to 
entering Turkmenistan airspace and cannot deviate from that 
flight plan while in Turkmenistan.  Blanket permission is 
limited to certain U.S. military aircraft.  Civil reserve air 
fleet and DoD contract carriers are not eligible for the 
automatic clearance.  In spite of these limitations, the 
Turkmenistan blanket number 999C is considered vital to 
maintaining an effective western air bridge to U.S. forces in 
 
ASHGABAT 00000211  002.2 OF 005 
 
 
Afghanistan.  In addition to overflight permission, the 
Turkmen government allows the U.S. to operate a small gas and 
go opeation at Ashgabat Airport to refuel U.S. military 
cargo aircraft. 
 
¶6. (SBU) AFCENT, Central Command's air component, is in the 
process of assisting Turkmenistan's National Civil Aviation 
Service that would enable it to increase its technical 
capacity to safely handle an increased number of overflights. 
 We are currently working on a project to alleviate the 
communications issues between Turkmenabat air traffic 
control, U.S. aircraft and Kabul.  This should be delivered 
and in the process of installation in April.  That project 
would likely need to be complete before being able to execute 
a significant increase in overflights. 
 
¶7. (SBU) The Turkmen government has flatly rejected our 
request for transshipment of non-lethal U.S. cargo to 
Afghanistan.  There are several reasons why it has opposed 
participating in the Northern Distribution Network (NDN). 
The first is Turkmenistan's own stated neutrality, which 
prevents them from participating in military alliances or 
agreements.  This highlights the unique status of our extant 
overflight agreement.  There also appears to be reluctance to 
support U.S. and NATO forces too openly as long as the 
ultimate outcome of the Afghan war remains uncertain.  The 
Turkmen government coexisted with the Taliban as neighbors in 
the past and would want to avoid an irreparable breach in 
case the Taliban return to power.  The long, porous 
Turkmen-Afghan border would make Turkmenistan an easy target 
for reprisals.  Also, a Turkmen desire to avoid possible 
negative Russian (and Iranian) perceptions of military 
cooperation with the United States appears to affect their 
decision making. 
 
¶8. (SBU) CENTCOM and Turkmenistan's military maintain an 
active military-to-military cooperation plan and a productive 
counter-narcotics program.  CENTCOM Counter Narcotics has 
funded several mil-to-mil events as well as three 
border-crossing checkpoints (BCCs), on the borders of Iran 
(Altyn Asyr), Afghanistan (Imamnazar), and Uzbekistan 
(Farap).  CENTCOM intends to build another two BCCs as well 
as provide equipment and training to the State Counter 
Narcotics Service and State Border Service.  U.S. security 
assistance programs focus on improving the communications 
capability of the Turkmenistan armed forces in the areas of 
emergency response and border security, English language 
ability, in addition to building a future leadership with 
western principles.  With the assistance of the Embassy's 
Export Control and related Border Security (EXBS) program, 
the Embassy works to strengthen Turkmenistan's border 
security and increase their ability to interdict smuggling of 
weapons of mass destruction. 
 
FOREIGN POLICY 
 
¶9. (SBU) Like his predecessor Niyazov, Berdimuhamedov has 
emphasized "neutrality" as the hallmark of the country's 
foreign policy.  Unlike his predecessor, however, he has 
interepreted "neutrality" not as isolation, but as promoting 
an even-handed and multi-vectored foreign policy. 
Nevertheless, he has put an unprecedented emphasis on foreign 
affairs to repair Turkmenistan's international and regional 
relations and to become a respected player on the 
international stage.  Recent foreign trips by President 
Berdimuhamedov to Italy, Japan, Belarus, France and the UAE, 
and recent visits to Ashgabat by Chinese, Russian, Kazakh, 
Uzbek and Iranian leaders, have been opportunities for the 
Turkmen to reaffirm their multi-directional foreign policy. 
Under the president's leadership, Turkmenistan has reached 
out to participate actively in regional organizations.  He 
has met with all the leaders in the region, as well as with 
those of other countries of importance to Turkmenistan. 
China has a strong and growing commercial presence in 
 
ASHGABAT 00000211  003.2 OF 005 
 
 
Turkmenistan, and continues to court the president through a 
series of high-level commercial and political visits. 
Berdimuhamedov addressed the UNGA in September 2009 and has 
held positive meetings with high-level leaders of 
international organizations (including both the UN and the 
Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe) that 
have led to cooperative relationships.  The international 
financial institutions play a minor role in Turkmenistan, 
with the exception of the EBRD. 
 
REGIONAL POLICY 
 
¶10. (SBU) Accompanying the president's focus on reaching out 
to Turkmenistan's near and more distant neighbors has been an 
increased effort to participate in and cooperate with 
regional fora.  During President Berdimuhamedov's tenure, 
Turkmenistan has become an increasingly active player in a 
number of regional fora, including the (counter-narcotics) 
Central Asian Regional Information and Coordination Center, 
the Central Asian Trade Investment Framework Agreement 
mechanism (TIFA), and the European Union's Central Asian 
Troika process.  Nevertheless, Turkmenistan prefers to deal 
with other countries bilaterally.  It is a stong proponent of 
the UN and will often choose to participate in activities 
that under UN aegis. 
 
ASSISTANCE TO AFGHANISTAN 
 
¶11. (SBU) Turkmenistan participates in regional 
reconstruction efforts in Afghanistan and has sponsored a 
number of Afghan students at its universities and pedagogical 
institutes in the past.  In early April 2008, the Turkmen 
government agreed to bolster by 2010 the electricity it is 
already selling to Afghanistan by an additional 300 
megawatts.  However, this has not happened, in part, due to 
inadequate infrastructure on the Afghan side.  The president 
also agreed to extend the current price at which Turkmenistan 
is selling electricity to Afghanistan -- 2 cents per kilowatt 
hour -- to 2010.  Concerning Afghanistan, Foreign Minister 
Meredov responded to a briefing on current U.S. policy by 
saying that Turkmenistan also sees the problems in 
Afghanistan and Pakistan as linked, and that they cannot be 
solved simply by military means.  Turkmenistan donates 
humanitarian aid to Afghanistan, particularly in the northern 
part of the country, constructing schools, hospitals and 
other projects. 
 
ENERGY 
 
¶12. (SBU) Turkmenistan has world-class natural gas reserves, 
but in the past, Russia's near monopoly of the country's 
energy export routes made it overly beholden to Russia.  The 
opening of new pipelines to China in December 2009 and Iran 
in January should reduce Turkmenistan's reliance on Russia. 
The construction of a new generation facility and 
high-voltage electricity lines to transport excess energy to 
Turkmenistan's neighbors, including Afghanistan, would not 
only enhance Turkmenistan's economic and political 
sovereignty, but also help fuel new levels of prosperity 
throughout the region.  A long-discussed USAID-supported plan 
to ship Turkmen electricity to Afghanistan appears to have 
lost traction due to a change in Afghan government investment 
priorities.  However, Berdimuhamedov has told U.S. 
interlocutors he recognizes the need for more energy export 
options and has taken the first steps to this end.  He will 
require encouragement and assistance from the international 
community if he is to maintain a course of diversification 
now that relations with Gazprom appear to be patched up. 
 
¶13. (SBU) One of the biggest challenges that Turkmenistan's 
hydrocarbon sector will have to face, if it is to succeed in 
pipeline diversification, is the need for increased 
natural-gas production.  Large increases will be needed as 
new pipelines come online.  While Turkmenistan has welcomed 
 
ASHGABAT 00000211  004.2 OF 005 
 
 
foreign companies to work its offshore (primarily oil) 
Caspian blocks, it has up to now largely rejected allowing 
foreign energy companies to work its onshore gas fields, 
maintaining that it can handle the drilling itself.  U.S. 
policy has promoted access to onshore production by major 
Western oil companies.  President Berdimuhamedov has 
repeatedly told visiting U.S. officials that foreign 
companies would not be granted production sharing agreements 
for the development of onshore gas deposits. 
 
HUMAN RIGHTS 
 
¶14. (SBU) President Berdimuhamedov has made a public 
commitment to bring Turkmenistan's laws and practices -- 
including those relating to human rights -- up to 
international standards.  Although the president is making 
progress in overhauling Turkmenistan's laws, human rights 
practices continue to lag behind the country's obligations as 
a UN and OSCE member.  RFE/RL reporters continue to 
experience considerable harassment from security forces. 
While the Turkmen have made some improvement in their 
treatment of minority religious groups, minority Christian 
religious groups continue to experience problems with 
registration and harassment.  There are numerous cases of 
individuals, including students, journalists, and former 
government officials, being barred from travel abroad. 
 
ECONOMY AND FINANCE 
 
¶15. (SBU) The global financial crisis does not appear to have 
had an impact in Turkmenistan.  The Ashgabat 
construction boom and announcements of other capital 
investment projects continue apace.  President Berdimuhamedov 
has stated repeatedly, in many fora, that he wants to develop 
an international-standard market economy and to promote 
foreign investment.  To those ends, Turkmenistan has 
eliminated its currency's dual exchange rates and 
re-denominated its currency.  The president has stated that 
some state enterprises will be privatized -- though not in 
"strategic" sectors like oil and gas, electricity, textiles, 
construction, transportation, and communications.  He has 
signed a new foreign investment law, which, among other 
things, guarantees resident foreign businessmen and their 
families one-year, multi-entry visas, and approved changes to 
the tax code.  The president divided the overworked Ministry 
of Economy and Finance into two bodies -- a Ministry of 
Economy and Development, and a Ministry of Finance, and he 
created a Supreme Audit Chamber with the goal of providing 
greater oversight of government spending. 
 
¶16. (SBU) Even though the president has reshaped his 
bureaucracy, put in place the structures that theoretically 
should help promote a market economy, and opened Turkmenistan 
to cooperation with IFIs, the lack of basic understanding and 
bureaucratic capacity remains an enormous impediment to 
change.  New reforms are being rolled out with inadequate 
preparation, understanding of their consequences and 
explanation -- and are leading to increased public 
dissatisfaction.  USAID is working to increase human capacity 
in several new government institutions, to prepare the 
strategy to support private sector development, and to 
support the introduction of International Financial Reporting 
Standards in Turkmenistan. 
 
COUNTER-NARCOTICS COOPERATION 
 
¶17. (SBU) Turkmenistan has serious problems with narcotics 
trafficking and addiction, primarily opiates from 
Afghanistan.  In January 2008, Berdimuhamedov established and 
funded the new State Counter-Narcotics Service with DEA-like 
responsibilities for both interdiction and demand-reduction 
efforts.  Still, the effort involves building the new 
agency's infrastructure and capacity from the ground up.  The 
Turkmen side has welcomed U.S. training and equipment. 
 
ASHGABAT 00000211  005.2 OF 005 
 
 
CURRAN