PEACE CORPS IN TURKMENISTAN - EVERY MOVE YOU MAKE,

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 04 ASHGABAT 001003

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR SCA/CEN (PERRY)
DEPT PLEASE PASS TO PEACE CORPS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/20/2016
TAGS: PGOV PREL TX
SUBJECT: PEACE CORPS IN TURKMENISTAN - EVERY MOVE YOU MAKE,
WE'LL BE WATCHING YOU

Classified By: Charge d'Affaires a.i. Jennifer L. Brush for reasons 1.4
(b) and (d).

Summary and Comment
--------------


1. (C) Among other observations, both Deputy Chairman
Gurbanguly Berdimukhammedov and Foreign Minister Rashit
Meredov complained to visiting Peace Corps Director Jay
Katzen during September 20-21 meetings that Peace Corps
Volunteers (PCVs) failed to gain "approvals" for their
secondary activities. During site visits and other
conversations,several PCVs complained they were demoralized
by the government's obsession with controlling their every
movement. "I can't take the kids out to play baseball on a
nice day because I don't have prior approval," one volunteer
said. Katzen also raised with Berdimukhammedov and Meredov
possible expansion of Peace Corps in Turkmenistan, including
more volunteers and new programs such as curriculum
development and health teaching in the schools. In response
to Katzen's request for more direct and faster access to
Ministry of Education officials to secure approvals in
advance and also to vet Peace Corps activities,
Berdimukhammedov pointed to Minister of Education, Shemshat
Annagylyjova, who was sitting in on the meeting and said,
"you can call her directly." Answering Katzen's question
about his "vision" for Turkmenistan, Berdimukhammedov said,
"we will be prosperous, happy and healthy because we are
lucky to have Saparmyrat Niyazov as our president." After
inviting Katzen to Turkmenistan's 15th anniversary
celebrations, Berdimukhammedov added, "the only example I
need to give you or our leader's greatness is the recent deal
struck with Gazprom for our gas, that says it all." Both
Berdimukhammedov and Meredov said they spoke for the
president when they expressed their appreciation for Peace
Corps.


2. (C) Comment: Volunteers frequently express their
frustration that the government does so little to care for
its own people and finds so many ways to prevent them from
carrying out their mission. Katzen's visit was a very
welcome morale-booster for the PCVs as well as a welcome
reminder to the Government of Turkmenistan that the USG takes
its treatment of the volunteers seriously.
Berdimukhammedov's comment about the Gazprom deal is
illustrative of the head-in-the-sand attitude government
officials have to take to survive. The deal has Gazprom
paying Turkmenistan less than half the going market price but
will provide additional revenue to Niyazov's massive vanity
construction projects, while the living standard continues to
deteriorate. Peace Corps Volunteers are so popular
throughout Turkmenistan precisely because they represent an
alternative vision. End Comment.

Meeting Finally Goes Forward at Last
--------------


3. (C) Following days of efforts to pin down meetings for
Katzen with Turkmenistan's Foreign Minister and Deputy
Chairman of the Council of Ministers responsible for
education issues, during which the Charge at one point had to
threaten to call off the visit, the Foreign Minister finally
agreed to meet with Peace Corps Regional Director Katzen.
The September 20 meeting, which lasted approximately 80
minutes, was pleasant, with Meredov frequently reiterating
President Niyazov's -- and Turkmenistan's -- wish to further
develop cooperation with the Peace Corps. Remarking that
President Niyazov usually mentions the positive role of the
Peace Corps in any meetings with the embassy or U.S.
Government visitors, Meredov noted the many achievements of
the Peace Corps during the years of "cooperation" between
Turkmenistan and the Corps. On the one hand, Peace Corps
volunteers had helped teach young people English and promoted
health care, particularly in rural areas; on the other,
volunteers had learned the culture and traditions of
Turkmenistan's people. Meredov hoped that the meeting would
further enhance cooperation.

VSAT Internet Satellite Dish: Installation to Go Forward
"Soon"
-------------- --------------


4. (C) Asking Meredov to convey to President Niyazov U.S.
appreciation for the president's many positive words about
the Peace Corps, Katzen said he wanted to thank Meredov for
what he suspected was in the folder the Foreign Minister was
carrying -- a final agreement on the VSAT Internet satellite
dish which the Peace Corps had been seeking to install for
two years. A startled Meredov stated, "Not yet." He went on

ASHGABAT 00001003 002 OF 004


to explain that, though the authorities had no objection to
the VSAT, the proposal was still undergoing a technical
review at the Ministry of Communications, which would assign
a frequency "soon."

Turkmenistan Not Ready for More Volunteers
--------------


5. (C) Katzen suggested that, since the VSAT issue was
almost resolved, the Peace Corps wanted to respond to
Turkmenistan's sign of good faith with one of its own: an
increase in the number of volunteers sent to Turkmenistan
corresponding to Turkmenistan's own expressed wish of
increasing English language and health training in its
schools. Peace Corps wanted to help Turkmenistan develop an
effective and modern teaching curriculum in English, and to
start teaching young children the basics of good hygiene and
health. Meredov promised to consider Katzen's proposal for
new cooperation in teaching English and health and suggested
that the Regional Director discuss specifics further the next
day in a meeting with the Deputy Chairman of the Council of
Ministers responsible for education, Gurbanguly
Berdimukhammedov. However, he added, while the people of
Turkmenistan were hospitable, the country was not yet ready
to deal with the new logistical challenges posed by more
volunteers. In any case, he concluded, the quality of
cooperation was unrelated to the number of volunteers.
Noting the success of some volunteers in developing a
"pictionary" (i.e., a pictorial dictionary),Meredov said
that it was initiatives like this that made the Peace Corps
program so successful.

Improving the Approval Process: MFA to Promote "More Active
Contacts" with MOE
-------------- --------------


6. (C) Responding to the approval problems which last summer
had led to only 4 of 13 Peace Corps summer leadership camps
going forward, Katzen invited Meredov to visit the camps next
summer so that he could see for himself how valuable they
were for Turkmenistan's youth. Noting that he wanted all
involved to feel more comfortable about the camps, Katzen
also stressed the importance of beginning the approval
process earlier this year in order to avoid a last-minute
rush. In addition, Katzen remarked, many volunteers were
finding Turkmenistan's approval requirement for in-country
travel frustrating, since they often received approvals very
late. This, in turn, meant that they arrived late, depriving
the students of valuable teaching time.


7. (C) Noting that these two problems, in fact, both touched
on the same issue, Meredov suggested that the Peace Corps
should start the planning meetings with Turkmenistan's
authorities earlier. The Charge pointed out, however, that,
in seeking the meetings it needed, the Peace Corps faced a
disconnect: the Ministry of Education -- the action ministry
on most Peace Corps activities -- usually told Peace Corps to
go through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, while the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs told Peace Corps to go directly
to the Ministry of Education. There needed to be a better
system, she concluded. Acknowledging the problem, Meredov
promised to promote "more active contacts" between the Peace
Corps and the Ministry of Education.


8. (C) Meredov justified the travel notification requirement
as an effort to protect foreigners in restricted areas and
denied that volunteers faced any problems in gaining
permission to travel, as long as they submitted their
approval requests well in advance. Although Turkmenistan was
basically a safe country, it had long borders with Iran and
Afghanistan, and there had been cases where foreigners in
border areas had found themselves in trouble. It was
necessary, according to Meredov, to submit the requests early
so that the police in these areas could respond. Agreeing
that personal safety was important, Katzen thanked the
authorities for handling security situations involving
volunteers when they occured.

Meredov: Volunteers Shouldn't Go Outside Limits
-------------- ---


9. (C) Meredov also noted what he considered a PCV
inclination to "overstep the bounds" of the Peace Corps
mission. (Note: Meredov was referring to the PCV secondary
activities. End Note.) For example, he said, one volunteer
English teacher had started offering students outside
instruction in Tae Kwon Do. "The Peace Corps is a peaceful
organization, so it should teach peaceful things," Meredov
said, adding that "we have our own martial arts programs."

ASHGABAT 00001003 003 OF 004


Nonetheless, he said, if the authorities knew in advance of
PCV secondary activities, "they probably would be approved."


A Nearly Missed Meeting Gets Underway
--------------


10. (C) After similar difficulties to scheduling the MFA
meeting and a delay until the following day, the meeting with
Deputy Chairman Berdimukhammedov was nearly scrapped when
security personnel at the Council of Ministers complex wanted
to deny Charge access, despite her previous visits.
Following a clarification from above, security personnel
allowed the entire delegation to enter, ultimately resulting
in a 15-minute delay. Once all participants were present,
the meeting proceeded in a friendly, cordial atmosphere.


11. (C) Berdimukhammedov greatly praised the work of PCVs in
Turkmenistan and demonstrated a strong familiarity with the
numbers of volunteers working in either education or health.
Similarly, he noted President Niyazov's great interest and
appreciation of Peace Corps' work. However, Berdimukhammedov
stressed that the singular problem with Peace Corps work in
Turkmenistan is that volunteers' activities did not always
include their counterparts. Though Berdimukhammedov stressed
that this was to assure people working on the same problem
were cooperating, he made it clear the government wanted to
pre-approve all Peace Corps activities. (Note: One PCV has
complained that even holding a "pick-up game of baseball"
because of nice weather could not be done without prior
approval, although the same volunteer added that she "would
not trade her time in Turkmenistan for anything." End Note.)
In contrast to Meredov, Berdimukhammedov welcomed an
increase in PCVs and good-naturedly said he had been
"offended" when numbers had dropped in recent years.

Responses: Some Good and Some Bad
--------------


12. (C) Katzen stressed the need for adequate communication
in Peace Corps affairs and requested guidance on how this
might be facilitated. Pointing to his Minister of Education
and Deputy Minister of Health sitting at the table,
Berdimukhammedov said, "call them directly; we prefer
everything in writing but you can call them." (Comment:
This is a bit of a surprise because in the past the
government has insisted that all contact with government
officials go through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs by
diplomatic note. End Comment.)


13. (C) Katzen offered for consideration additional PC
support for training of English teachers and health programs.
Berdimukhammedov stated that the country already had
teachers, but they might like help with lesson plans. After
stressing a common concern for healthcare and the health of
citizens of their respective countries, Katzen asked about
school access for PCVs working on health projects. In a
misrepresentation of reality, Berdimukhammedov described with
some detail how health programs have already been conducted
in schools. However, when Charge D,Affaires raised a
two-year-old dipnote request for health PCVs to have access
to schools, both Berdimukhammedov and the Minister of Health
claimed to know nothing about it and only suggested that it
was not sent on from MFA. (Comment: The usual excuse. End
Comment.)

We're Blessed
--------------


14. (C) In response to Katzen's drawing him out on his
vision of the future of Turkmenistan, Berdimukhammedov spoke
at lenghth about the greatness of the president and the
prosperity, happiness and health he had brought to the people
of Turkmenistan. "Let me give you the best example,"
Berdimukhammedov said, "look at the brilliant deal our
president just cut with Gazprom. I don't even need to
explain to you the brilliance of that deal." According to
Berdimukhammedov, "we are blessed to have a president who
worries about his people night and day."

We Have Enough Internet
--------------


15. (C) At the end of the meeting, Charge inquired about the
government's apparent reversal in approving the Global
Connections and Exchange program (GCE). Despite informal
approval by the Ministry of Education, a diplomatic note from
the previous day declared that the program was unnecessary
because of a similar NATO project, "The Silk Road Project,"

ASHGABAT 00001003 004 OF 004


to provide internet access in schools and therefore would not
be approved. The Charge stressed that this was a program
which did not cost Turkmenistan anything and was also a type
of exchange for teachers and students and therefore not an
identical program. She offered to review the program with
the Minister of Education and Berdimukhammedov agreed, but
stressed that Turkmenistan would not approve redundant
programs.

PCVs Frustrated
--------------


16. (C) During a September 20 dinner, PC Health volunteers
expressed their frustration at the government's efforts to
monitor and approve their every move. Some volunteers also
noted that it was demoralizing to work in a country that had
the resources and manpower to solve its social problems and
that one man was able to block all progress. Katzen promised
to work on improving the pre-staging briefing process.
Charge and Katzen told the PCVs how important their work was
to the U.S.Mission here and told them their impact was
dramatic, though they all may not be able to see it
immediately.

Comment
--------------


17. (C) The Meredov/Berdimukhammedov - PCV agreement on the
fact that there's a problem conducting secondary programs
sums up the challenges of operating in Turkmenistan. Despite
the government's praise and support for Peace Corps' work in
Turkmenistan, all levels of volunteers' work are monitored
and controlled to a degree that frustrates even the simplest
activities. Katzen's visit did much both to lift PCV spirits
and to let the government know its overzealous control is
unhelpful. At the same time, volunteers with whom Katzen met
said they were having the most meaningful jobs, and were
making an impact. Embassy and Katzen agree that Peace Corps
is our most significant people-to-people program here and
that, whatever the vicissitudes, the value of Peace Corps'
initatives and the appreciation here of the volunteers'
presence validate the importance of having Peace Corps in
Turkmenistan. End Comment.

BRUSH