COTTON, LIES AND COPIERS IN DASHOGUZ

C O N F I D E N T I A L ASHGABAT 001055 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPT FOR SCA/CACEN (PERRY),CA/VO/F/P FOR SAVAGE, FRANKFURT FOR RCO BROWN E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/05/2016 TAGS: PGOV EAGR CVIS PINR SENV TX SUBJECT: COTTON, LIES AND COPIERS IN DASHOGUZ Classified By: Charge d'Affaires Jennifer L. Brush for reasons 1.4(B) a nd (D). SUMMARY -------------- ¶1. (C) President Niyazov's complete control over the minds and means of Turkmenistan is in full view in Dashoguz Welayat (province). The man widely rumored to be Niyazov's heir apparent, the charming and utterly devoid of democratic sensibilities Aganiyaz Akiyev, firmly enforces the president's rules as governor (hakim). Educators are speechless when asked their views on whether nine years of compulsory education really could be considered adequate in the modern world. Farmers, even private farmers, happily return to growing cotton after the president decreed a four-fold price increase and tax breaks for growing cotton. Access to information is so controlled that even the USAID-run Counterpart Consortium Resource Center warns users against accessing political or religious sites out of fear that the one access to the Internet in this province of 1.4 million residents would be shut down. Even access to copiers is controlled; outside of government offices, only one businessman (a Sabit alumnus) is "licensed" to make copies. In spite of this suffocation of thought, speech and action, USG-run programs continue to represent a beacon for the local population. Peace Corps volunteers are rock stars here, and the American Corner and Counterpart Resource Center are full of users avidly reading the resource material, scanning grant possibilities, and working on their English in order to qualify for exchange programs. A USAID-funded assistance program of $7k, just begun in April, already has assisted 20,000 farmers in the region. End Summary. WE DON'T NEED NO (NINE-YEAR) EDUCATION... -------------- ¶2. (SBU) According to Akiyev, there are 507 schools in Dashoguz Welayat. Akiyev (along with all other education system interlocutors) defended the president's decision to decrease mandatory education from 10 to 9 years, even though his generation had the benefit of at least ten years of mandatory schooling. He assured Charge that this decision did not have a negative impact on Dashoguz's youth, as seen by the participation of local youth in national and international academic competitions. This new policy, he claimed, contributed to the president's overall efforts to reform the educational system; unlike the policies of the Soviet era, President Niyazov's reforms would definitely improve the quality of Turkmenistan's education, he said. ¶3. (SBU) The Charge told Akiyev that this policy could be changed, given the president's comments in 2005 to former Deputy Assistant Secretary Kennedy that he planned to reinstate a 10th year of education. She added that, despite the Soviet Union's many problems, America both respected and feared the strong Soviet education system. Akiyev responded that the Soviet educational system was riddled with "bad habits" that undermined the ability of Turkmenistan's youth to learn. In a separate discussion, local Ministry of Education (MOE) representative Agamyrat Gummyshov explained that, since independence, the government had gradually rolled back the years of mandatory education from 12 to 9 years, but could not explain why. ¶4. (C) When asked why the German Embassy in Ashgabat stopped supporting Dashoguz's so-called "German School" (a well-known German Embassy-supported school specializing in English and German-language instruction),Akiyev claimed that the German Embassy decided to stop its funding for unexplained reasons. (Comment: When informed of our exchange, a furious German Ambassador Mondorff told Conoff that his embassy stopped funding after the previous school director was sacked from her job, accused of committing treason, and placed under virtual house arrest. Local officials claimed that the director whispered state secrets to Mondorff while he was visiting the school. End Comment.) ¶5. (SBU) All Charge's interlocutors supported the president's stated policy of teaching English in schools and praised local Peace Corps volunteers' efforts in the region to teach English. Despite their enthusiasm, local officials were reluctant to express a wish for more USG resources and PCVs to work in Dashoguz, even after the Charge informed them that the Peace Corps Regional Director supported sending more PCVs to the country. Interlocutors also were noncommittal when Charge asked what their needs were to improve English instruction; all responded, "If the Ministry of Education says we need it, we'll take it." The exception was the head of the local agribusiness school (which has no English curriculum and is run by the local city authorities, not the Education Ministry),who welcomed Charge's offer to start an English language program at his school. When asked to explain how and why local English teachers were prevented from traveling to Ashgabat for the recent International Teachers of English Conference, Akiyev and the local educational official at first feigned ignorance, but later gave varying excuses -- the teachers were on vacation, the MFA did not properly inform us, and so on. (Comment: Embassy knows for a fact teachers from Dashoguz were threatened, harassed and otherwise prevented from attending the conference even though their names had been submitted to the Education Ministry months in advance. Those who did attend, did so at their own risk. End Comment.) INTERNET ACCESS -- AWAITING THE MAGIC CABLE -------------- ¶6. (SBU) Given the lack of Internet access in Turkmenistan and the November 1 mandatory introduction of electronic visa application forms (EVAF),Charge and Conoff asked about Internet use in Dashoguz. According to Akiyev, all schools in Dashoguz had computers, though none had Internet access. (Comment: Counterpart's Dashoguz branch, located adjacent to the American Corner, is the only place in Dashoguz with Internet access, a total of five terminals, thanks to a satellite link. Counterpart administrators told Charge they were self-censoring, however, noting they informed users not to access political or religious sites for fear the government would shut down the center. End Comment.) Akiyev said that the president had recently decreed that a new Chinese-provided fiber-optic communications cable be installed that would connect Dashoguz to existing Internet lines in Ashgabat. MOE representative Gummyshov said that Internet access in the region had been permitted in the past and that he himself had access at one time, but that for "some reason" Internet access was denied a few years ago. ¶7. (SBU) Charge noted that the government had recently closed Dashoguz's sole Internet Access and Training Program (IATP) and that the embassy had twice asked the MFA for an explanation. Akiyev and our MFA "minder" both claimed ignorance about the subject, with Akiyev promising to look into the matter. Charge added that she hoped that the government would approve the embassy's plans to introduce the Global Connections Internet program to Turkmenistan, which would provide Internet training free of charge. ¶8. (SBU) During the Charge's visits to various schools and organizations, not one (with the exception of Counterpart), had access to the Internet. At every location, Conoff raised the issue of EVAF with his interlocutors, noting that the Department had instructed all consular sections to stop using paper applications by November 1. During the meeting with Akiyev, Conoff said that although the number of visa applicants from Dashoguz Welayat was small in comparison to other welayats, the lack of Internet access in Dashoguz, as well as throughout the country, would mean that no applicants -- including government officials -- would be able to apply for visas. Conoff added that, given EVAF's worldwide use, it would be unfortunate for Turkmenistan's citizens to be unable to apply for visas, because their country could not provide Internet to its people. DECISION 2006: DASHOGUZ SUFFERING FROM ELECTION FEVER -------------- -- ¶9. (SBU) Charge asked local interlocutors about the July gengesh (village council) elections and the preparations for the upcoming December etrap (district) elections. All praised the conduct of the gengesh elections as "proof" that democracy was thriving in Turkmenistan. Akiyev added that one of the two runoff elections held in Turkmenistan occurred in a village outside Dashoguz. While Akiyev was unaware of the number of independent candidates who had won, Kunya Urgench Hakim (mayor) Jelatedin Saparov said he believed that some independent candidates were elected to gengesh councils in his town. However, since there was only one party (the Democratic Party of Turkmenistan),nobody really paid attention to party membership. Akiyev and Saparov said that independent candidates would not be precluded from running in the etrap elections. (Comment: While discussing between themselves, in Turkmen, whether or not any independent candidates had in fact won in any of the gengesh elections, Saparov and Gummyshov themselves had a hard time understanding the concept of an independent candidate, finally settling on the term "daller," or in English, "the nots." And even then they did not seem to know if any of the "nots" had been elected, though, they agreed there had been some "not" candidates. End Comment.) Dashoguz City Hakim (mayor) Nurmammedov said that the etrap councils (etrap Halk Maslahatys) would be able to control their local budgets and allocate funding for various projects (i.e. building schools),but would need prior approval from Ashgabat before implementing any projects. Saparov told Charge that local voters were mainly concerned with agricultural issues and improving their quality of life. COTTON IS KING IN DASHOGUZ -------------- ¶10. (SBU) Akiyev said that the president,s September visit to Dashoguz, which marked the start of the cotton harvest, was a huge success and assured Charge that Dashoguz Welayat would easily reach its quota of 615 thousand tons of cotton, weather permitting. Due to bad weather in 2005, Akiyev said that the 2005 cotton harvest of 615 thousand tons did not meet Dashoguz,s quota. (Note: During a December 2, 2005 Cabinet Meeting, President Niyazov stated that 737,000 tons of cotton harvested in 2005 -- just 5,000 tons more than was harvested in 2004 -- had "fulfilled" the harvest plan, though it was only 33.5% of the total 2.2 million tons called for in the original plan. The government openly admitted failure, but claimed technical challenges, and did not fault the state-controlled agriculture system. End Note.) ¶11. (SBU) A private farmer had separately told emboffs on a trip two weeks earlier that 70 percent of Dashoguz farmers had not yet been paid for their 2005 cotton crops. According to Akiyev, the delay in payments for the 2005 harvest was due to last year,s low cotton prices, which have increased from 1,500 manat (6 cents) to 6,000 manat (25 cents) per kilogram. (Note: Farmers wishing to keep cotton seeds for making cotton oil and animal feed are paid 4,500 manat (about 19 cents) per kilogram. End Note.) Akiyev added that payments for last year,s harvest are underway and should be completed by mid-October. SALTY SOIL -------------- ¶12. (SBU) Charge noted that from the airplane the ground appeared to be white -- she thought evidence of cotton fields. However it turned out the white substance was salt. Akiyev explained that the salt was due to Dashoguz,s traditionally low water levels, but -- thanks to the government,s environmental policies and the installation of a Culligan water treatment plant in the region -- water quality in the welayat had significantly improved and now each house, school, and hospital had its own water filters. ¶13. (SBU) Notwithstanding Akiyev's assurances, however, Zulaiho Matyakubova, director of a local USAID health awareness project in a local hospital, told Charge the high salinity of Dashoguz,s soil presented the single biggest health concern for the local population. As a result, the region had the highest rates of kidney ailments and iodine deficiencies in the country. While schools and hospitals had water filters, they were antiquated and did not work properly. She said that the local population relied on bottled water for its consumption needs. FARMERS WORK WITH COUNTERPART -------------- ¶14. (SBU) Charge also met with two organizations helping local farmers benefit from USAID funding. According to members of the Counterpart Consortium-assisted Dayhan Resource Center, their organization helped local farmers sell their goods on the local and international markets. They also assisted farmers to develop business plans and locate markets, and supported local entrepreneurship. Charge informed the staff that the USG viewed the support of private farmers as one of its most important goals in Turkmenistan. One of the representatives said that the Dayhan Resource Center and its member organizations were interested in the upcoming local elections, and that one of the groups working with the resource center was planning on fielding candidates to run. ¶15. (SBU) According to members of the Tagt Cooperative, the organization received funding from Winrock, Counterpart, and the UK government, and provided grants to support agribusiness and water resource management. (Note: the cooperative,s total USG grant budget is $7,000. End Note.) Members of the cooperative, one a FLEX exchange alumni, showed Charge several projects involving restoring unusable land by clearing out old irrigation canals and repairs to water pumping facilities. This year the cooperative provided training courses to over 100 people, who also benefited because project participants were not taxed on the land they use for the projects. Once the projects were completed, those working on the projects were able to keep the land for private use. The cooperative estimated that over 20,000 people have benefited from the cooperative's various projects and training programs. When asked if it was possible for farmers to grow things other than cotton and wheat, the staff said that, provided the farmers have government permission, they are allowed to do so. DON'T LOOK BEHIND THE GREEN CURTAIN! -------------- ¶16. (C) Despite our hosts' efforts to show us the "bright" side of Dashoguz, there were several reminders that all was not well with this northern metropolis. While visiting the German School's computer center, one student complained that that he and his classmates were no longer able to use the Internet at the American Corner, since the government banned Internet connections in the region. (Note: A very unhappy MFA minder stood nearby eavesdropping on our conversation. End Note.) Counterpart's local director told us that the organization self-censored its Internet users, forbidding them from accessing any potentially controversial sites (such as those discussing politics and religion). The director of the Polyclinic #2 Resource Center explained that she did not seek government approval for Internet access because she was "too scared she would lose her job." When asked to create a t-shirt with the president's image, our hotel manager (a USG SABIT Fellowship alumni) immediately contacted the MNB to get its approval. (Note: The hotel also served as an office supplies store specializing in digital photography. End Note.) After Conoff cancelled his order in order to protect the manager, the manager explained that he was concerned since "I'm Uzbek, not Turkmen, and they target Uzbeks," while making a gesture of someone shooting a machine gun. This alum also had the sole copying franchise in the welayat -- yes, even copy machines are controlled. BIOGRAPHIC NOTE -------------- ¶17. (C) While charming and savvy, Dashoguz Welayat Hakim Akiyev's demeanor does not conceal his well-known loyalty to the president, stemming from his days as a former presidential body guard and Ministry of National Security (MNS) officer. (Note: During his conversation with the Charge, Akiyev joked that an electricity surge causing the lights to go out for a few seconds, was to allow the MNS to "change their tape." End Note.) Given his previous work in other welayats, he is definitely well trusted, and is even rumored by locals to be a possible (and dangerous) presidential successor, a rumor, which if true, may possibly lead to his eventual downfall. COMMENT -------------- ¶18. (C) Despite the regime's efforts to convert students to the president's "holy" book, the Ruhnama, and its assurances that no further assistance is needed to teach English, there is a genuine thirst for more USG-provided English and educational programs in the region. Everyone from government officials to students realize the importance of learning English. Government assurances that a new fiber-optic cable will connect Dashoguz to the information superhighway are doubtful given the regime's poor history of making false promises. Nevertheless, we will continue to push for greater Internet access for the population, and have warned the government that their inability to provide Internet to their population denies them the right to apply for visas, as well as access general information about the world. ¶19. (C) Local citizens' efforts to help improve their societies, often at times with the help of USG exchange alumni, deserve special praise. While facing many environmental and security difficulties, they are able to make significant achievements promoting private business, farmer development, and environmental protection with little or no material support. Continued USG support for their efforts is critical both psychologically and financially. END COMMENT. BRUSH