OCTOBER TURKMENISTAN MEDIA COVERAGE POSITIVE AND ACCURATE

UNCLAS ASHGABAT 001195

SIPDIS

STATE FOR INR/R/MR, IIP/T, IIP/G/NEA-SA, SA
SCA/CEN, SCA/PAB, SCA/INS, SCA/RA, SCA/PPD, DRL
CENTCOM PUBLIC AFFAIRS-MAJ.BALDWIN/SGT. BAKER
USCINCPAC FOR POLAD R. HUSO
SECDEF FOR PA

SENSITIVE

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: KMDR KPAO OIIP PREL PGOV TX
SUBJECT: OCTOBER TURKMENISTAN MEDIA COVERAGE POSITIVE AND ACCURATE
ON CONGRATULATORY MESSAGES, IF RELUCTANT

REF: 1) STATE 173426; 2) STATE 173411; 3) Embassy Press Release on
10/20/06

SUMMARY
--------------


1. (U) State media coverage of mission events in October featured
President George Bush's congratulatory messages on occasions of
Oraza Bayram and Turkmenistan's Independence Day. However, BBC
Monitoring Central Asia newswire mistranslated key parts of
President Bush's message back into English. Additionally the Charg
d'Affaires' TV statement on the occasion of Independence Day
appeared on State TV. While accurate, the Turkmen language state
media only broadcast The Charge's statement in the early morning,
making it unlikely to be seen by most of the viewing public. End
Summary.

PRESIDENT BUSH'S MESSAGE INACCURATELY TRANSLATED
-------------- ---


2. (U) On October 19, state Watan TV news program (Turkmen) aired
President Bush's messages on occasion of the holidays, where he
emphasized that "the United States supports the people of
Turkmenistan in achieving their full potential and enjoying the
democratic stability and prosperity they deserve." The following
day state dailies "Neytralniy Turkmenistan" (Russian, circ. 33,901)
and "Turkmenistan" (Turkmen, circ. 28,161) gave the messages
front-page treatment. BBC Monitoring Central Asia newswire
(English) inaccurately translated the broadcast from Watan TV news
program as "the United States hopes Turkmen people would fully
exploit all their potential in order to enjoy deserved fruits of
democratic stability and prosperity." Therefore, the BBC coverage
seems to indicate that Turkmenistan already has democratic
stability.

STATE TV PREFERS CHARGE'S STATEMENT IN ENGLISH
-------------- -


3. (U) On October 27, state TV channels Altyn Asyr (Turkmen) and
TV-4 (Turkmen, English, Russian, French, Chinese, Arabic and
Persian) aired the Charge's TV statement on the occasion of
Turkmenistan's Independence Day. The Charge expressed Post's
readiness to cooperate in the areas of democratic reform, economic
reform and security. She emphasized that "as Americans living as
citizens of an independent country we not only have certain rights,
but also certain responsibilities. Independence goes hand in hand
with the constantly evolving process of developing our democracy,
giving every citizen the right to participate in deciding the
country's future, and the responsibility to play a productive role
in building that future." While TV-4 aired the Charge's statement
in English every three hours throughout the day, Altyn Asyr failed
to air the statement at normal viewing hours, The Altyn Asyr TV
channel aired the statement once at approximately 2:30 a.m.)

COMMENT
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4. (SBU) Post expressed concern to BBC on the inaccuracy in the
translation of President Bush's message. Post will provide such
messages to news agencies directly to prevent inaccuracy in the
future. Post suspects that the one time, grave-yard shift broadcast
of the Charge's message on state Altyn Asyr TV channel was on
purpose, as the statement in Turkmen language prevented
mistranslation or manipulation of the message content. The TV crew
urged the Charge to make her statement in English during the
recording.

BRUSH