GOVERNMENT OF TURKMENISTAN'S FLEX OBSTRUCTION MORE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 06 ASHGABAT 001285

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

STATE FOR SCA/CEN (PERRY)
INFO SCA/PPD (VAN DE VATE),IIP/G/NEA-SA

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: KPAO PREL TX US
SUBJECT: GOVERNMENT OF TURKMENISTAN'S FLEX OBSTRUCTION MORE
ORCHESTRATED/WIDESPREAD THAN IN PRIOR YEARS

REF: Ashgabat 1194

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


1. (U) This year Future Leaders Exchange (FLEX) recruitment has
encountered an unprecedented level of interference and
disinformation from the Ministry of Education (MOE),despite
official approval of the program and host government rhetoric that
the problems will be resolved. As in past years, host government
interference has been directed through schools at the aspiring
student participants and their families and teachers, but the scale
of this year's harassment suggests a central directive by the
Ministry of Education to hinder every aspect of the recruitment and
testing process. Nearly all Round I and II testing is complete as
of December 18; while the total number of participants (1425) is
down just 0.6 percent over last year's -- already an artificially
low number -- the variation between testing sites indicates the
skewed demographic distribution of this year's testing pool. Charge
has protested host government interference in the testing process to
the MFA on a daily basis and has noted that she no longer can vouch
for the integrity of the testing program. Post is strongly
requesting that the government approve retesting in Turkmenabat,
Ahal (Tejen and Ruhabat) and Balkanabat, the sites of the most
egregious harassment, in order to re-establish the integrity of the
selection process. End Summary.

FLEX RECRUITMENT UNDER COORDINATED ASSAULT
--------------


2. (U) The FLEX recruitment process consists of three rounds of
tests, with the first a basic test of English. Those who pass Round
I are invited to Round II, a mock Test of English as a Foreign
Language. Once Round II results are returned in 4-5 weeks, high
scoring candidates are invited to Round III, which includes a more
detailed application and interview process. The only documents a
student needs for admittance to the testing site are a birth
certificate (a copy is fine initially) and a photograph. The host
government's tactics to hinder the testing process this year
included, but were not limited to, the following:

-- Telling students that being a Turkmen speaker and having a
recommendation letter from one's school/teacher were requirements
for taking the FLEX test.

-- Attempting to screen students for Turkmen language and/or
recommendation letters at the testing site and attempting to bar
entry for students without these documents.

-- Announcing or organizing mandatory tests of Turkmen history,
language, and culture, for non-ethnic Turkmen students planning to
take the FLEX test.

-- Openly telling non-ethnic Turkmen students who passed to the
second round that they would not be allowed to participate in the
program and pre-registering students so that only those registered
by their schools were allowed to attend the FLEX test.

-- Holding last-minute compulsory student activities on the day of
FLEX testing, such as academic "Olympiads."

-- Threatening students with expulsion for participation or
suspected participation in the FLEX test, even if the test was on a
Sunday.

--Threatening to fire students' teachers or parents if the student
participated in testing.

-- Attempting to prevent entry to students from rural areas or
students who were poorly dressed/appeared to be poor or from rural
areas.

-- Removing or attempting to remove students already screened and
approved by ACCELS staff from the testing room.

-- Verbally harassing/discouraging students waiting to enter
testing.

ASHGABAT 00001285 002 OF 006



-- Claiming that the FLEX program would force children to join
American religious sects and/or that those who pass would not be
allowed to enter Turkmen universities, or be employed in
TurkQnistan as a result of their participation in the FLEX program


When compared with Round I turnout during 2005-06 recruitment,
participation this year dropped dramatically in Turkmenabat (54
percent down),Ruhabat and Tejen (51 percent down),and Balkanabat
(40 percent down),with rises in Turkmenbashy (up 69 percent); Mary
(up 10 percent); Dashoguz (up 36 percent); and Ashgabat (up 36
percent).

BATTLE TO BEGIN RECRUITMENT A TASTE OF WHAT WAS TO COME
-------------- --------------


3. (U) As in previous years, embassy submitted a request for
permission to conduct Round I and II FLEX testing in autumn, and as
in previous years the Ministry of Education delayed its permission
until the last possible moment, following weeks of daily requests
from PAO and Charge for recruitment to commence. In the interim,
ACCELS advertised through a series of information sessions held at
the American Corners and through word of mouth. Finally, the
government "approved" the program (which has operated virtually
unchanged for over 10 years) via diplomatic note 09/5242n of
November 24. The government issued diplomatic note 09/6347n on
November 27, 2006 requesting a cap of a total of 50 students be
accepted to the program. Embassy has not responded to the note, but
in discussions with MOE and MFA has rejected the idea of a cap.
Upon receipt of the diplomatic note approving the program, ACCELS
immediately began recruiting in the regions outside Ashgabat.


4. (U) Following last year's practice, post sent at least one
embassy representative to each testing site in order to deter
government intimidation of the applicants, their families and
teachers. This presence dampened some host government harassment of
participants at the testing sites, but post heard reports from all
sites but one -- Mary -- that many interested students never even
approached the testing site because of threats they received a day
or more prior to the test.

Balkan Welayat
--------------


5. (U) The first round of testing took place in Turkmenbashy City
and Balkanabat in Balkan Welayat (province) on November 29 and 30.
Host government interference was apparent from the outset, and
included a systematic attempt to discriminate against Balkan
students based on their ethnicity. In advance of the testing,
embassy learned from ACCELS that students in Balkan Welayat were
being told by their schools that only Turkmen speakers with
reference letters from their schools could participate in the first
round of English language testing for FLEX. School directors were
instructed to notify their students that those participating in the
FLEX test without a reference would get disciplinary action for
missing classes at school and for not obeying the director's
instructions. Supposedly, all students who had a good academic
performance were given references by their schools regardless of
nationality, but some non-ethnic Turkmen students reported that thQ
had to beg their school directors and/or teachers to give them a
reference. Education officials in both Turkmenbashy and Balkanabat
told embassy FSN that these requirements resulted from direct
instructions from MOE. Students and teachers reported that school
officials had gathered non-ethnic Turkmen students and told them
that they in particular would be prohibited from taking the test.


6. (U) Embassy has also learned of widespread, internal MOE
screening for FLEX in Balkanabat. In some schools, the deputy
principals, a Turkmen language teacher, a Turkmen history teacher
and a Ruhnama teacher tested non-Turkmen students' knowledge of
Turkmen language, history and Ruhnama. (Ethnic Turkmen students
were not tested in this way. It is unclear whether "failing" these
tests kept non-Turkmen from participating in the FLEX testing.) The
Balkan Welayat Department of Education tried to prevent students
with "satisfactory" marks (3 or similar to a "C") and below, in
Turkmen language, from participating in FLEX test.

ASHGABAT 00001285 003 OF 006




7. (U) At both Balkan testing sites, embassy and ACCELS staff
witnessed groups of teachers and school administrators trying to
prevent anyone who did not speak Turkmen and without a reference
letter from participating in the test. In a couple of cases,
directors of schools entered the testing room and tried to prevent
students without reference letters from taking the test; when they
were told by embassy and ACCELS staff that no references were needed
for the test, they then tried to harass those students by saying
that they would have a separate "talk" at school next day. Embassy
continued to receive reports of harassment even after the testing,
with several Round II participants reporting that their teachers
told them they would not be allowed to go to the United States on
FLEX because of their ethnicity.


8. Embassy personnel in Turkmenbashy and Balkanabat engaged
throughout the day with welayat and/or city Department of Education
officials, school administrators, and parents and students to combat
misinformation and physically ensure that students could reach and
stay in the testing rooms. ACCELS staff held additional Round I
tests in Turkmenbashy and in Balkanabat to accommodate large numbers
of students in the latter case and late arrivals who had been
prevented through threats from attending the morning Round I test.


MARY -- AN ISLAND OF COMPARATIVE CALM
--------------


9. POLOff and POL/ECON FSN accompanied ACCELS to testing in Mary
City on December 4, though their main role became herding the
excited students into lines and ensuring that the many students who
turned out for Round I were able to take the Round I test in one of
the four shifts held throughout the day. Programming and
recruitment in Mary was been relatively problem-free compared to
other regions.

AHAL: SHOWDOWN IN A GHOST TOWN
--------------


10. (U) Testing in Ahal Welayat took place over two days, on
December 6 in Tejen and December 8 in Ruhabat, and the low turnout
bore the marks of MOE interference. A/DCM and POL/ECON FSN attended
the Tejen testing, while Charge, CAO, and POL/ECON FSN attended the
testing in Ruhabat; the Charge also met with the local district
governor and national and local education officials on December 8.
A representative from the Ahal educational department directly told
the ACCELS Country Director that school administrators pre-selected
students for the FLEX test according to whether they demonstrated
good behavior and good English skills. He said that the move was
intended to "help" ACCELS recruit only those students who would best
represent their country.


11. (U) In Tejen, students reported to ACCELS that they had been
instructed by their teachers that producing a "maglumat" and/or
pre-registering to attend the testing were ACCELS requirements.
(Comment: The "maglumat" is a document, similar to the Third
Reich-period Aryan racial purity Ahnenpass, tracing one's Turkmen
genealogy back three generations; it is a required document when
applying to university and for state employment. End Comment.) One
student in Tejen was intercepted within the school doors and
directed to the school administrator's office, where, because he
could not produce his maglumat he was sent home; A/DCM found him
outside and escorted him back to the testing room.


12. (U) For the Ruhabat testing, post received reports from
parents, students and teachers from various schools in the town's
larger neighbor, Abadan, that the city's schools would be holding
mandatory Olympiad tryouts on December 8. Post heard that those
students who called in sick would be reprimanded, on assumption that
they were taking the FLEX test, and that the teachers of
participating students would be fired. Students who appeared for
testing in Ruhabat confirmed that they were attending in violation
of their school directors' and teachers' orders. Most of the three
dozen participating students -- of which only four were female --
came from the Turkmen-Turkish High School. Following the morning
Round I test, the school director demanded the list of all students
who participated in Round I, in violation of ACCELS policy.

ASHGABAT 00001285 004 OF 006




13. (U) Charge personally appealed to the students, parents,
teachers and MOE representatives present for Round I in Ruhabat to
tell their interested friends that they could come for Round I later
in the day, if they needed to, and that they were welcome to test in
Ashgabat on December 17. During her subsequent meeting, MOE, MFA
and school officials insisted there had been no effort to disrupt
the testing and gently suggested that "perhaps this year there was
less interest in going to America." Charge replied that a 50% drop
in interest in the FLEX program over the course of the year was a
statistical impossibility. Rather, she said, the government was
making a concerted effort to prevent children from applying.


14. (U) In a separate meeting with the Ruhabat District Governor,
Amansoltan Mahmudova, Charge said she was surprised and disappointed
to see so few children from the president's own birthplace applying
for the program. Charge encouraged Mahmudova to have a strong
showing of Ruhabat Etrap applicants during the December 17 testing
in Ashgabat.

MORE FROM THE TOWN THAT BANS HALLOWEEN
--------------


15. (U) Government harassment reached its most dramatic form on
December 10-11 during testing in Turkmenabat City, Turkmenistan's
second most populous city after Ashgabat. Historically a difficult
area for post programming, the local education representative,
Kerimberdi Masyrypov, has been especially nasty toward the American
Corner and its partners in the past two years (reftel).


16. (U) Fewer than half the usual number of students turned out for
Round I testing on Sunday, December 10; ACCELS learned that many
students had been asked to sign a form promising not to participate
in FLEX; that their parents had been threatened with firing if their
children participated; and that schools threatened to lower
students' grades and fire individual teachers if students
participated. Moreover, after ACCELS set a date for testing in
Turkmenabat, a mandatory all-city, all-subject Olympiad was
scheduled for December 10. As a result, fewer than 130 students
took the first round test; Turkmenabat's seven-year average for
Round I turnout is 238 students.


17. (U) Before the arrival of ACCELS and embassy representatives,
Masyrypov barred test takers, their parents, as well as
ACCELS-designated test proctors from entering the building. He also
announced to parents that FLEX would send their children to join
religious sects in the United States. Under his direction, local
Education Department officials sought to inspect all birth
certificates (instead of ACCELS) and to prevent parents from
attending the ACCELS pre-test presentation. These issues were
overcome, yet PAO and PD FSN observed teachers verbally harassing
and trying to convince waiting students to leave.


18. (U) ACCELS announced additional Round I tests for Monday
December 11 -- a plan Ministry of Education representative Nury
Bayramov verbally endorsed in two separate phone calls with PAO.
However, Bayramov reportedly never passed on this message, leading
Masyrypov to bar students interested in Round I from entering the
school on the 11th.


19. (U) December 11 testing for round II hit major resistance from
local officials led by Masyrypov. After officials barred parents
from listening to the pre-Round II announcement, ACCELS decided to
give its presentation outside the school entrance. Given
restrictions on movement and the intimidation at the school, ACCELS
conducted additional, limited testing at the American Corner. The
American Corner was visited first by Masyrypov, then later by two
local officials demanding to inspect the premises, who then forced
three of four students to leave a round II test; the fourth student
left of her own accord out of fear. Several other interested
students who arrived hoping to take the test were turned away.
Local officials threatened an ACCELS staff member at the American
Corner, and later at her home, with unspecified Ministry of National
Security (MNB) action.

DASHOGUZ - NUMBERS UP, DESPITE HARRASSMENT
--------------

ASHGABAT 00001285 005 OF 006




20. (U) A/DCM and PD FSN attended testing in Dashoguz on December
13, where the numbers were up despite stories that most children in
the city had been warned the day before by their school directors
not to attend testing. ACCELS learned that at least three children
in particular who had been preparing for the test were stopped from
attending. During the day A/DCM stopped a school director from
trying to remove one child from the testing because he did not have
a recommendation letter; shortly afterwards, officials from the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, provincial government and the municipal
education department arrived, and A/DCM talked to them, stressing
U.S. interest in ensuring that testing be transparent and
non-discriminatory. As at the other testing sites, several students
arrived after school hours because they had not been able to obtain
permission to come during the day.

ASHGABAT
--------------


21. (U) Charge's months-long request for a meeting with Minister of
Education Shemshat Annagylyjova finally was granted at the last hour
of Friday, December 15, the last working day of the FLEX testing
period. During this meeting, the Charge and PAO pushed for a
cancellation of the Ashgabat city-wide Olympiad scheduled for
Sunday, December 17 (during Ashgabat Round I testing). The minister
relented only by canceling the Olympiad for the test site, School

15. The Charge also warned that a high-level State Department
official would be sending a letter to President Niyazov protesting
MOE interference in this year's FLEX program recruitment. She said
only MOE agreement to retest in Balkanabat, Turkmenabat, Tejen and
Ruhabat could prevent this letter. Charge also noted that many of
these problems could have been averted if Annagylyjova had agreed to
meet earlier in the process and if the process had been approved two
months earlier, as the embassy had requested. Annagylyjova
responded that she had been too busy with the second opening of the
Turkmen Fairy Tales amusement park to meet. (Comment: The $50
million MOE-funded complex had its first opening a month earlier for
Independence Day, but MOE had been unable to train park operators
sufficiently to keep the park open. The park "reopened" as part of
the DeQmber 11 Neutrality Day activities). She admitted that MOE
was pre-screening for Turkmen ethnic purity and also that the
Olympiads had been scheduled for the same dates as the FLEX testing,
but denied there had been any written or oral instruction for MOE
officials to disrupt the testing. After Annagylyjova accused Charge
of spreading rumors and false information, Charge responded with a
quote from Annagylyjova to President Niyazov when accepting her new
duty as Rector of Turkmen-Turkish University: "I promise to work
honestly." Charge noted that that was how she served her president
and she expected Annagylyjova to do the same.


22. (U) Charge saw Foreign Minister Meredov later that evening at
Kazakhstani National Day and alerted him to the State Department
letter. She noted her meeting with Minister Annagylyjova was too
little, too late, and said that there was nothing she could do to
stop the letter, absent government agreement to retest at
Balkanabat, Turkmenabat, Tejen and Ruhabat. Meredov implored Charge
to act "wisely," and said he was certain we could find a solution.



23. (U) As expected, there was no interference from school or
ministry officials at the Ashgabat testing site on December 17,
although students trickled in throughout the day as they snuck out
of Olympiads or finished their Olympiads early. ACCELS opted to
score all tests immediately, leaving no opportunity for MOE
interference on Monday, and began three days of Round II testing on
December 19. The last Ashgabat Round II test date, December 20, is
also a make-up test date for the children in Turkmenabat who were
kicked out of their Round II test. The Ashgabat testing site
usually draws four to five times the numbers at other sites, and is
open to students from all regions. This year post was hoping for
higher numbers of regional participants -- only about 6% came from
outside Ashgabat and those numbers did not include students ACCELS
knew had been intQidated from testing at their home testing sites.


COMMENT
--------------

ASHGABAT 00001285 006 OF 006




24. (SBU) The fiasco in Turkmenabat demonstraQs that the host
government will continue to use any means to disrupt FLEX testing.
The host government may be hoping the higher turnout in Ashgabat
will assuage post's efforts to demand re-testing, but post is
convinced that this year's bullying is only a prelude to
difficulties in Round III and beyond. For example, MOE still is
insisting on a cap of 50 students. While our Ministry of Foreign
Affairs interlocutors express concern about post's protests and
Department's reinforcement through Turkmenistan Ambassador Orazov,
the host government has done nothing to improve the situation. Two
individuals in particular have defined themselves as human rights
violators by practicing blatant discrimination against
Turkmenistan's minorities: MFA's Nury Bayramov and MOE's
Turkmenabat representative, Kerimberdy Masyrypov. Moreover, as the
Minister of Education repeatedly dodged post's requests for a
meeting to discuss the situation until the "final hour" before the
last scheduled FLEX test, only a threat to go directly to President
Niyazov reduced -- but did not eliminate entirely -- interference in
the Ashgabat testing. MOE once again tried to force the 50-student
cap, which embassy has steadfastly rejected. Post will continue to
demand that ACCELS be permitted to retest in Turkmenabat, Ahal
Welayat, and Balkanabat, where student numbers were lowest and
intimidation most egregious. End Comment.

BRUSH