FOREIGN MINISTER MEREDOV SAYS TURKMENISTAN HAS

S E C R E T ASHGABAT 000828 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPT FOR ISN/CPI (RUSSELL) AND SCA (PERRY) E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/03/2016 TAGS: IR KN PARM PGOV PREL TX SUBJECT: FOREIGN MINISTER MEREDOV SAYS TURKMENISTAN HAS DENIED FIVE ADDITIONAL OVERFLIGHTS FOR DPRK-IRAN FLIGHTS REF: A. (A) STATE 125487 ¶B. (B) ASHGABAT 767 ¶C. (C) STATE 117794 ¶D. (D) ASHGABAT 804 Classified By: Charge d'Affaires Jennifer L. Brush, for reasons 1.4 (b) , (c) and (d) ¶1. (S) Charge delivered ref A appreciation to Turkmenistan's Foreign Minister Rashit Meredov on August 3. Meredov took meticulous notes and said he would convey text verbatim to President Niyazov. Meredov added that "for your information only," the Government of Turkmenistan had denied overflight to five DPRK-Iran flights in addition to the two requested by the USG. Referring to the July 24-25 visit to Turkmenistan of Iranian President Ahmadinejad (ref D), Meredov noted, "Ahmadinejad never said a word about these denials" in his dicussions with Niyazov. ¶2. (S) In response to Charge's request for any additional information regarding the Ahmadinejad visit, Meredov said, "there's nothing more to say other than what was covered in the press, it was mostly a visit to talk about trade." Meredov feigned surprise when Charge asked if President Niyazov raised Iran's nuclear program with Ahmadinejad, saying, "it wasn't that kind of visit." Meredov declined to give any additional details on his impression of Ahmadinejad. Comment -------------- ¶3. (S) Embassy will continue to encourage the Government of Turkmenistan to support the P5 1 Initiative on Iran more publicly though we think more than cooperation on denying overflights and the one public statement in support of the intiative is unlikely. Iran is too big and too close for Turkmenistan to risk provoking its neighbor. End Comment. BRUSH