TURKMENISTAN PRESIDENT PLEASED WITH NEW YORK TRIP;

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 ASHGABAT 001053

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

STATE FOR SCA/CEN, EUR/ACE, EEB, DRL, ECA

E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/01/2017
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM ECON EPET SCUL KPAO KIRF TX
SUBJECT: TURKMENISTAN PRESIDENT PLEASED WITH NEW YORK TRIP;
NEXT STEPS


Classified By: CHARGE RICHARD E. HOAGLAND FOR REASONS 1.4 (B) AND (D)


1. (C) SUMMARY: According to Foreign Minister Meredov,
President Berdimuhamedov left New York with a strongly
positive reaction to his bilateral, business, and UN
meetings. Meredov said the president asked him to thank the
United States for its high level of professionalism in
organization and protocol. The president,s two events at
Columbia University further cemented his view of the value of
educational exchanges and his desire for a U.S. university
presence in Ashgabat. One unplanned meeting Meredov singled
out was with a senior executive from Midland Oil. As a
result of te trip, Meredov said, we have two deliverables to
work on: the president,s proposal to Secretary Rice, to
which she had agreed, to establish a bilateral energy working
group of legal and technical experts; and the possibility of
establishing a U.S.-Turkmenistan business council as a result
of the president,s business luncheon sponsored by the
Eurasia Group. Action Request: Please see para 14. END
SUMMARY.


2. (SBU) Charge met with Foreign Minister Rashit Meredov
September 28 for a read-out of President Gurbanguly
Berdimuhamedov,s September 23-27 visit to New York for the
UN General Assembly. Meredov passed along the president,s
thanks to the U.S. side for the excellent organization and
protocol of the visit. Meredov said, "We learned a lot from
it." The respectful and positive atmosphere, especially in
the meeting with Secretary Rice, "will lead to the further
development of relations and will advance legal and
democratic reform in Turkmenistan." Meredov judged the most
important result of the visit is that the president is more
than ever convinced of the value of educational exchanges.

COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY: THE VALUE OF EDUCATIONAL EXCHANGES


3. (SBU) Meredov reported Berdimuhamedov was especially
pleased with his program at Columbia University and truly
enjoyed the exchange of views. Meredov commented the
president was initially taken aback by some of the direct and
difficult questions from the academic audience -- for example
about the status of the imprisoned former Foreign Minister
Shihmuradov and former Ambassador to OSCE Berdiyev -- but
allegedly commented later that he wished students in
Turkmenistan would be so bold.


4. (SBU) Following his speech at Columbia University,
Berdimuhamedov participated in a round-table discussion at
the university,s Harriman Institute. Meredov said the
president was impressed by the detailed knowledge of the
American intelligentsia and commented again on the value of
"open dialogue." Meredov said Berdimuhamedov,s main message
for both Columbia events was "our door is open to the world"
and his desire for more educational exchanges.


5. (SBU) Further on educational exchanges, Meredov said the
president repeated his desire to establish an American
University in Turkmenistan. If not that -- and he realizes
it may not be possible in the short term -- he would like to
have a U.S. university open a branch (filial) or specialized
study center in Ashgabat. Meredov commented the first step
might be to establish a university linkage for exchange of
students and professors.


6. (C) COMMENT: We are struck by the difference between the
president,s views and the roadblocks thrown up by the
Ministry of Education, specifically by the Director of
International Relations, Nury Bayramov. We have raised the
Bayramov problem twice with Foreign Minister Meredov, noting
specifically that Bayramov is blocking the president,s
intentions. We are now beginning to work with the EU and

ASHGABAT 00001053 002 OF 003


other like-minded ambassadors to consider the possibility of
a joint demarche on this problem. END COMMENT.

OTHER MEETINGS AND EVENTS


7. (SBU) Meredov reported the president thought his luncheon
with U.S. business leaders sponsored by the Eurasia Group was
a success, as was his side meetings with specific businesses.
One concrete result is that the government will give Chevron
permission to open its offices in one of the now under-used
hotels on Niyazov,s "hotel row" that he had ordered
constructed in the 1990s across the ring road from the U.S.
Embassy housing compound, a prestigious location.


8. (SBU) Meredov said he,d heard that the going rate for
the luncheon was $10,000 and $25,000, and wanted to know if
that was per person. Charge explained that corporate
sponsorship of the event, a common practice in the U.S.
business world, was at $10,000 per table, and $25,000 to be
seated at the head table, and that the income is used to pay
for the event and to fund Eurasia Group activities and
programs. (COMMENT: To the Turkmenistanis, this looked like
the familiar bribes-for-access common in Central Asia. END
COMMENT.)


9. (SBU) Berdimuhamedov visited the New York stock exchange
where his interlocutor was the Vice President for
International Relations whom Meredov said was "your former
lady ambassador to Morocco." (NOTE: We believe this is
Margaret Tutwiler. END NOTE.) Meredov commented the
president was impressed by her knowledge of current
conditions in Turkmenistan, and especially enjoyed his tour
of the trading floor.


10. (SBU) Meredov judged that the president,s many
bilateral and official UN meetings had been successful. He
singled out Berdimuhamedov,s bilateral meeting the UNICEF
Executive Director and former Secretary of Agriculture Ann
Veneman, saying that she had charmed and delighted the
president with her warm attitude and encyclopedic knowledge
of conditions in Turkmenistan.

APOLOGY FOR THE MISSED MEREDOV-BOUCHER MEETING: "BLAME
MIDLAND OIL"


11. (C) Meredov asked that his sincere apology be passed to
Assistant Secretary Richard Boucher for their missed
meetings. He explained he had had to cancel the first
late-afternoon meeting because the president had called a
snap briefing to prepare him further for his attendance at
the UN Secretary General,s reception later that evening.
Meredov had had to cancel the rescheduled meeting the next
morning, much to his dismay, he said, because "a high level
on your side (NFI) requested an urgent and unscheduled
meeting" with Berdimuhamedov for a senior executive of
Midland Oil (Texas),Roger Murphy (name as received).
Meredov declined to be drawn out on the content of the
meeting.

SUMMING UP: BE PATIENT, AND NEXT STEPS


12. (C) Summing up, Meredov said, "Be patient, and we will
get to where we both want to go." Specifically on religious
freedom, he repeated his and the president,s message to the
U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom: "If
there are individual religious groups you want registered,
tell us. Of course we will investigate first to ensure they
are not radical, extremist, or plan to violate the rights of
others, but we are serious about working with you on this
issue."


ASHGABAT 00001053 003 OF 003



13. (C) Meredov said he saw two "next steps" from the visit.
Establish the bilateral energy working group of technical
and legal experts Berdimuhamedov had proposed to Secretary
Rice, and to which she had agreed. He clarified this means
U.S. legal experts and Turkmenistani technical experts. And
consider establishing a U.S.-Turkmenistan business council,
an idea that developed from the Eurasia Group luncheon with
U.S. business leaders, and to which Berdimuhamedov had agreed.


14. (U) ACTION REQUEST: If possible, please provide a
front-channel read-out of President Berdimuhamedov,s
meetying with Secretary Rice.


15. (SBU) COMMENT: We are struck by the positive and
business-like read-out Meredov provided of Berdimuhamedov,s
visit to New York. We judge the Turkmenistani side is
sincere in its desire to build on this visit to accomplish
"next steps." END COMMENT.

HOAGLAND