EUR/ACE Adams' Visit: Turkmenistan's Newest

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ASHGABAT 000175 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS DEPT FOR SCA/CEN (PERRY); INL (BUHLER); EUR/ACE (MCKANE) E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: EAID PGOV PHUM SNAR KIPR PREL TX US SUBJECT: EUR/ACE Adams' Visit: Turkmenistan's Newest Border-Crossing Checkpoint Station Summary -------------- ¶1. (SBU) U.S. government security assistance delegates visiting Turkmenistan January 31-February 2 met with law-enforcement donor-community members from several international organizations and diplomatic missions for a discussion that quickly focused on border-security issues, specifically border-crossing checkpoints. The discussion proved a relevant prelude to the February 2 trip to the newly-constructed U.S.-funded border-crossing checkpoint station at Altyn Asyr in Balkan Welayat (province) on the Iranian border. The drive through the foothills of the Kopet Dag mountain range separating Iran from Turkmenistan proved to be equal parts beautiful and educational. End Summary. Law Enforcement Donors Meeting -------------- ¶2. (SBU) During a specially scheduled law-enforcement donors-group meeting on February 1, several members of EUR/ACE Coordinator Adams's delegation visiting Turkmenistan met with local representatives from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC),Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, International Organization for Migration, European Union Border Management for Central Asia- Central Asia Drug Management Program (BOMCA-CADAP),and embassy security assistance officers for the International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL) program and the Nevada National Guard program. (Note: Post's Export Control and Related Border Security Program (EXBS) manager was traveling. End Note.) The informal meeting was an opportunity to share information about current and planned projects in a concerted effort to avoid redundancies, compare notes on successes and trends with the host government, and plan future cooperative efforts with regard to law enforcement programs in Turkmenistan. The donors' portfolios are broad, but share commonalities in several areas, in particular, law-enforcement training and equipping to enhance border security and to combat narcotics trafficking. Border Crossing Checkpoints -------------- ¶3. (SBU) Delegates learned about the USG's completed border-crossing checkpoint project at Altyn Asyr, the current construction project at the Imamnazar border-crossing checkpoint on the border with Afghanistan, and the BOMCA-CADAP checkpoint project at Kone Urgench on the border with Uzbekistan. The Altyn Asyr ($2.5 million) and Imamnazar ($1.8) projects are funded by U.S Central Command 2005 supplemental funds; the Imamnazar project funding is supplemented by Department of State 2005 project funds that were granted to UNODC ($600,000). Both of these are turnkey projects: when completed, the stations are fully operational. ¶4. (SBU) The EU's BOMCA-CADAP construction project ($1.8 million) is for infrastructure only and will require Government of Turkmenistan funding to become operational. All donors agreed that since, historically, pet project funds were granted by former President Niyazov, it was now uncertain whether or how the 9 to 11 agencies working at border-crossing checkpoints would get requisite funds to either construct an entire station or furnish a completed building. (Note: Most ministries/agencies are self-financed and do not receive funding from the national budget. End Note.) The UK Embassy representative told of the challenges the UK faced to complete the border station built at Serhetabad, along the Iranian border, in 2004; additional funds had to be solicited from the international community to complete the project. ¶5. (SBU) The donors and U.S. delegates discussed the need for a two-pronged approach towards integrated border management. At the international level, Turkmenistan needed to work cooperatively with regional border-sharing neighbors to improve cross-border communication. (Comment: Such cooperation is currently minimal. End Comment.) At the national level, the Government of Turkmenistan must develop integrated inter-agency working relations among the many ministries and agencies located at the checkpoints. The UNODC representative announced the government's tacit approval for an ASHGABAT 00000175 002 OF 002 April cross-border conference between checkpoint officers working at Imamnazar with their counterparts working across the border in Afghanistan. The EU-BOMCA-CADAP representative said a previous integrated internal border-management conference co-hosted by OSCE was at first glance successful, but that few of the trained officers at the conference were still working in their assigned positions. All agreed many obstacles still need to be addressed. Border Security Program in Action -------------- ¶6. (SBU) After a lengthy trip through the desert and along the border with Iran, the delegation spent just an hour at the border touring the new border station. Participants had expected to meet the inter-agency commission scheduled to complete the handover from the Nevada National Guard and contractor, but the commission arrived just prior to the delegation's departure. Though local government representatives expressed gratitude for the new facility, they mostly remained in the shadows during the Turkish construction contractor-hosted tour of the station. The group learned that the Government of Turkmenistan still needed to complete an entry road from the Iranian side to the station, and the parking area needed to be paved one more time by the contractor, but the station was otherwise ready for business. Comment -------------- ¶7. (SBU) This trip to the Iran border was an opportunity to see the final product of one of the USG's successful counter-narcotics projects in Turkmenistan. Under discussion during the donors meeting were three disparate results of international-community projects for securing Turkmenistan's borders with border crossing stations: European (build the infrastructure only); U.S. (provide a turnkey facility); and British (insufficient funding to complete the project.) The U.S. visitors saw that the law-enforcement donor agencies in Turkmenistan knew each other's projects well and worked together to coordinate efforts. All agreed that a higher level of integration and sharing of project-participant lists and training objectives were desirable next steps for the ad hoc group. All also agreed that construction of the Imannazar station provided an excellent opportunity to pursue increased border cooperation between the Governments of Afghanistan and Turkmenistan. End Comment. BRUSH