MODEST VICTORIES TO ACHIEVE COVERAGE OF A/S BOUCHER VISIT

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ASHGABAT 000216

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


SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: KMDR KPAO OIIP PREL PGOV AF TX
SUBJECT: MODEST VICTORIES TO ACHIEVE COVERAGE OF A/S BOUCHER VISIT

Reftel: Ashgabat 215

Summary
--------------


1. (U) Local and international media provided relatively accurate
and full coverage of the Ashgabat portions of the visit of Assistant
Secretary for South and Central Asia Richard Boucher. However, host

SIPDIS
government efforts to ban local and international coverage of his
appearance at the Turkmenabat Pedagogical Institute were successful,
despite post's efforts to work around these barriers. Nonetheless,
a backup media event in Ashgabat permitted Boucher to highlight the
heavy emphasis his visit placed on education -- and to help combat
persistent media attention to peripheral issues and rumors, such as
Mary airbase plans.

Pre-Inauguration Speculation
--------------


2. (U) Prior to Assistant Secretary Boucher's arrival in
Turkmenistan, both international press -- Reuters, Itar Tass and
others -- and Turkmenistan state media reported his impending
attendance at the February 14 inauguration ceremony. Some outlets
-- particularly Russian sources -- suggested that his participation,
like that of representatives from other countries in Europe and the
former Soviet Union, was an attempt to get a foot in the door on
post-inaugural gas deals and similar ventures. One such piece ran
in the Russian Press Digest -- Russica Izvestia -- on February 15.


3. (U) BBC World Service's World Update radio program conducted a
phone interview with Boucher on February 14 which was rebroadcast
almost in full and excerpts of which appeared on that website the
same day. The interviewer had asked what role the United States was
to play in a new "great game" in the region, to which Boucher
replied "We're not here to play games. We have made it clear
throughout this region that we're not here to contend with anybody
or to push anybody out. We're here to maximize the independence of
these nations."


4. (U) International outlets covered some of the bilateral meetings
Boucher held after the inauguration, such as that with Tajikistan's
President Emomali Rahmanov, and with Kazakhistan's President
Nursultan Nazarbayev. Coverage was brief and emphasized efforts to
expand regional cooperation. State media did not cover the
bilateral meetings.

State Media Coverage Comically Unprofessional
--------------


5. (U) Immediately following his February 15 meeting with President
Gurbanguly Berdimuhammedov, state press took an interview with
Boucher, with Embassy FSN translation into Turkmen. Post issued
Turkmen state television a revised Turkmen translation and a Russian
translation, for its eventual broadcast of the story. State
television did not use post's revised Turkmen translation -- but
rebroadcast the Russian translation in full up to the end, cutting
off the ending statement "So today we talked about the future, how
we can work together and how we can develop our relationship."


6. (U) The February 16 editions of the state dailies "Neytralniy
Turkmenistan" (Russian, circ. 35,091) and "Turkmenistan" (Turkmen,
circ. 28,091) both gave the Boucher-Berdimuhammedov meeting
high-profile, above-the-fold coverage with photographs; by contrast,
Berdimuhammedov's meeting with Russian Prime Minister Mikhail
Fradkov appeared below the fold in the same editions. However, the
text accompanying the photo used only those segments of Boucher's
interview that praised Turkmenistan or gently suggested plans for
educational reform. (Note: The same issue placed Berdimuhammedov's
two educational decrees -- described reftel -- directly to the right
of Boucher's photographs. End Note.) The regional newspapers for
each welayat printed the same text on February 17 but placed the
stories differently. Comically, Balkan, the Balkan Welayat weekly,
printed a photograph of the European Union delegation meeting with
Berdimuhammedov under the title "U.S. Secretary of States meets with
President" while the photograph of Boucher and Charge d'Affaires
Brush appeared on the inside of the paper's front page, under the
heading that the Libyan delegation had met with the new president.


State Strictly Controls Turkmenabat Press Event
-------------- --


7. (U) Post pressed to ensure that both state and international
press would be able to attend Boucher's visit February 16 to the
Turkmenabat Pedagogical Institute, where Boucher delivered comments
emphasizing the U.S. Government's high priority on educational

ASHGABAT 00000216 002 OF 002


development in Turkmenistan. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs
refused permission to both local and international journalists to
travel to Turkmenabat, and refused to give permission to state press
to cover the event. Post distributed an embargoed copy of Boucher's
remarks on February 15, on the request of stringers from Associated
Press and Reuters, and followed up by distributing photos of the
event to journalists at a late February 16 press conference at the
Public Affairs Section in Ashgabat. Post has not seen any
international or state coverage of the Turkmenabat Pedagogical
Institute event.

International Take on Boucher Press Conference
-------------- -


8. (U) Reuters printed several articles before and after the
February 14 inauguration and after the February 16 press conference,
emphasizing international criticism of Turkmenistan for human rights
abuses, and in this context noted that "Boucher said he was hopeful
for change, defending a policy of engaging with Turkmenistan before
it demonstrates progress on human rights." The Washington Post ran
a Reuters article on February 16 that draws accurately from
Boucher's statements at the press conference and which included
Boucher's refutation of a suggestion, made by a Le Monde reporter,
that the U.S. Government would support expansion of its current
overflight rights -- to include establishment of a base in Mary. Le
Monde and the Associated Press both ran pieces on the inauguration
and Boucher's presence, drawing from Boucher's remarks at the press
conference.

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


9. (U) State press successfully hampered post's efforts to achieve
maximum press exposure of Boucher's visit. Journalists' questions
at the press conference revealed a continuing desire by
international press to cast the U.S. Government's interest in terms
of oil and gas issues or another "great game" -- reinforcing the
importance of the concluding press conference and earlier BBC
interview in which Boucher had an opportunity to refute such claims.



10. (U) Post has attempted to have the video of the Turkmenabat
Pedagogical Institute event or at least Boucher's cleared comments,
placed in state press but these attempts have been rejected.
Nonetheless, state press' willingness to accept and rebroadcast
post's re-translation of Boucher's remarks to state press indicate
at least a modest desire to provide coverage of high profile USG
visits. End Comment.

BRUSH