Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
07ASHGABAT460
2007-05-07 12:39:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Ashgabat
Cable title:  

LTG WHITCOMB VISIT TO TURKMENISTAN, 24-25 APRIL

Tags:  PREL PGOV TX 
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INFO RHMFIUU/CMDCFLCC ARIFJAN KU PRIORITY
RHMFISS/USATHIRD-3A COMMAND GROUP FT MCPHERSON GA PRIORITY
RUCNCIS/CIS COLLECTIVE
RUEHLM/AMEMBASSY COLOMBO 0280
RUEHKA/AMEMBASSY DHAKA 0302
RUEHIL/AMEMBASSY ISLAMABAD 1985
RUEHBUL/AMEMBASSY KABUL 0728
RUEHKT/AMEMBASSY KATHMANDU 0145
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RUEHCG/AMCONSUL CHENNAI 0056
RUEHKP/AMCONSUL KARACHI 0105
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RUEHLH/AMCONSUL LAHORE 0041
RUEHBI/AMCONSUL MUMBAI 0066
RUEHPW/AMCONSUL PESHAWAR 0379
RHMFISS/CDR USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC//DHO-2/REA/NMJIC-J2//
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHINGTON DC//J5/RUE//
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 ASHGABAT 000460 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR SCA/CEN (PERRY)

E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/07/2017
TAGS: PREL PGOV TX
SUBJECT: LTG WHITCOMB VISIT TO TURKMENISTAN, 24-25 APRIL

ASHGABAT 00000460 001.2 OF 003


Classified By: Charge d'Affaires Jennifer L. Brush and LTC James F. Zin
k, Defense and Army Attache, E.O. 12958, for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)

-------
SUMMARY
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C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 ASHGABAT 000460

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR SCA/CEN (PERRY)

E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/07/2017
TAGS: PREL PGOV TX
SUBJECT: LTG WHITCOMB VISIT TO TURKMENISTAN, 24-25 APRIL

ASHGABAT 00000460 001.2 OF 003


Classified By: Charge d'Affaires Jennifer L. Brush and LTC James F. Zin
k, Defense and Army Attache, E.O. 12958, for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)

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


1. (C) Commander, ARCENT was cordially received in meetings
with Turkmenistan's Deputy Defense Minister and Deputy
Foreign Minister on April 25, 2007. The Deputy Defense
Minister characterized current military cooperation with the
United States as 'good,' especially in the areas of
humanitarian support for Afghanistan and CENTCOM's military
contact plan, and was certain bilateral military cooperation
would broaden in the future. The Deputy Foreign Minister
stated Turkmenistan valued its relationship with the United
States, as demonstrated by the posting of a defense attach
to Washington, and that this visit was a good opportunity to
discuss various aspects of our bilateral cooperation. Both
Turkmenistan officials expressed interest in the current
situation in Afghanistan. End Summary.

--------------
MINISTRY OF DEFENSE
--------------


2. (C) Reading from a one-page prepared script, Deputy
Defense Minister for Armaments COL Guchmyrat Ashyrov welcomed
LTG Whitcomb to Turkmenistan and apologized for the absence
of the defense minister and first deputy minister. (Comment:
Defense Minister GEN Mammetgeldiyev had not yet returned
from the short-notice trip to Moscow and acting Chief of the
General Staff COL Atabayev was at the U.S.-funded
Multilateral Planners Conference V in South Korea.) COL
Ashyrov noted the good level of bilateral cooperation, in
particular in providing humanitarian support to Afghanistan
and through CENTCOM's annual military contact plan. He
closed by expressing thanks for the training of their
military personnel in the United States through the
International Military Education and Training (IMET) program,
and was certain cooperation would broaden in the future.


3. (C) LTG Whitcomb expressed condolences on the death of
former President Niyazov and wished President
Berdimuhammedov well as the new leader of Turkmenistan. He
stated that we shared a mutual enemy who were terrorists and

extremists that threaten our governments and our way of life.
LTG Whitcomb thanked the government and Ministry of Defense
for its cooperation on the refueling of U.S. planes in
Ashgabat and permission for the emergency landing of U.S.
military aircraft in Mary. He emphasized that their
assistance was important to our operations in Afghanistan and
hoped we would be able to develop mutually beneficial
operating procedures in support of the pending Mary divert
agreement.


4. (C) LTG Whitcomb added that Turkmenistan had a unique
opportunity right now in developing relations with other
countries. Turkmenistan was not just experiencing a military
transition, but also an economic and political transition.
This was a new stage for Turkmenistan and the country had
tremendous opportunities for the future. Relations with
Russia were part of Turkmenistan,s history and were
important, but Turkmenistan was at a point where it could
pick and chose what Russia, the United States, and other
countries had to offer their military.


5. (C) LTG Whitcomb offered to assist the Turkmenistan Armed
Forces, noting the U.S. military had expertise and experience
in many areas - including disaster response, but that

ASHGABAT 00000460 002.2 OF 003


Turkmenistan must identify what its needs were. COL Ashyrov
thanked LTG Whitcomb for the offer and said that he would
pass it to the Defense Minister as soon as he returned.


6. (C) At the request of COL Ashyrov, LTG Whitcomb described
the situation in Afghanistan as 'stable and stabilizing,' and
said Turkmenistan,s export of electricity to Afghanistan was
very beneficial. He noted the opening of the Imam Nazar
border check point offered Turkmenistan yet another
opportunity to help its neighbor. He then said the narcotics
trade was a problem for many countries, not just Afghanistan,
and that is why open dialogue was important. LTG Whitcomb
pointed out that the Land Forces Symposium recently held in
Pakistan, was one such forum in which Army leaders from
across CENTCOM's AOR were able to talk openly about similar
problems that commonly affect all their countries, and
encouraged Turkmenistan to participate again as they had last
year.


7. (C) LTG Whitcomb then addressed recent Russian black
press on U.S. plans to invade Iran by stating that the United
States was not planning any invasion. He emphasized the
United States, as well as all countries including Iran,s
neighbor Turkmenistan, should be concerned about Iran,s
actions with regard to their nuclear program and the words
they were using. LTG Whitcomb added it would be a mistake
for Iran to think the U.S. military was overextended.


8. (C) Responding to the question of "what keeps him awake at
night" in his position as deputy defense minister, COL
Ashyrov said he was entrusted with maintaining peace for
Turkmenistan, but that with the difficult situation in
Afghanistan and Iran's production of weapons of mass
destruction it was difficult to sleep.


9. (C) COL Ashyrov then continued off-script with a brief
description of the composition of Turkmenistan's Armed Forces
and stated the military was capable of defending its country,
which would be demonstrated at a field exercise at Keleta
Training Area on 4 May. He said Turkmenistan was also in the
process of modernizing and buying new armaments, to include
considering the purchase of the S-400 anti-aircraft system
from Russia - which would only be used for defensive
purposes. He added Turkmenistan already had sufficient
numbers of tanks and cannons left over from the Soviet era.

--------------
MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS
--------------


9. (C) Deputy Foreign Minister Wepa Hajiyev said LTG
Whitcomb's visits were already a nice tradition for the
government and that it was a good opportunity to discuss
various aspects of our political-military cooperation and
look at problematic areas and how to resolve them. Hajiyev
expressed appreciation for the beneficial events within the
military contact program, courses, and seminars their
officials were able to attend. He described Turkmenistan's
support to U.S. humanitarian assistance (overflights) and the
refueling operation in support of operations in Afghanistan
as productive. He affirmed Turkmenistan would continue to
work with the United States in a constructive manner.


10. (C) Hajiyev stated the fight against drugs and organized
crime was an urgent problem and that our cooperation had
yielded good results. Strengthening of the border with the
construction of border crossing stations, specifically at
Imam Nazar on the Afghan border, was also a good aspect of
our relationship. He went on to say the posting of a defense
attach to Washington was a sign of the importance

ASHGABAT 00000460 003.2 OF 003


Turkmenistan places on its relations with the United States.


11. (C) LTG Whitcomb again offered condolences on Niyazov's
passing, but said this was an exciting time and opportunity
for the new administration to shape the future of the
country, despite living in a "rough neighborhood." He
thanked Hajiyev for Turkmenistan's support to the refueling
operation in Ashgabat, the Mary divert agreement, and
Turkmenistan's provision of electricity and debt relief for
Afghanistan. He reiterated the need for the Ministry of
Defense to identify its needs so that we could focus our
cooperation on these important areas. He said ARCENT's last
event here, a medical exchange in February, was very
successful and there was good dialogue between our medical
specialists.


12. (C) After LTG Whitcomb described the current situation in
Afghanistan, Hajiyev gave his own views on developments
there. He said expanding the central government's control to
the regions by including influential regional leaders was
successful because it had weakened their role as warlords and
strengthened their role as government officials. On the
other hand, the appointment of officials to regions, who were
from a different ethnic group than the local populace, had
resulted in justifiable criticism of President Karzai.
Hajiyev also pointed out that there was rampant corruption
and misuse of international aid in Afghanistan.


13. (C) Deflecting a request to talk about Russia due to time
constraints, Hajiyev then asked about the location and
activity of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan in
Afghanistan. LTG Whitcomb noted a combination of coalition
operations and a local ground swell against foreigners within
Waziristan had achieved some success in moving them out of
their traditional areas, but their whereabouts and strength
remained largely unknown. On Iran, Hajiyev simply said
working through the UN was the correct route to take.

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


14. (C) Although unable to meet with the Ministers of Foreign
Affairs and Defense due to their abrupt trip to Moscow, LTG
Whitcomb's visit was worthwhile in advancing several
important messages. The meetings covered no new ground, but
provided LTG Whitcomb the opportunity to stress that
Turkmenistan was at a decision point with regard to
developing its armed forces and that the U.S. military was
standing by to assist in areas important to them. Deputy
Defense Minister Ashyrov appeared to reveal too much in
discussing a possible S-400 air defense system purchase,
while Deputy Foreign Minister Hajiyev - a FARSI speaker and
Middle East Department chief up until a few months ago - was
prepared to talk about the general features of bilateral
cooperation, but seemed more interested in demonstrating his
knowledge of Afghanistan's internal dynamics.
End Comment.
BRUSH