SCA/CEN OFFICE DIRECTOR SPRATLEN WARNS

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 04 ASHGABAT 000548 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPT FOR SCA/CEN E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/01/2017 TAGS: PREL PHUM KIRF PGOV TX US SUBJECT: SCA/CEN OFFICE DIRECTOR SPRATLEN WARNS TURKMENISTAN'S DFM HAGYEV OF POSSIBLE JACKSON-VANIK DESIGNATION Classified By: Classified by Charge d'Affaires a.i. Jennifer Brush for reasons 1.4(B) and (D). Summary -------------- ¶1. (C) During an 80-minute May 11 meeting SCA/CEN Office Director Pamela Spratlen urged Deputy Foreign Minister Wepa Hagyev to improve freedom of movement from Turkmenistan or face withdrawal of the Jackson-Vanik Amendment waiver. Hagyev tried to justify his country's travel policy using legalistic arguments, then suggested that the United States should look at recent general "improvements" in Turkmenistan's human rights record, including its engagement with the UN High Commissioner on Human Rights and with the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). Turkmenistan recognized the need to make changes, but was unwilling to do so piecemeal; that said, "compromise" might be possible, he said. He made similar arguments with regard to U.S. concerns on religious freedom issues. With time running out, Hagyev and Spratlen touched briefly on a number of other issues, including registration of the American International School, Turkmenistan's implementation of Iran sanctions, the May 20-22 visit of Ambassador Ron Neumann, and the visit of SCA PDAS Mann. End Summary. Jackson-Vanik: Hagyev Offers a Legalistic Justification and Hope of "Compromise" -------------- ¶2. (C) Spratlen informed Hagyev that the State Department needed to make a recommendation to the U.S. Congress on whether to extend Turkmenistan's Jackson-Vanik waiver by early June. The Jackson-Vanik process was very political, with many in the executive and legislative branches following developments closely. The State Department was particularly concerned because there had been no progress in the past year in addressing freedom of movement issues to justify extending the waiver. There needed to be greater transparency in implementing Turkmenistan's travel blacklist, and there were four individual cases involving travel restrictions that Spratlen wanted to highlight. The United States did not want to see the Jackson-Vanik process become an impediment, but hoped to see progress very soon. Charge added that the embassy had raised its concerns with the Foreign Ministry, and with Deputy Chairman for Foreign Affairs Meredov himself, many times during the past year; time was running out. ¶3. (C) Starting legalistically, Hagyev repeated the MFA mantra that there was no such thing as a "blacklist." All countries had their own regulations regulating travel outside the country for security reasons; Turkmenistan, too, prevented international travel by those individuals who had either criminal charges or lawsuits pending against them. Hagyev claimed that his government intended to implement gradual political reform and over the past few months had taken positive steps in that direction, including its agreement to the visit by UN High Commissioner on Human Rights Louise Arbour and increased cooperation with the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). (Comment: MFA traditionally has based its human rights records on participation in meetings or conferences, vice actual action and/or change. End Comment.) ¶4. (C) Spratlen agreed that all countries had regulations to promote security, but the issue was one of procedures; there needed to be greater transparency in how the travel restrictions were applied, so that people knew when and why their names were on the list. Charge added that the Jackson-Vanik issue was urgent because of the Congressional schedule; the waiver issue came up for review in June. The Charge had been raising U.S. freedom of movement concerns for a year, with no progress. ¶5. (C) Hagyev responded that there was still time -- one to two months (sic) -- before the Congressional review. ASHGABAT 00000548 002 OF 004 Turkmenistan had already initiated its work in this area, and hoped to find a compromise between its security concerns and international expectations. The Government of Turkmenistan would also look separately at each of the four cases the Charge had raised to see whether compromise was possible. Spratlen again reiterated that freedom of movement was a basic right of all people, and hoped to see progress within the timeframe of the Jackson-Vanik calendar. (Comment: In a subsequent May 14 meeting with Deputy Chairman Meredov, Charge repeated Spratlen's message and Meredov said he had been informed about the meeting and he recognized that he must "get working" on the issue. End Comment.) Religious Freedom: Two Different Concepts -------------- ¶6. (C) Turning to religious freedom, Spratlin informed Hagyev that the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) had urged the State Department to designate Turkmenistan a Country of Particular Concern (CPC). USCIRF had proposed the same designation last year, but because Turkmenistan had taken some positive steps, it was not designated. In order to prevent designation this year, embassy had proposed the following steps, which Spratlen strongly recommended Turkmenistan take, including: -- Regular Council on Religious Affairs (CRA) roundtables with religious groups; -- Register those religious minority groups seeking approval; -- Resolve problems related to harassment of branch affiliations of registered churches; -- Offer general permission for registered groups to host specified meetings on a continuous basis, rather than requiring the groups to submit a list for every event; -- Reduce CRA approval time for legal importation of religious books and literature; -- Allow leaders of religious groups to travel to Turkmenistan and permit members of religious groups to travel abroad for religious study; -- Eliminate administrative punishments for citizens practicing their legal rights to free worship as guaranteed by Article XI in Turkmenistan's Constitution. ¶7. (C) Hagyev claimed that there had been progress in promoting religious freedom in 2007, though that progress was reflected in Turkmenistan's general orientation, rather than in specific cases. According to Hagyev, President Berdimuhammedov wanted to improve freedom of religion in Turkmenistan -- as reflected in his decision to invite the UN Special Rapporteur for Religious Freedom to visit Turkmenistan. Hagyev added vaguely, "we should not be making general solutions, but rather, we need to study the positions of all concerned." Turkmenistan wanted to consult with international organizations, then identify "compromises," he said. ¶8. (C) According to Hagyev, religious freedom was very sensitive; there were parties and nations that sought to use religion in carrying out their agendas against host authorities, as had happened in the Fergama Valley in Uzbekistan. Stating that "we are a neutral government that tries to maintain the traditional mentality of our country and people," Hagyev said that this attitude had allowed members of the Russian Orthodox Church to coexist peacefully alongside Turkmenistan's Muslims. ¶9. (C) Spratlen emphasized that CPC designation also was driven by a timeline. While the United States recognized the challenges Turkmenistan faced, Turkmenistan still needed to promote religious freedom. Acknowledging that the United States and Turkmenistan had differing understandings of what represented progress in promoting religious freedom Hagyev requested that Spratlen convey Turkmenistan's position to Washington. Spratlen said that, while she could not accept "whole cloth" Turkmenistan's view of progress, she would ASHGABAT 00000548 003 OF 004 convey Hagyev's message to Washington. Following Up on Romanowski Successes: Where's the Meeting with Minister of Education? -------------- ¶10. (C) Noting the numerous visits by U.S. officials in recent months, Hagyev praised the positive direction that bilateral cooperation had taken. He stressed Turkmenistan's willingness to discuss all issues: although all programs had their successes, there were also aspects that still needed additional work. Spratlen said that the United States had sought to make cooperation more productive; the United States was concerned in Turkmenistan -- as throughout all Central Asia -- about the independence and sovereignty of all states. The United States supported a "multi-directional relationship" with ties to both the north and south, and led to greater democracy, prosperity and security in Turkmenistan. The three working-level delegations that had already visited Turkmenistan (in the areas of gas and oil, security, and education and culture) had been effective and successful; she hoped that the next two delegations -- for political and economic development -- would be just as successful. Indeed, as one good outcome of the recent visit by ECA DAS Alina Romanowski (septel),the embassy was looking forward to an additional meeting with Minister of Education Annaamanov. ¶11. (C) Hagyev responded that, following Turkmenistan's presidential election and inauguration, the government had started taking steps to improve education. Changing the education system required a lot of work, which was ongoing. The United States had much experience with education, and Turkmenistan wanted to increase cooperation. Indeed, the Ministry of Education had already made certain decisions to deepen bilateral cooperation. After some discussion back and forth regarding the enbassy's follow-on meeting with Education Minister Annaamanov, Hagyev promised to look personally into the issue and to propose a date within the next week. (Comment: Education Minister Annaamanov denied he had agreed to a follow-on meeting during a subsequent May 14 meeting with Peace Corps Regional Director Jay Katzen; embassy will continue to press for the meeting. End Comment.) Festering Issues -------------- ¶12. (C) With time running out, Spratlen and Hagyev briefly discussed some additional issues, including: -- Suspension of the embassy's surveillance detection program. Spratlen hoped that problems that had led to the program's suspension would be resolved. -- Disappearance of several RFE/RL reporters. The United States was concerned and would welcome information on their status. Hagyev responded that he had seen no RFE/RL reporters on Turkmenistan's list of accredited reporters. If they were reporting for RFE/RL, they were doing so illegally. However, if the United States was interested in these individuals' status as citizens of Turkmenistan, that would be a different issue. -- Re-opening of the American Corner in Turkmenbashy City. Hagyev said that resolution of this issue was close. -- Re-opening of the Internet Access and Training Programs (IATP) centers that had been closed down in Ashgabat, Balkanabat and Dashoguz. Hagyev said he had seen the proposal to open an IATP center in Ashgabat's National Library. -- Registration of the American International School. Spratlen pointed out this was not an education issue, but more an investment climate issue, an international school would make Ashgabat a more attractive destination for ASHGABAT 00000548 004 OF 004 international business. Hagyev claimed that the Foreign Ministry was continuing to discuss the issue with the Ashgabat City government. Comment -------------- ¶13. (C) Notwithstanding Hagyev's pleasant, "we-want-to-cooperate" approach, there have been no meaningful changes in the past year. Many of the "security" reasons for the restrictions seemed to have disappeared with former President Niyazov's death, and the remaining explanations -- a mass exodus of would-be refugees or fear of a braindrain -- are improbable given Turkmenistan's strong family orientation. With the clock ticking for a decision on extension of a Jackson-Vanik waiver, post sees no progess over the last year to justify extension of the waiver. Failure to extend the waiver, however, could deepen an impression, fed by Russia, that dealing with the United States is just too difficult, and could drive Turkmenistan further into the Russian sphere. Not extending the waiver could send the same message to other Central Asian states. Embassy will continue to stress the urgency of the need to have progress with the government and considers it likely that, as in past years, brinksmanship may result in a marginal loosening of travel restrictions for the citizens of Turkmenistan. End Comment. BRUSH