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.

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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