PIPELINES DOMINATE FEIGENBAUM PRESS COVERAGE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 ASHGABAT 000697 SIPDIS SIPDIS SENSITIVE STATE FOR SCA/CEN (SNELSIRE); SCA/PPD (KAMP) E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ENRG PINR PREL PGOV TX US AF SUBJECT: PIPELINES DOMINATE FEIGENBAUM PRESS COVERAGE ASHGABAT 00000697 001.2 OF 004 SUMMARY -------------- ¶1. (U) Despite Deputy Assistant Secretary Evan A. Feigenbaum's emphasis on developing a multidimensional relationship with Turkmenistan, media mostly focused on the single dimension of gas pipelines. Most media headlines, including pro-Government of Turkmenistan sites, contained the words "Trans-Caspian" and drew from the same state media sources but provided different interpretations of Turkmenistan's interest in the project. Emphasis on 'Great Game' politics overshadowed brief descriptions of other areas of cooperation. Ironically, the state Watan television channel gave the most accurate and fullest coverage of the visit's true purpose as well as other events. End Summary. WATAN AND NCA ACCURATE FOR ONCE -------------- ¶2. (U) The June 25 Watan TV News broadcast thoroughly covered the range of topics discussed by President Berdimuhammedov and Feigenbaum. The story stated that Feigenbaum was a high-ranking U.S. diplomat and that he had sought to improve the already positive and growing U.S.-Turkmenistan relationship. Berdimuhammedov had cited that they had accomplished a great deal already and he looked forward to continued cooperation on an "equal and mutually beneficial basis." Feigenbaum had noted the five previous delegations, the proposals for cooperation that they had submitted to the Government of Turkmenistan, and new ideas for expanding business and cultural cooperation such as renewing the Ashgabat-Albuquerque sister-city status. Berdimuhammedov had thanked Peace Corps for their service, favored expanding exchanges in higher education, and emphasized Turkmenistan's policy of supporting multiple gas transport routes. ¶3. (U) The story continued that Berdimuhammedov had wished to develop multi-facted relationships with numerous countries but that the "superpower" role of the United States "provides conditions for more comprehensive and equal-footed collaboration on the whole range of cooperation." Thus, he was ready to increase cooperation in economic and humanitarian areas. The broadcast then carried Feigenbaum's full interview where he emphasized the long U.S.-Turkmenistan relationship and U.S. desire to expand relations in security, economy, trade, energy, democracy and human rights. (Note: The broadcast did not mention the Trans-Caspian pipeline or any other specific route at any time. End Note.) The following day, state dailies "Neutral Turkmenistan" (Russian, circ. 35,141) and "Turkmenistan" (Turkmen, circ. 28,091) gave front-page treatment to an article with similar content to Watan TV News. In subsequent days, state weeklies "Watan" (Turkmen, circ. 26,091),"Turkmen Gundogary" (Turkmen, circ. 44,160),"Dashoguz Habarlary" (Turkmen, circ. 27,070) also gave front-page treatment to the same article from the dailies. The weeklies "Balkan" (Turkmen, circ. 24,630) and "Ahal Durmushy" (Turkmen, circ. 35,391) reprinted the article. ¶4. (U) News Central Asia (NCA) posted an article on June 26 that emphasized the multidimensional topics in Feigenbaum's meetings. The unnamed author stated that Feigenbaum visited Turkmenistan "fast on the heels of" Fallon and that "the sides appeared to be making some headway in several areas." Berdimuhammedov had wanted multiple pipelines and the Trans-Caspian was a possible option. Overall, the article was a summary of the Watan news broadcast with the specific mention of the Trans-Caspian being the only difference. (Note: The weaker English and positive tone of the article implies that the author is different from a separate anti-American NCA piece on Feigenbaum. See below. End Note.) STATE MEDIA COVERS ANTI-DRUG EVENT -------------- ASHGABAT 00000697 002.2 OF 004 ¶5. (U) On June 26, Watan TV News (Turkmen) aired an interview with Feigenbaum during a drug burn to highlight Turkmenistan's counter-narcotics efforts. Feigenbaum expressed satisfaction with the improved relations between the United States and Turkmenistan. He noted that counter-narcotics was a good example of positive cooperation since no single country could fight this problem on their own. He added that it was unfortunate that humanity dealt with narcotics addiction and trafficking in the modern era. Finalizing his remarks, Feigenbaum thanked Turkmenistan's government for the opportunities to exchange experiences, develop united approaches, discuss results and review potential for future cooperation. The following day, state dailies "Neutral Turkmenistan" (Russian, circ. 35,141) and "Turkmenistan" (Turkmen, circ. 28,091) published Feigenbaum's remarks, along with his picture, from the counter-narcotics event with similar content to Watan TV News. In subsequent days, state weeklies "Nesli" (Turkmen, circ. 22,311),"Balkan" (Turkmen, circ. 24,630) reprinted the same article from the dailies. TRANS-CASPIAN: YES, NO, MAYBE-SO -------------- ¶6. (U) The June 26 Associated Press newswire article by Alexander Vishinin focused exclusively on President Berdimuhammedov's tentative backing of the Trans-Caspian pipeline based on state media articles. The rest of the article gave background on the significance of this decision in the context of a continued competition between the United States and Russia for influence in Turkmenistan. The author also cited the visit of Admiral Fallon in the previous week as another U.S. effort for influence. The article also cited the agreement between Russia, Kazakhstan, and Turkmenistan to build a gas pipeline on the Caspian Sea's eastern shore as a major victory for Russia in this back-and-forth struggle. The article contained Feigenbaum quotes taken during the drug burn but did not provide any detail or explanation of this event. The final sentence mentioned the overflight agreement between the United States and Turkmenistan for planes bound for Afghanistan. The "Moscow Times" carried a shortened version of this article that focused purely on the gas pipeline and emphasized how Turkmenistan is "cautious" in supporting this project. ¶7. (U) The June 26 posting on Turkmenistan.ru headlined with the Trans-Caspian as a "possible" option even though discussion of the pipeline only appeared in the last paragraph. The article detailed the high level of this and previous visits and that the U.S. sought to increase bilateral relations in the areas of culture and business. The author added a quotation by President Berdimuhammedov that directly supported the expansion of U.S. scholars visiting Turkmenistan. The AKIpress also carried a short article emphasizing that President Berdimuhammedov considered the Trans-Caspian a "possible" route. After dedicating most of the article to details and quotes about gas, the article mentioned that Feigenbaum and the president had talked about a wide range of issues and that five U.S. delegations had visited Turkmenistan since January. ¶8. (U) ITAR-TASS' June 25 article stated that Turkmenistan "supports" a Trans-Caspian pipeline project. The article used quotes and statements from both the president and Feigenbaum with optimistic assessments of implementing the project. The end of the article briefly mentioned the desire for both parties to expand business and cultural cooperation. The author used the Turkmensitan.ru quotation by Berdimuhammedov that supported the expansion of U.S. scholars visiting Turkmenistan. The World Press Service posted a similar article on June 27 that cited international and state media with Turkmenistan "backing" a Trans-Caspian pipeline in its headline. The article repeated mentions of expanded business and cultural cooperation with the United States. The same Berdimuhammedov quote calling for more U.S. scholars also appeared here. The final paragraph detailed competition between the United ASHGABAT 00000697 003.2 OF 004 States and Russia over Turkmenistan's gas reserves by supporting different gas pipelines. ¶9. (U) The Journal of Turkish Weekly carried an article on June 27 from News Central Asia that the United States believes Turkmenistan "supports" a Trans-Caspian pipeline. This thesis based its logic on several quotes from Feigenbaum about his meeting with the president. The article also described Feigenbaum's comments on U.S. regional energy policy as "the rut that is called U.S. foreign policy." (Note: News Central Asia frequently reveals an anti-western bias through similar comments. End Note.) RUSSIAN LANGUAGE COVERAGE POSITIVE -------------- ¶10. (U) From June 25-27, newswires and news agencies, such as RIA Novosti, ITAR-TASS, WPS Sentralno-aziatskiye novosti, Ferghana.ru, Yezhednevniye novosti himicheskih predpriyatiy SNG, Xinhua News Agency and Georgian Business Consulting gave coverage on Feigenbaum's visit to Turkmenistan in Russian. The coverage, referring to Turkmenistan's state media, was generally accurate and had similar content to other foreign articles. However, all headlines reflected Turkmenistan's support for a Trans-Caspian pipeline, backed by the United States. IWPR ARTICLE BOTCHES THE FACTS -------------- ¶11. (U) An article posted on the US-supported Institute for War and Peace's website (English and Russian) interpreted Berdimuhamedov's statement from Feigenbaum's meeting, "Turkmen-American relations should not be politicized," as a sign he will not embark on democratic reforms. The article cited a News Briefing Central Asia (NBCA) analyst's comment that the remark displayed Turkmenistan's wariness of the United States demanding democratic reforms. The article quoted Vyasheslav Mamedov, leader of emigre group, the Civil Democratic Union of Turkmenistan, that Berdimuhamedov's statement meant "there would be no political reforms in the near future." He stated that "politics", referred to international pressure to democratize Turkmenistan. Mamedov added that the United States would probably agree to keep "politics" off the agenda to gain influence in Central Asia and thus weaken the region's dependence on Russia. The United States would focus on education and cultural projects instead. The article reported that an NBCA observer based in Ashgabat agreed because the president feared that the people might become infected with the "spirit of freedom." The observer incorrectly added that the state media constantly promoted the idea that "Western" democracy was alien to its people. (Note: This is hardly a ?constant? message. End note.) ¶12. (U) The article noted that diplomatic dialogue between the United States and Turkmenistan had become much more active this year. But it incorrectly cited Berdimuhamedov's meetings with Fallon in early June, Assistant Secretary Richard Boucher in April, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Steven Mann, and State Department Spokesman Sean McCormack. (Comment: Fallon visited in late June. Boucher has not returned to Turkmenistan since February. The McCormack meeting never took place. End Comment.) It added that the United States had been providing educational exchange programs to Turkmenistan's military and police personnel and incorrectly noted English courses at American colleges for small groups of schoolchildren. (Note: Post has no such program for children. End Note.) COMMENT -------------- ¶13. (SBU) Despite most of the same source material, many outlets came up with a wide range of conclusions and most focused on the ASHGABAT 00000697 004.2 OF 004 possibility of building a Trans-Caspian pipeline. Focus on this issue illustrates the dominance of energy and ?great game? worldviews in the international press -- even though these were merely secondary issues for Feigenbaum's visit. The Institute for War and Peace Reporting's poor mastery of easily verifiable facts and its spin, showed that international newsmedia can be too reliant on opposition exiles whose information is exaggerated or out-of-touch with reality in Turkmensitan. Whereas Turkmenistan state media and Feigenbaum emphasized multiple dimensions of the bilateral relationship. Surprisingly Turkmen State News Media and News Central Asia, neither of which is known for its journalistic credibility, had the stories which best reflected Feigenbaum's visit. End Comment. HOAGLAND