DEA DELEGATION MAKES THE ROUNDS, AND A CASE FOR

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ASHGABAT 000904 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS STATE FOR SCA/CEN, EUR/CARC, EUR/RUS, ISLAMABAD FOR DEA, ANKARA FOR DEA E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PBTS PREL SNAR TX SUBJECT: DEA DELEGATION MAKES THE ROUNDS, AND A CASE FOR FUTURE COOPERATION REF: ASHGABAT 871 ¶1. (SBU) Classified By: Charge d'Affaires Richard Hoagland for reasons 1.4 (B) and (D). ¶2. (SBU) U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Special Agents Paul Hackett and Edward Coffey visited Turkmenistan August 13-18 to start rebuilding contacts with Turkmenistan's major law-enforcement and counter-narcotics agencies following several years without any visits by DEA agents. While the meetings were pleasant and officials were clearly interested in strengthening cooperation with DEA, the response was always the same: please send a diplomatic note via the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Although this response is not surprising, given both DEA's long absence and the "diplomacy-by-dipnote" culture here, we believe that more frequent visits by DEA, and a concerted effort to show the benefits of cooperation may eventually make it easier to work directly with counterparts. END SUMMARY. INITIAL FRUSTRATION WITH UNTRUTHS... ¶3. (SBU) U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) Special Agents Paul Hackett and Edward Coffey are the first DEA agents to visit Turkmenistan in several years. From August 13-18, 2007, they attended the Imamnazar Border Crossing opening ceremonies and met with officials at Turkmenistan's Ministry of Internal Affairs (MVD) Counter-Narcotics Unit, Criminal Research Center and Forensic Laboratory (funded by the U.S. government's ICITAP program),State Counter-Narcotics Commission, State Customs Service, State Border Service, Ministry of National Security (MSB),and the United Nations Development Programme/European Union TACIS-sponsored Border Management in Central Asia office (BOMCA). ¶4. (SBU) Despite the warm reception, officials were reluctant to share statistics or agree to specific proposals. For example, the MVD Counter-Narcotics Unit did not want to share the statistics from the recent drug burn attended by Deputy Assistant Secretary Evan Feigenbaum, although the press had openly reported the statistics. However, Turkmenistan officials were willing to share general information about their work, emphasizing their willingness to coordinate with international counter-narcotics counterparts via Interpol. CAUTIOUSLY OPTIMISTIC DUE TO SOME OPENINGS ¶5. (SBU) Hackett and Coffey stressed throughout their visit that they valued contacts with their Turkmenistan counterparts and that combating major drug trafficking organizations required a joint international effort. They found the State Customs Service and the MNB to be the most engaged in meetings, answering questions directly and asking questions in return. However, when they requested the name of a working-level contact or contacts with whom they could liaise on counter-narcotics leads requiring especially quick action, they hit the same response everywhere: all requests must be submitted by diplomatic note. Noting the special agents' growing frustration, however, the Chairman of the State Counternarcotics Commission, Myrat Yslamov, suggested that it might be possible to obtain such a contact, but that such a request needed to go through appropriate channels. Yslamov urged Hackett and Coffey to send a diplomatic note explaining their interest in developing a one-on-one relationship with a working-level contact. (NOTE: This is a new area of engagement, and so a request for an initial dipnote is not surprising. We will follow up. END NOTE.) ¶6. (SBU) COMMENT: President Berdimuhamedov told A/S Sullivan Turkmenistan recognizes narcotics as a serious national problem and that Turkmenistan will no longer hide such ASHGABAT 00000904 002 OF 002 information. Seeping his views down to a cautious bureaucracy unused to working with the West will take time on counter-narcotics, as it will on every other issue. ¶7. (SBU) COMMENT CONTINUED: Notwithstanding the increased willingness to pursue bilateral cooperation that we have experienced since the former president's death, first-time visitors seeking to engage Turkmenistan counterparts regarding cooperation can still expect that the meetings will serve an introductory purpose. However, they should be viewed positively, as an opportunity to lay the groundwork for partnerships in the future. Counternarcotics and border enforcement traditionally have been some of the most successful areas of cooperation between the United States and Turkmenistan, and we see Yslamov's suggestion as a positive signal that Turkmenistan counter-narcotics authorities want to do more with DEA, as long as they get the political coverage to do so. We believe that more frequent visits by DEA, and a concerted effort to show the benefits of cooperation may eventually make it easier to work directly with counterparts. END COMMENT. ¶8. (U) Special Agents Hackett and Coffey have cleared this cable. HOAGLAND