TURKMENISTAN: EMBASSY EMPLOYEE JENNET

C O N F I D E N T I A L ASHGABAT 001036 SIPDIS STATE FOR SCA/CEN, DRL E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/08/2018 TAGS: PGOV PHUM TX SUBJECT: TURKMENISTAN: EMBASSY EMPLOYEE JENNET GULICHDURDIYEVA ALLOWED TO TRAVEL REF: ASHGABAT 0961 Classified By: Charge Sylvia Reed Curran for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (SBU) Deputy Foreign Minister Wepa Hajiyev called in the Charge on August 8 to inform her that Embassy employee Jennet Gulichdurdiyeva, the daughter of an RFE/RL reporter, would be allowed to leave the country. Hajiyev said Gulichdurdiyeva is free to travel to any place, and there would be no restrictions or hindrances placed on her travel. Hajiyev said this decision was taken due to the humanitarian aspect of the case. (NOTE: Gulichdurdiyeva is suffering from a serious illness and needs to travel to Moscow for treatment. reftel. END NOTE.) He also emphasized that Turkmenistan is trying to improve in the area of human rights and to meet its international obligations in this respect. He said we would see this effort reflected in new legislation. ¶2. (C) Hajiyev also said that the Turkmenistan government was reviewing the case of Dashoguz-based environmental activist Andrei Zatoka, who has also been denied permission to travel in the past. Hajiyev said that while Zatoka is not an employee of the Embassy, he is someone with whom U.S. officials have had some contact and have an interest in. (NOTE: Zatoka was a recipient of a U.S. grant some time ago. END NOTE.) Hajiyev hoped to have positive information on Zatoka's case in the near future. (NOTE: Zatoka's December 2006 arrest evoked a strong response from international human rights activists. There may have been merit in the government's charges against him -- friends confirmed that he was traveling with venomous snakes when he was arrested and that he routinely kept venomous snakes, snake toxins and unregistered weapons in his apartment. In January 2007, he was given a 3-year suspended sentence, likely in response to international pressure. He was subsequently pardoned, but the pardon apparently did not reverse the legal ban on travel abroad for up to three years following his release. END NOTE.) ¶3. (C) COMMENT: This is very good news. Hajiyev's willingness to share information about a review of Zatoka's travel problems, "a case where he thought we might have an interest." is an added bonus. Jennet was shocked when we informed her that she can now travel. Her plans are to make preparations for the trip and leave as soon as she gets the invitation letter from her contact in Moscow -- possibly in another month. END COMMENT. CURRAN