Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
08ASHGABAT1250
2008-09-19 05:33:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Embassy Ashgabat
Cable title:
TURKMENISTAN: UN PREVENTIVE DIPLOMACY CENTER
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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ASHGABAT 001250
SENSITIVE
SIPDIS
STATE FOR SCA/CEN;
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL KIRF TX UN
SUBJECT: TURKMENISTAN: UN PREVENTIVE DIPLOMACY CENTER
PONDERS ISSUE OF EXTREMISM
REF: ASHGABAT 0880
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ASHGABAT 001250
SENSITIVE
SIPDIS
STATE FOR SCA/CEN;
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL KIRF TX UN
SUBJECT: TURKMENISTAN: UN PREVENTIVE DIPLOMACY CENTER
PONDERS ISSUE OF EXTREMISM
REF: ASHGABAT 0880
1. (U) Sensitive but unclassified. Not for public Internet.
2. (SBU) SUMMARY: The September 12-13 shootout has
captured the attention of UN representatives and staff at the
UN Center for Preventive Diplomacy, as the Center continues
to seek to define its role and activities in the region. An
action plan for the Center is being drafted that will help
provide an initial road map by late October. Although UN
officials are intrigued by the possibility of a new issue
that the Center could potentially tackle regarding extremism,
the Center will likely find it difficult to sell to the
Turkmen. END SUMMARY.
3. (SBU) POLOFF met September 18 with the UN Center for
Preventive Diplomacy Political Affairs Officer Armands
Pupols. Pupols, one of only four international UN staff at
the Center, indicated that officials at UN headquarters had
read about the shootout with great interest, and are
discussing with Center Head Miroslav Jenca and Deputy Head
Fedor Klimtchouk about whether religious extremism or
violence related to narcotrafficking could be an issue that
the Center could focus attention on, in a regional context.
The Center is currently drafting an action plan for its
activities in 2009-2010, and will be proposing issues of
regional concern such as water, energy, and natural
disasters, as well as security and stability issues related
to Afghanistan.
4. (SBU) The Center's staff is hoping to send a draft plan
to New York by the end of September. Once it is approved by
UN headquarters, the Center will present it to the regional
states' deputy foreign ministers at an October 16 meeting, to
determine initial implementing steps. Pupols said the plan
does not require approval by the Central Asian states, but
its elements should relate to the Center's mandate. The
Center's mandate, however, is very general in nature, leaving
room for wider interpretation.
5. (SBU) Pupols said the Center will soon have another
foreign UN staff member who will work on human dimension
issues. The Center's mandate, however, did not include
language about human rights work in particular, so there had
been considerable discussion regarding what this person's
focus would be. The issue of extremism was one possibility,
and another was to find ways to fulfill the Center's mandate
of "monitoring development" in the region. However, this had
not been an area that had been thoroughly discussed with
Central Asian leaders, and the Center wanted to tread
carefully.
6. (SBU) The Turkmenistan government views the Center's
mandate in an especially unique way, Pupols said. Government
officials have been pressuring the Center to support an
energy security resolution that Deputy Chairman/Foreign
Minister Meredov intends to introduce at this month's UN
General Assembly. They seem to believe that the Center would
have some capacity to coordinate a security arrangement that
would be established along any future pipeline route, he
noted. Interestingly, when Russian representatives heard
about the Turkmen approach to the Center, they argued that
its mandate did not encompass pipeline security work.
7. (SBU) COMMENT: The UN Center for Preventive Diplomacy
is still suffering growing pains as it determines what kind
of role it will play and what issues it will tackle in the
coming years. The Center is likely to have a difficult time
convincing the Turkmen government in particular that the
threat of extremism should be one of its priorities. In
fact, during preliminary discussions with regional leaders
earlier this year, the Uzbeks, Kyrgyz, and Tajiks all
requested that the Center tackle the question of religious
ASHGABAT 00001250 002 OF 002
extremism (reftel). The Turkmen did not name extremism as
one of their topics of interest. Although the Center does
not need the Turkmen government's approval to conduct work on
this issue, it will be hesitant to take on an issue that its
host government opposes or denies exists. END COMMENT.
CURRAN
SENSITIVE
SIPDIS
STATE FOR SCA/CEN;
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL KIRF TX UN
SUBJECT: TURKMENISTAN: UN PREVENTIVE DIPLOMACY CENTER
PONDERS ISSUE OF EXTREMISM
REF: ASHGABAT 0880
1. (U) Sensitive but unclassified. Not for public Internet.
2. (SBU) SUMMARY: The September 12-13 shootout has
captured the attention of UN representatives and staff at the
UN Center for Preventive Diplomacy, as the Center continues
to seek to define its role and activities in the region. An
action plan for the Center is being drafted that will help
provide an initial road map by late October. Although UN
officials are intrigued by the possibility of a new issue
that the Center could potentially tackle regarding extremism,
the Center will likely find it difficult to sell to the
Turkmen. END SUMMARY.
3. (SBU) POLOFF met September 18 with the UN Center for
Preventive Diplomacy Political Affairs Officer Armands
Pupols. Pupols, one of only four international UN staff at
the Center, indicated that officials at UN headquarters had
read about the shootout with great interest, and are
discussing with Center Head Miroslav Jenca and Deputy Head
Fedor Klimtchouk about whether religious extremism or
violence related to narcotrafficking could be an issue that
the Center could focus attention on, in a regional context.
The Center is currently drafting an action plan for its
activities in 2009-2010, and will be proposing issues of
regional concern such as water, energy, and natural
disasters, as well as security and stability issues related
to Afghanistan.
4. (SBU) The Center's staff is hoping to send a draft plan
to New York by the end of September. Once it is approved by
UN headquarters, the Center will present it to the regional
states' deputy foreign ministers at an October 16 meeting, to
determine initial implementing steps. Pupols said the plan
does not require approval by the Central Asian states, but
its elements should relate to the Center's mandate. The
Center's mandate, however, is very general in nature, leaving
room for wider interpretation.
5. (SBU) Pupols said the Center will soon have another
foreign UN staff member who will work on human dimension
issues. The Center's mandate, however, did not include
language about human rights work in particular, so there had
been considerable discussion regarding what this person's
focus would be. The issue of extremism was one possibility,
and another was to find ways to fulfill the Center's mandate
of "monitoring development" in the region. However, this had
not been an area that had been thoroughly discussed with
Central Asian leaders, and the Center wanted to tread
carefully.
6. (SBU) The Turkmenistan government views the Center's
mandate in an especially unique way, Pupols said. Government
officials have been pressuring the Center to support an
energy security resolution that Deputy Chairman/Foreign
Minister Meredov intends to introduce at this month's UN
General Assembly. They seem to believe that the Center would
have some capacity to coordinate a security arrangement that
would be established along any future pipeline route, he
noted. Interestingly, when Russian representatives heard
about the Turkmen approach to the Center, they argued that
its mandate did not encompass pipeline security work.
7. (SBU) COMMENT: The UN Center for Preventive Diplomacy
is still suffering growing pains as it determines what kind
of role it will play and what issues it will tackle in the
coming years. The Center is likely to have a difficult time
convincing the Turkmen government in particular that the
threat of extremism should be one of its priorities. In
fact, during preliminary discussions with regional leaders
earlier this year, the Uzbeks, Kyrgyz, and Tajiks all
requested that the Center tackle the question of religious
ASHGABAT 00001250 002 OF 002
extremism (reftel). The Turkmen did not name extremism as
one of their topics of interest. Although the Center does
not need the Turkmen government's approval to conduct work on
this issue, it will be hesitant to take on an issue that its
host government opposes or denies exists. END COMMENT.
CURRAN