TURKMENISTAN: NOVEMBER MEDIA REACTION - LESS GENEROUS

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ASHGABAT 001610 SENSITIVE SIPDIS STATE FOR SCA/CEN, SCA/PPD, IIP, ECA E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL PGOV SCUL KPAO TX SUBJECT: TURKMENISTAN: NOVEMBER MEDIA REACTION - LESS GENEROUS STATE COVERAGE THAN BEFORE ¶1. (U) Sensitive but unclassified. Not for public Internet. ¶2. (U) SUMMARY: State media carried a number of favorable stories on several Embassy events or visitors. Other events were covered but never carried, or were misleading in their final versions. There appears to be a negative trend in post's recent contact and cooperation with state media, evidenced by some contacts who have noted tightening rules and because of rejected stories on events such as U.S. elections. END SUMMARY. PRESSURE ON TURKMEN STUDENTS - MISTRANSLATION MISLEADS ¶3. (U) "Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty's" Turkmen language program on November 11 carried a story accusing Turkmenistan's authorities of pressuring students not to participate in U.S. exchange programs or have any contact with Embassy programs. Associated Press (English) and Reuters (English) stories on November 13 accurately quoted the Public Affairs Officer's cleared remarks on the issue, which mentioned both progress and problems. However, the AP and Reuters stories focused only on the negative. The same day, the opposition website "Gundogar" (Russian) and Russian website "Gazeta.ru" (Russian),referred to the "Reuters" story, and carried a mistranslated quote by the PAO. The inaccurate translation implied that the Embassy no longer discusses educational issues with Turkmenistan's authorities, when in fact the PAO had emphasized the reverse - that the Embassy had continued contact with the government. In subsequent days, opposition website "watan.ru" (Russian) and Russian website "centrasia.ru" (Russian) reprinted the "Gazeta.ru" story with the same inaccuracy. On November 14, the opposition website "Chronicle of Turkmenistan" (www.chrono-tm.org) (Russian) carried the correct Embassy statement on the issue, but also repeated the same inaccuracies that appeared in the Russian language versions. On November 17, RFE/RL Turkmen language program carried an accurate and complete follow-up story on the issue of pressure on Turkmen students based on an interview with PAO. MEDIA HIGHLIGHT U.S. MUSICAN'S ROLE IN MOVIE FESTIVAL ¶4. (U) On November 3, the state-run daily "Turkmenistan" (Turkmen, circ. 33,391) carried coverage of Turkmenistan's International film festival and included accurate interview remarks by State Department-sponsored musician Douglas Protsik, who stressed the art of silent movies and also praised Turkmen culture. On November 10, RFE/RL's Turkmen language program carried a generally accurate interview with Mr. Protsik about his visit and the importance of movie festivals and cultural diplomacy. INTERNATIONAL MEDIA HIGHLIGHT U.S. ELECTION DAY RECEPTION, BUT... ¶5. (U) On November 5, the embassy hosted a U.S. Election day reception, which included internet tracking and live CNN coverage of the presidential election results. The same day, the news website www.haberler.com (Turkish) posted an accurate article about the post-organized reception. (NOTE: The source of the article is "Cihan Haber Ajansi" (Turkish),whose representative was a guest of the event. END NOTE.) Turkish "Zaman" newspaper's Turkmen language edition on November 8 ran a short, accurate story with photo about the event. On November 10-11, the RFE/RL Turkmen language program broadcast a two-part program, which accurately reported the event and included comments from an interview with PAO. ... STATE MEDIA FAIL TO RUN THEIR OWN STORIES ¶6. (SBU) State media outlets "Turkmenistan" TV channel (Russian, Turkmen, English, Chinese, Arabian, Persian, French) and the "Watan" TV evening news program (Turkmen) both attended and filmed extensive video and conducted interviews at the election day event. Both channels prepared edited pieces for broadcast. Neither channel received approval to broadcast the story. One media contact noted that, in contrast to usual practice, instead of a rejection, the approvers never responded. The only state media mention of the U.S. election appeared on "Echo of the Planet" (Turkmen),an international news summary on "Altyn Asyr" TV channel which replays ASHGABAT 00001610 002 OF 003 video from foreign broadcasters, and a congratulatory note from President Berdimuhamedov to the President-elect which was published in the major daily newspapers. STATE TV HIGHLIGHT INTERVIEW BY PAO AT ART EXHIBITION ¶7. (U) On November 16, "Turkmenistan" TV channel (Russian, Turkmen, English, Chinese, Arabian, Persian, French) carried accurate interview remarks by the U.S. Embassy's Public Affairs Officer at an exhibition of works by a famous Turkmen sculptor. In the interview, PAO highlighted the creativity and talent of individual Turkmen citizens. MEDIA HIGHLIGHT INTERNATIONAL EDUCATION WEEK ¶8. (U) On November 18, the state-run dailies "Neytralniy Turkmenistan" (Russian, circ. 44,991) and "Turkmenistan" (Turkmen circ. 33,391) carried an accurate article about the post-conducted International Education Week (IEW) events. A similar article appeared the following day on the front page of the teachers' newspaper "Mugallymlar gazeti" (Turkmen, circ. 91,341) and on the government website "Turkmenistan Golden Age" (Turkmen, Russian, English). The article accurately highlighted the event's opening ceremony and the schedule of subsequent events during the week. The same day, the "internet news" program of the state "Altyn Asyr" TV channel accurately reported on the event. (NOTE: The article materials were provided by the Embassy's Public Affairs Section to the Turkmen State News Service (TDH) correspondent. END NOTE.) On November 21 RFE/RL's Turkmen language program accurately reported on IEW based on an interview with PAO. STATE NEWS PROGRAM MISLEADINGLY HIGHLIGHTS A VISITING U.S. ELECTIONS SPEAKER ¶9. (U) On November 14, "Watan" TV evening news program (Turkmen) carried a short report on the presentation U.S. elections expert Dr. Gregory Payne gave at the National Institute of Democracy and Human Rights. Instead of describing the presentation as one on the recent U.S. Presidential elections, the news program implied that the discussion focused on the December 14 Turkmenistan parliamentary elections. MEDIA COVERAGE OF ICNL ROUNDTABLE WITH TURKMEN GOVERNMENT GIVES CREDIT TO MFA ¶10. (U) On November 17, the "Watan" TV news program (Turkmen) carried generally accurate coverage of the roundtable held by the International Center for Non-profit Law (ICNL) and hosted by Turkmenistan's Institute of Democracy and Human Rights. The report stressed the improvement of Turkmenistan's legislation on public organizations and included interview remarks by ICNL representatives. However, the story stated that the roundtable was organized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, but in fact, was initiated and organized by ICNL. STATE NEWSPAPER BELATEDLY COVERS ALUMNI PROGRAM ¶11. (SBU) On November 20, the state-run daily "Neytralniy Turkmenistan" (Russian, circ. 44,991) ran an accurate article on the opening of a resource center for entrepreneurs, supported by an alumni grant. However, this opening actually took place about one month earlier. The article emphasized the center's role in developing business knowledge with technology and the support of foreign trainers. It also mentioned Post's current English Language Fellow as one of the first trainers. (NOTE: The author of the article, one of post's best journalist contacts, noted that it took a long time to obtain approval for publication. END NOTE.) "Turkmenistan" TV channel covered the presentation with interviews, but never broadcast the story. STATE TV COVERAGE OF USAID SUPPORT OF TURKMENISTAN IN ACCOUNTING STANDARDS ASHGABAT 00001610 003 OF 003 ¶12. (U) On November 27, the "Watan" TV news program (Turkmen) accurately covered a USAID-conducted roundtable with Turkmen professors and specialists on international accounting standards. The program stressed the importance of further training through USAID's "Economic Reforms to Enhance Competitiveness" (EREC) project and used quotes by USAID Country Representative's on the significance of higher education based on international standards. On December 2, "Turkmenistan" TV channel (Russian, Turkmen, English, Chinese, Arabian, Persian, French) gave accurate coverage of the roundtable, and also carried an interview of one of the teachers who attended as well as EREC project consultants. The program placed high importance on international standards in teaching financial accounting in Turkmenistan. STATE NEWSPAPER AND WEBSITE HIGHLIGHT USAID HEALTHCARE PROJECTS IN TURKMENISTAN ¶13. (U) On November 27, the state-run daily "Neytralniy Turkmenistan" (Russian, circ. 44,991) ran a long article on a youth center for HIV prevention supported by a USAID/CAPACITY project. The same article was posted on the government website "Turkmenistan Golden Age" (Turkmen, Russian, English) on November 30. The story described the activities of the center and its increasing role in educating the country's youth. On November 27, the government website "Turkmenistan Golden Age" (Turkmen, Russian, English) posted an accurate article on a tuberculosis prevention seminar organized by USAID partner, project "HOPE" jointly with the Ministry of Health of Turkmenistan. The next day, state-run daily "Neytralniy Turkmenistan" (Russian, circ. 44,991) ran the same article by Turkmen State News Service (TDH). ¶14. (SBU) COMMENT: RECEDING STATE MEDIA COOPERATION - Perhaps the honeymoon with state media is ending. Perhaps recent Embassy events, such as the U.S. election reception were simply too "risky" to government authorities. While many Turkmen were as caught up in the U.S. elections as were people in other countries, having a government media organ point out the exciting, competitive nature of the U.S. campaign was no doubt a bridge too far. Health programs appear to be safe territory in contrast. While it is hard to interpret the meaning of recent coverage, what's clear is that there has been increased difficulty in obtaining state media coverage in the past few weeks. Some media contacts have turned down Embassy invitations and indicated tightening rules about their ability to cover "foreign organization events." Some have also indicated a change in procedure - requiring a diplomatic note when before it was not necessary to cover Embassy events. In addition, some state media coverage of embassy events has included pro-government spin reminiscent of the Niyazov-era. ¶15. (SBU) COMMENT CONTINUED: MIXED RECORD WITH INTERNATIONAL AND OPPOSITION MEDIA - The news story of pressure on Turkmen students originated with reports by individual students to RFE/RL. This seems to indicate a growing willingness of locals to discuss problem issues with a rep of a taboo media organization. The subsequent follow-up interview by RFE/RL and clarifications on this story also show the organization's improved effort to report stories accurately. Unfortunately, a mistranslation in Russian language media gave a distorted picture of the issue in a variety of Russian language outlets. END COMMENT. MILES