TURKMENISTAN: POSITIVE TRENDS IN STATE MEDIA ENVIRONMENT

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ASHGABAT 000355 SIPDIS SIPDIS SENSITIVE STATE FOR SCA/CEN; SCA/PPD, ECA, IIP E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PREL SCUL KPAO TX SUBJECT: TURKMENISTAN: POSITIVE TRENDS IN STATE MEDIA ENVIRONMENT - RECENT MEDIA REACTION REF: 07 ASHGABAT 871 ¶1. Sensitive but unclassified. Not for public Internet. ¶2. (SBU). SUMMARY: State Media's coverage of Embassy events and visitors has become almost routine with levels of propaganda or pro-regime "spin" dropping slowly over the last year. Recent coverage is evidence of this continuing trend. U.S. Coordinator for Eurasian Energy Diplomacy Ambassador Steven Mann's February 28-March 1 visit to Turkmenistan received significant state and international media coverage. State media highlighted the March 4 opening of the first Youth Center for HIV prevention as part of the USAID CAPACITY project. State print outlets also covered the construction of the U.S.-funded border checkpoint "Farapawtoyollary" on the Turkmen-Uzbek border. Post was also effective at gaining state media coverage for the Embassy's Black History Month events in February. However, Education and Exchanges were misconstrued in the state press by the still obstructionist Ministry of Education END SUMMARY. MANN'S VISIT RECEIVES WIDE MEDIA COVERAGE ¶3. (U) On February 27, the "Watan" TV news program (Turkmen) and government website "Turkmenistan-Golden Age" (www.turkmenistan.gov.tm) (Turkmen, English, Russian) announced Mann's upcoming arrival in Turkmenistan, giving accurate details of his planned meetings in the country. Similar reports appeared the following day in the state-run dailies, "Neytralniy Turkmenistan" (Russian, circ. 43,091) and "Turkmenistan" (Turkmen, circ. 29,091). Content from the February 28 broadcast of the "Watan" TV news program and the government website, "Turkmenistan-Golden Age," accurately highlighted Mann's meeting with President Berdimuhamedov. The same day, the BBC Monitoring Central Asian (English) and Russian news agencies "Interfax" (Russian, English),"IA REGNUM" (Russian) based on the state media coverage, gave accurate coverage of the meeting. Similar reports appeared the following day on the front pages of the state-run dailies, "Neytralniy Turkmenistan" (Russian, circ. 43,361) and "Turkmenistan" (Turkmen, circ. 29,091). ¶4. (U) The "Reuters" (English, Russian) February 29 articles gave accurate coverage of Mann's visit to Turkmenistan. The articles accurately quoted Mann's remarks regarding the export routes of 
Turkmen gas to Europe, and President Berdimuhamedov's strategy in developing the energy sector. The Russian publication "Vremya Novosti" (Russian),instead placed a disproportionate emphasis on Mann's visit as part of the State Department's efforts to promote a Trans-Caspian Pipeline and convince President Berdimuhamedov to participate in the project. (NOTE: The Reuters article was based on a post-arranged exclusive interview with Mann in Ashgabat. END NOTE.) STATE MEDIA HIGHLIGHT U.S.-FUNDED YOUTH CENTER OPENING ¶5. (U) The state-run dailies "Neytralniy Turkmenistan" (Russian, circ. 44,791) and "Turkmenistan" (Turkmen, circ. 29,091) ran articles on March 5 highlighting the U.S.-funded HIV-prevention Youth Center opening in Ashgabat. The articles were informative and accurate. The "Neytralniy Turkmenistan" article also carried generally accurate interview remarks by the Charge. The event received short coverage on the state "Altyn Asyr" (Turkmen) and "Turkmenistan" (Turkmen, Russian, English, French, Chinese, Arabian and Persian) TV Channels. Post's Public Affairs Section, actively solicited and received state media coverage. STATE PRINT OUTLETS HIGHLIGHT U.S.-FUNDED BORDER POST PROJECT ¶6. (U) The state-run dailies "Neytralniy Turkmenistan" (Russian, circ. 44,791) and "Turkmenistan" (Turkmen, circ. 29,091) highlighted the construction of "Farapawtoyollary" border checkpoint, which is to become operational in the second half of 2008. The article accurately noted that the project was funded by the United States. The article also accurately noted that a similar border checkpoint, "Imamnazar," was opened in August 2007 (reftel). The newspapers ran this coverage without any prompting from post, and the article is noticeably more focused on information than on praise or spin favoring the government. STATE MEDIA HIGHLIGHT BLACK HISTORY MONTH EVENTS ASHGABAT 00000355 002 OF 002 ¶7. (U) The U.S. Embassy in Turkmenistan conducted a series of school presentations, a movie festival, and Jazz and Blues concert in honor of Black History Month, which ran February 6-28. The state daily "Neytralniy Turkmenistan" (Russian, circ. 44,791) February 12 article highlighted the celebration with an accurate and informative article about Black History Month and provided detailed information about post-conducted events. On February 26, "Altyn Asyr" TV Channel broadcast coverage about the movie festival; however, some of the message was "lost in translation." Among mostly accurate Turkmen translation, "Altyn Asyr" mistakenly reported that African-American history month was about the history of America and Africa. (NOTE: This confusing error did not egregiously change the message or intent of the TV piece as a whole. END NOTE.) Turkmenistan TV channel highlighted the concert with a 15-minute report on the event. Both TV channel reports included interviews by embassy officials. MINISTRY OF EDUCATION TAKES ALL THE CREDIT ¶8. (SBU) On March 7, state newspaper "Neutralniy Turkmenistan" ran an article reviewing the first year of reform in the country's educational sector. The article more or less credited the Ministry of Education (MOE) for the exchange programs carried out by foreign governments, companies, or international organizations (including U.S. exchange programs). It even praised the increase in the number of FLEX high school exchange students studying in the United States, implying that this was achieved by MOE. (NOTE: Of course, there was no mention of MOE's history of interference in the program and its recent official suggestion to reduce the number of slots for FLEX. END NOTE.) ¶9. (SBU) COMMENT: More than a year after reforms and greater openness started to appear in Turkmenistan, post's contact with state media has become almost routine and nearly always positive. Post's efforts to attract state media coverage of Black History Month events and the Youth Center opening were smooth. Journalists' requests that Embassy interviewees "thank" the President have ended, and stories about Embassy programs that are modified to meet the regime's tastes have nearly disappeared. ¶10. (SBU) COMMENT CONTINUED: In addition, post's contact with the limited number of foreign news outlets present in Turkmenistan has also been highly successful. However, post's ability to influence accurate Russian-based media coverage remains minimal. This is evidenced by the differing accounts of Reuters and "Vremya Novosti" above. END COMMENT. HOAGLAND