TURKMENISTAN: MEETING DIRECTLY WITH MINISTER OF EDUCATION

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ASHGABAT 000452

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

STATE FOR SCA/CEN, EUR/ACE, SCA/PPD, ECA

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL SCUL KPAO TX
SUBJECT: TURKMENISTAN: MEETING DIRECTLY WITH MINISTER OF EDUCATION
BEST WAY TO CIRCUMVENT BAYRAMOV ROADBLOCK

REF: A. ASHGABAT 0396

B. ASHGABAT 0249

C. ASHGABAT 0375


1. (SBU) Sensitive but unclassified. Not for public Internet.


2. (SBU) SUMMARY: In a follow-up to Charge's recent meeting with
the Minister of Education (Ref. A),PAO gave a tailored presentation
on U.S. Government-funded programs that send Turkmen students to two
American-style universities in the region. The presentation proved
to be a success at getting information directly to the Minister and
circumventing the known roadblock, the Ministry's anti-Western
International Relations Director Nury Bayramov. In the end, the
Minister agreed not to interfere in the programs, but fell short of
?approving? them. Perhaps most importantly, the meeting revealed
what might be the very beginning of a marginalization of Bayramov's
influence. END SUMMARY.

BACKGROUND TO A NEAR REVERSAL


3. (SBU) On April 3, PAO met with Minister of Education
Muhammetgeldi Annaamanov to present him directly with information on
scholarship programs for the American University of Central Asia
(AUCA) and Kazakhstan Institute of Management, Economics, and
Strategic Planning (KIMEP, by its Russian acronym),on behalf of
implementing partner American Councils/ACCELS. Post had learned
that the Ministry of Education (MOE) was likely to interfere for the
second time with standardized testing for the two university
scholarship programs. Similar to previous meetings with the
Ministry of Education, post believes that a key Ministry official,
International Relations Department Head Nury Bayramov, deliberately
delayed the meeting to inconvenience the program organizers (Ref.
B).


4. (SBU) As often reported, post has good reason to believe that
Bayramov is the principle obstacle to cooperation in education - and
European embassies and EU-TACIS fully agree. He has used his
position to horde information and manipulate the current and past
Ministers of Education. What distinguishes Minister Annaamanov from
his predecessors is that he was appointed by President
Berdimuhamedov with a mandate to reform education and increase
international exchanges, including with the United States. Despite
the orders from above, Bayramov has managed to manipulate or filter
information and access in a way that has kept Annaamanov
ill-informed and suspicious of U.S. exchanges and educational
programs (Ref. C).

IMPRESSING THE MINISTER WITH FACTS... AND POWER POINT


5. (SBU) In the meeting, PAO used a PowerPoint presentation that
highlighted the success stories of several graduates from both
universities and was intended to persuade the Minister that sending
Turkmen students could only be beneficial. It worked. Following
the presentation, the Minister expressed his regret that
Turkmenistan's law currently prohibits recognition of degrees from
any private institutions in the CIS, but added that this was
?outdated? and in need of reform. He suggested that when education
legislation is reviewed, he would seek the recognition of degrees
from universities like AUCA and KIMEP. The Minister was almost
apologetic as he tried to explain that they needed programs like the
two the PAO described, but that private colleges and universities
with little credibility had sprung up across the former Soviet Union
?like mushrooms.?


6. (SBU) PAO also presented to the Minister a copy of the
diplomatic note first announcing the new scholarship program in
September 2007. The Minister sheepishly asked the PAO, ?And what
response did you receive?? When PAO said ?none?, the Minister shook
his head with an expression of apology and angrily glanced towards
Bayramov.

NO APPROVAL, BUT NO INTEFERENCE


ASHGABAT 00000452 002 OF 002



7. (SBU) The Minister said the legal recognition of degrees issue
prevents his government from approving the scholarship programs.
When pressed by PAO, the Minister said that the Ministry would not
support the programs, but would not prevent students from applying
independently to these programs or to other universities abroad.


8. (SBU) Unfortunately, the lack of Ministry approval also meant
that the government would not approve use of a hotel conference room
for testing, or provide the letters of invitation needed for visas
for two KIMEP representatives to administer the testing in person.
Post subsequently moved the testing into the smaller and barely
adequate space of the Information Resource Center (IRC),which is
controlled by the Embassy. ACCELS obtained last minute permission
from KIMEP to administer the tests themselves.

OUTSTANDING ISSUE


9. (SBU) PAO then highlighted for the Minister post's over
one-year-old request to implement the ?Shaping the Way we Teach
English? seminar for Turkmenistan's English Teachers. Although the
government officially approved the program in September 2007,
Bayramov had managed to delay any real implementation for months.
When the Minister looked through the copy of the year-old dipnote
handed to him by the PAO, he sternly asked Bayramov why the program
hadn't been implemented. After Bayramov's apologetic reply, the
Minister looked Bayramov in the eye and in a serious tone said, ?I'm
giving this back to you, but I don't want to see it disappear!?


10. (SBU) COMMENT: Post had long-suspected that Minister
Annaamanov would be amenable to closer cooperation and supportive of
our educational exchanges if Nury Bayramov was not filtering
information. This meeting was the first confirmation that our
suspicion was true. We certainly do not yet want to declare
victory, but we are encouraged that the timid Minister of Education
is finally beginning to assert himself over his malevolent "minder,"
Bayramov. END COMMENT.

HOAGLAND