Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
08ASHGABAT803
2008-06-27 06:43:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Ashgabat
Cable title:
TURKMENISTAN: WHY THINGS DON'T WORK WELL
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C O N F I D E N T I A L ASHGABAT 000803
SIPDIS
STATE FOR SCA/CEN
E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/27/2018
TAGS: PGOV PREL TX
SUBJECT: TURKMENISTAN: WHY THINGS DON'T WORK WELL
Classified By: CDA RICHARD E. HOAGLAND: 1.4 (B),(D)
C O N F I D E N T I A L ASHGABAT 000803
SIPDIS
STATE FOR SCA/CEN
E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/27/2018
TAGS: PGOV PREL TX
SUBJECT: TURKMENISTAN: WHY THINGS DON'T WORK WELL
Classified By: CDA RICHARD E. HOAGLAND: 1.4 (B),(D)
1. (C) Charge met with Ministry of Foreign Affairs America's
Director Serdar Bashimov the evening of June 26 after Deputy
Prime Minister/Foreign Minister Rashid Mererdov once again
abruptly cancelled a meeting on three urgent matters because,
as very frequently happens, he was summoned to the
Presidential Palace.
2. (C) The Charge had discussed one of the issues very
briefly with Meredov at a public event on June 24, and the
minister asked that the details be passed directly to him,
out of system, in a non-paper, which the Embassy subsequently
did on June 25. The background paper included a time line of
previous discussions on the issue, including a reasonable and
useful suggestion Bashimov had made.
3. (C) In the June 26 meeting, Bashimov was visibly shaken
and briefly broke down. When he composed himself, he pleaded
with the Charge never ever again to use his name in any kind
of document, formal or informal, that goes to the minister.
Otherwise, he said, "You won't have me to work with anymore."
Apparently, Minister Meredov had given Bashimov a severe
tongue-lashing for having at one point made a suggestion for
a way forward on the sensitive issue. As he walked the
Charge out of the ministry, Bashimov commented, "This has
been the worst day of my life. Sometimes life isn't worth
living."
4. (C) COMMENT: Several insights emerge. First, even
relatively senior officials like Bashimov, who is roughly the
equivalent of a U.S. assistant secretary, are not authorized
to think and act without the minister's explicit consent. We
know from previous experience senior officials are selective
in what they pass to the minister for fear of provoking him
with "bad news." That in itself is bad enough, but it brings
up a larger issue. Because Minister Meredov is so often tied
up with the president, he has less and less time, it seems,
to be foreign minister. Since January, it has been
increasingly difficult to see him, and this is true for the
entire diplomatic community. When Meredov appears in public
for ceremonial events, ambassadors mob him to do business
they haven't been able to do otherwise. These ambassadorial
mob scenes would be comical, if they weren't so alarming. In
the case of our non-paper on the sensitive issue, we kept
several ticks deliberately vague so that the Charge could
discuss U.S. views candidly with the Minister in greater
detail and propose a way forward. But we hear now Meredov
has passed the paper to a functionary to craft a policy
response. Because Meredov seems to have less time to be
foreign minister, the government of Turkmenistan is more
likely to make bone-headed decisions that we then have to
attempt to walk back. END COMMENT.
HOAGLAND
SIPDIS
STATE FOR SCA/CEN
E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/27/2018
TAGS: PGOV PREL TX
SUBJECT: TURKMENISTAN: WHY THINGS DON'T WORK WELL
Classified By: CDA RICHARD E. HOAGLAND: 1.4 (B),(D)
1. (C) Charge met with Ministry of Foreign Affairs America's
Director Serdar Bashimov the evening of June 26 after Deputy
Prime Minister/Foreign Minister Rashid Mererdov once again
abruptly cancelled a meeting on three urgent matters because,
as very frequently happens, he was summoned to the
Presidential Palace.
2. (C) The Charge had discussed one of the issues very
briefly with Meredov at a public event on June 24, and the
minister asked that the details be passed directly to him,
out of system, in a non-paper, which the Embassy subsequently
did on June 25. The background paper included a time line of
previous discussions on the issue, including a reasonable and
useful suggestion Bashimov had made.
3. (C) In the June 26 meeting, Bashimov was visibly shaken
and briefly broke down. When he composed himself, he pleaded
with the Charge never ever again to use his name in any kind
of document, formal or informal, that goes to the minister.
Otherwise, he said, "You won't have me to work with anymore."
Apparently, Minister Meredov had given Bashimov a severe
tongue-lashing for having at one point made a suggestion for
a way forward on the sensitive issue. As he walked the
Charge out of the ministry, Bashimov commented, "This has
been the worst day of my life. Sometimes life isn't worth
living."
4. (C) COMMENT: Several insights emerge. First, even
relatively senior officials like Bashimov, who is roughly the
equivalent of a U.S. assistant secretary, are not authorized
to think and act without the minister's explicit consent. We
know from previous experience senior officials are selective
in what they pass to the minister for fear of provoking him
with "bad news." That in itself is bad enough, but it brings
up a larger issue. Because Minister Meredov is so often tied
up with the president, he has less and less time, it seems,
to be foreign minister. Since January, it has been
increasingly difficult to see him, and this is true for the
entire diplomatic community. When Meredov appears in public
for ceremonial events, ambassadors mob him to do business
they haven't been able to do otherwise. These ambassadorial
mob scenes would be comical, if they weren't so alarming. In
the case of our non-paper on the sensitive issue, we kept
several ticks deliberately vague so that the Charge could
discuss U.S. views candidly with the Minister in greater
detail and propose a way forward. But we hear now Meredov
has passed the paper to a functionary to craft a policy
response. Because Meredov seems to have less time to be
foreign minister, the government of Turkmenistan is more
likely to make bone-headed decisions that we then have to
attempt to walk back. END COMMENT.
HOAGLAND