TURKMENISTAN: BERDIMUHAMEDOV ON AZERBAIJAN:

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 03 ASHGABAT 000817 SIPDIS STATE FOR SCA/CEN, EEB PLEASE PASS TO USTDA DAN STEIN USEU BRUSSELS FOR SPECIAL ENVOY GRAY ENERGY FOR EKIMOFF/THOMPSON COMMERCE FOR HUEPER E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/01/2028 TAGS: PGOV PREL EPET RS AJ TX SUBJECT: TURKMENISTAN: BERDIMUHAMEDOV ON AZERBAIJAN: "STUPID HOOLIGANISM" REF: A. IIR 6 940 0006 08 ¶B. BAKU 0620 Classified By: CDA RICHARD E. HOAGLAND: 1.4 (B),(D) ¶1. (S) SUMMARY: In a surprising display of pique and frustration, Berdimuhamedov let loose to the Charge against Azerbaijan's President Aliyev, implying that the brief standoff in April between Azeri border patrol boats and a Turkmen vessel in the mid-Caspian disputed Serdar/Kyapaz block (ref A) was a personal attack calculated to belittle Turkmenistan. We believe Berdimuhamedov has not given up on the concept of a Turkmen-Azeri natural-gas inter-connector pipeline, but he needs reassurance to move forward with this strategic project. END SUMMARY. ¶2. (S) In what was to have been a brief farewell call, Charge met with President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov for an hour on June 30. After praising the sensitivity and respect the United States has shown in building a productive, new U.S.-Turkmenistan relationship -- "With your help we've proven we're a serious country" -- and praising the positive contributions of SCA assistant Secretary Richard Boucher and EEB Coordinator for Eurasian Energy Diplomacy Steven Mann, Berdimuhamedov in no uncertain terms laid into Azerbaijan and President Ilham Aliyev. ¶3. (S) Berdimuhamedov said, "Quite frankly, we didn't expect to move so quickly on Caspian affairs, but you gave us wise advice how to do it, and we trusted you. We still trust you, but we need your help more than ever. Even with the recent 'Azeri stupid mistakes,' we are committed to moving forward, but the Azeris haven't made it easy because their patrol boats attacked our vessel (in Serdar/Kyapaz) just days before my visit to Baku. We'd been there for three months, and they knew it! Why did they wait until my visit? That was a personal insult! I've been the one who's taken all the steps -- at your urging. I approached Aliyev in Saint Petersburg (at the CIS informal summit in 2007). I made the first phone call to him. I agreed to visit Baku before he visited Ashgabat -- on your advice! I stood up to Putin for our sovereign rights at the 2007 Caspian Summit in Tehran, but Aliyev ran like a little boy. And what did I get for all of this? A slap in the face!" Berdimuhamedov added, "The Russians keep yelling at me that we cannot build a new pipeline because it will destroy the ecology of the Caspian Sea." At this point, he rolled his eyes and waved the back of his hand. ¶4. (S) Berdimuhamedov explained that when he had been in Baku, he had a polite but tough private one-on-one meeting with Aliyev, and had asked why Aliyev had sent patrol boats into Serdar/Kyapaz to challenge Turkmenistan's claim to the disputed block. Berdimuhamedov said Aliyev responded that we was out of the country at that time and had been unaware of the event. Berdimuhamedov said, "I didn't say anything then, but he IS the president, and he needs to know what is happening in his name in his own country, if he is really in charge." ¶5. (S) Berdimuhamedov recounted that he had told Aliyev clearly he wants to start trans-Caspian commercial cooperation from Serdar/Kyapaz. But Aliyev allegedly said, "We don't need your gas -- we're rich enough without it. We've got more than enough. We'll transit your gas to ASHGABAT 00000817 002 OF 003 Europe, if that's what you want, but we don't need it." Berdimuhamedov said SOCAR President Rovnaq Abdullayev had come to Turkmenistan on June 19 (ref B) and offered to take responsibility for the Serdar/Kyapaz incident. Berdimuhamedov said, "I told him, 'You're not the guilty party. I reject your apology!'" ¶6. (S) Berdimuhamedov said he was fully ready to move forward, despite delimitation issues, on technical details for a production pipeline between existing Turkmen and Azeri Caspian infrastructures, as the United States has urged him to do. He said, "I trusted (Deputy Prime Minister/Foreign Minister Rashid) Meredov on this because he understands you better than I do." But then, showing strong emotion, Berdimuhamedov said, "Aliyev has killed this. I told him, 'You're the guilty party; we could have been fruitful partners.' So we're going back to demanding full delimitation before any other technical consideration. I don't care how long it takes. I have to project our national interests." ¶7. (S) Berdimuhamedov said he has been sending Meredov regularly to Baku for "not publicized" contacts -- "sometimes in the middle of the night" to try to work out a real solution to the Turkmen-Azeri mid-Caspian disputed fields. Berdimuhamedov said, "We judged that you (the United States) are right. For strategic reasons, we need to work out a way to link our infrastructures to send Turkmen natural gas directly to Europe. We want to do that. That is my personal decision! But then why did Aliyev allow the 'stupid hooligans' to mistreat us? Who made that decision and why?" He added, "If necessary to prove our point, we will take British Petroleum to international arbitration for having violated our rights to (Azeri-Chirag-Gunshli/)Osman-Omar." ¶8. (S) Charge asked, "What steps should President Aliyev take to rebuild trust and get this all back on track?" Berdimuhamedov responded, "You are an old country and have great patience. We are a new country. Let Aliyev take the next serious step. I hope he works more closely with you (the United States),as we have done, so that he can understand us better. We'll let the various Turkmen-Azeri bilateral commissions continue to work, but Aliyev has to convince me he's serious about cooperation. I don't want his boys telling me, 'We don't need you at all, but we'll help you, if you like.'" In the end, Berdimuhamedov said, "We don't need Azerbaijan. I want a brotherly relationship of mutual respect, but they have to want it, too." Berdimuhamedov then one more time returned to the Serdar/Kyapaz confrontation and said, "My guys asked if they should fire on them, but I told them to stand down." He added, "I simply don't understand why Aliyev 'broke the tender twig' to prove he's better than us. Why did he ruin everything?" ¶9. (S) In an aside, Berdimuhamedov said that Russia has not yet agreed to meet Turkmen price demands for natural gas in ¶2009. He said, "If they won't agree, we'll shut off the pipelines and develop our own natural-gas chemical industry. They need us more than we need them." ¶10. (S) As if picking at an open sore, Berdimuhamedov asked one more time, "Why one week before my visit to Baku did Azerbaijan attack us? Does Aliyev really think we are weak, or is he maybe working for the Russians?" ASHGABAT 00000817 003 OF 003 ¶11. (S) To all of this, Charge assured Berdimuhamedov that we have indeed clearly understood his concerns. Further, we firmly believe that both states value their independence from Russia. We have no immediate answers for him, but we will seriously consider what he has said and will work to find a mutually respectful way forward. Charge asked that the president not give up on the long-term strategic goals that will, eventually, benefit the sovereignty and independence of each state and, eventually, make the Caspian a world-class player in its own right. He asked that Berdimuhamedov take the high road for international leadership. Berdimuhamedov said, "You can afford the high road. I can't." ¶12. (S) COMMENT: We continue to wonder if Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan are further along on Caspian cooperation than either side is letting on as they attempt to keep it under the Russian radar. However, if Berdimuhamedov's wounded fulminations against Azerbaijan and President Aliyev were an act, he should be nominated for an Academy Award. What we probably need to recognize is that Berdimuhamedov, for all his pretences at statesmanship, is still seriously hobbled by the traditional Turkmen inferiority complex about Azerbaijan, which harks back to the early 20th century when the Soviets tried to use the more urbane Azeris to "civilize" the Turkmen nomadic tribes. It will not be easy, given the presidential bulls-pawing-the-turf in this region, but we need probably to try to explain to Azerbaijan the need for unaccustomed, high-road sensitivity in dealing with the brittle Turkmen. Our arguments should always be strategic, and never appear to favor one protagonist over another. ¶13. (S) COMMENT CONTINUED: From all the hints he dropped, we believe Berdimuhamedov has not given up on the concept of a Turkmen-Azeri natural-gas inter-connector pipeline. But, at the moment, he appears -- unless it's a huge act, and even if he exaggerated for effect -- to be bruised and frustrated. He needs realistic reassurance at the highest level. It's in our national interest for energy security to do so. Berdimuhamedov needs to meet with President Bush, whom he respects. END COMMENT. HOAGLAND