TURKMENISTAN: DEPUTY FM DISCUSSES HUMAN

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 ASHGABAT 001007

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR SCA/CEN

E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/09/2019
TAGS: PGOV PREL KTIP PHUM SOCI SCUL TX
SUBJECT: TURKMENISTAN: DEPUTY FM DISCUSSES HUMAN
TRAFFICKING; RESTRICTIONS ON STUDENTS TO AUCA

Classified By: Charge Richard Miles, Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)


1. (C) SUMMARY: In a recent meeting with Charge, Deputy
Foreign Minister Wepa Hajiyev provided his commentary on the
Turkmenistan section of the Trafficking in Persons (TIP)
Report. While acknowledging that more needs to done to fight
TIP, he took issue with the report's failure to recognize the
Turkmen government's activity in this area. He cited
upcoming regulations for the implementation of the Criminal
Procedure Code, ongoing investigations of TIP organizers and
the government's efforts to raise public awareness about TIP.
He proposed developing a mechanism for cooperation on TIP
issues and information sharing. On a second issue, exit
restrictions on Turkmen young people headed to Kyrgyzstan for
higher education, Hajiyev explained the Turkmen government's
concerns about low standards at many of the higher education
institutions in that country. He recognized, however, that
the American University of Central Asia (AUCA) has high
standards and said he would look into the blanket refusal for
permission to depart which is affecting its Turkmen students.
END SUMMARY.

PROSPECTS FOR IMPLEMENTATION OF ANTI-TIP LAW


2. (C) On August 7, Charge discussed the Turkmenistan portion
of the TIP Report and the government's interference with
students headed to AUCA in Bishkek with Deputy Foreign
Minister Wepa Hajiyev. Hajiyev noted Turkmenistan's Tier Two
status and wanted to comment about the trafficking situation
in Turkmenistan and the contents of the report. According to
Hajiyev, since 2007 the government has been paying attention
to the TIP issue. He acknowledged that the issue demands
more efforts and implementation, both in Turkmenistan and
elsewhere. Still, he could not agree completely with the
text of the report. Citing the 2007 Law on Trafficking in
Persons, he agreed that implementing that law was important.
Law enforcement officials also understood the need to
implement the law. Recently, there was an inter-ministerial
meeting at which implementing regulations for the new
Criminal Procedure Code were discussed. The goal is to have
the draft regulations completed by August 15 and to submit
them to British and German experts, in the framework of a
German Gesellschaft fur Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ)
project, to insure that they comply with international
standards. Hajiyev wanted to call attention to the fact
that, concerning TIP legislation, the government was moving
forward in cooperation with international experts.


3. (C) Commenting that TIP was a somewhat new topic for
Turkmenistan, Hajiyev noted that it was a new area for law
enforcement officials to deal with. He rejected the
suggestion that law enforcement officials were not doing
anything to prosecute traffickers. According to his
discussion with the Prosecutor General, in 2009 several
operations to investigate and prosecute TIP organizers in
Mary and Lebap provinces have occurred. Their aim was to cut
the channels that provide people for trafficking. He
mentioned that in 2009, they have also focused on "tourism
companies."

TIP PUBLIC AWARENESS CAMPAIGNS -- TURKMEN STYLE


4. (C) Hajiyev took issue with the report's assessment that
the government does not conduct TIP public awareness
campaigns. He said the government promotes TIP awareness "in
its own way." Instead of television announcements, he said
Turkmenistan, as a Central Asian and Muslim country, conducts
awareness efforts through social organizations such as the
district-level councils of elders, as well as teachers and
social activists. They work together with provincial law
enforcement officials to assist victims of trafficking and to
prevent people from becoming victims by raising awareness.


5. (C) Hajiyev said it was difficult to determine the scope
of the TIP problem involving Turkmenistan. Turkmen consuls

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overseas assisted citizens with problems. For instance, if
someone was withholding a Turkmen citizen's passport, the
consul, together with host country foreign ministry and law
enforcement officials, carried out necessary actions to
protect the citizen, including providing a new passport if
needed.

OFFER TO WORK JOINTLY ON THE TIP PROBLEM


6. (C) Hajiyev suggested that the task is complicated and
needs more work, but wanted to call attention to work that
had been done. He proposed organizing cooperation in the
anti-TIP sphere, perhaps a joint activity in order to provide
an "objective view" of activities in Turkmenistan. But he
noted that for the Turkmen government, the issue was the
subject of active interest and that, given its efforts in
holding criminals responsible and assistance to TIP victims,
it was difficult to understand Turkmenistan's Tier Two
ranking. The Turkmen government wants the situation to
improve, and Hajiyev welcomed definite suggestions or
proposals. He said the Foreign Ministry's leadership
considered it important to provide a wider understanding of
the government's anti-TIP efforts by February 2010.


7. (C) The Charge noted that the U.S. approach to TIP applies
to all countries. Our task was to give a correct evaluation
of the problem in Turkmenistan and a correct presentation of
what the Turkmen government was doing. He welcomed the
opportunity to work with the appropriate Turkmen government
agencies in order to obtain more complete information about
the situation. He suggested the formation of a working group
between the Embassy and the government that would allow the
exchange of TIP experience and information and provide an
official source of information for the report. Hajiyev
replied that he would study further the question of a
mechanism to clearly determine the scope of the TIP problem.
The Turkmen government wanted to give a comprehensive view
about what is happening in Turkmenistan. It also needed to
make progress now and to work out where it could expand
cooperation in this area.

BLOCKING KYRGYZSTAN-BOUND STUDENTS


8. (C) Hajiyev also addressed "rumors" that the Turkmen
government interfered with young people going abroad to
study. He explained that it was a question of study by
Turkmen youth in Kyrgzstan and did not involve students to
other countries, according to his discussions with the
Migration Service and Ministry of Education. He cited an
increase in the number of Turkmen youth studying in
Kyrgyzstan and attributed it, not to high educational
standards, but to its low cost. He explained that Turkmen
citizens choose from a list of Kyrgyz educational offerings
not on the basis of the quality of education or the subjects
offered, but strictly on the basis of affordability. He gave
the example of a second year student at a college-level
institution in the city of Osh who could not give the name of
the school, questioning whether such a program could be
legitimate. In addition, diplomas should correspond to
educational standards in the country where they were issued.
Students returning to Turkmenistan with a Kyrgyz diploma lack
the possibility of finding work with a diploma that is not
recognized in Turkmenistan. This results in complaints from
the students.


9. (C) According to Hajiyev, the restriction applied only to
Kyrgyz schools. If it is a state institution or an
institution with recognized high standards, the Turkmen
Ministry of Education would stamp the student's passport and
the Migration Service would allow them to depart. He did not
see any reason why students could not go to AUCA. They
should apply to the Ministry of Education and obtain the
necessary stamp. The Turkmen government was working with the
Kyrgyz government to set up a new mechanism to handle this
issue. Another aspect of this issue was compulsory military

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service. Males who are obtaining higher education are given
a postponement until graduation. Male students who wanted to
depart to Kyrgyzstan did not present documentation that they
had obtained the deferment and were perhaps trying to avoid
military service. Hajiyev also mentioned that some students
were especially interested in going to the Ferghana Valley,
the cities of Osh and Jalalabad. (NOTE: The implicaton being
that they could be associating with Islamic extremists there.
END NOTE)

AUCA MEETS HIGH STANDARDS


10. (C) The Charge pointed out that the U.S. Government
supports AUCA and gives scholarships to Turkmen students to
study there. He emphasized that it was incomprehensible why
students should be denied permission by the Ministry of
Education to study at AUCA. He urged the Turkmen government
to review how the Ministry of Education was handling these
cases because Hajiyev's concerns about the quality of
education at some Kyrgyz institutions were not valid with
respect to AUCA. Currently, AUCA students are facing a
blanket refusal by Turkmen authorities, both males and
females. Hajiyev, apparently caught off guard by the
information that AUCA students were being barred from
departing, asked for a list of the affected students and said
he would look into it.


12. (C) The Charge also raised the registration case of the
local international school, following up on Under Secretary
Burns' discussion of the same topic with Foreign Minister
Rashid Meredov during his Ashgabat visit. The Charge
mentioned that Meredov had said he would look into the issue,
noting that the Embassy had yet to be provided with an
explanation as to why the international school has not been
registered. He said this lack of information made it
impossible to take appropriate measures that could expedite
the process. Hajiyev said he would raise the matter with
Meredov.


13. (C) COMMENT: On the TIP issue, Hajiyev was well-briefed
and reflected a willingness on the part of the Turkmen
government to improve its record. It remains to be seen if
his words translate into access to more complete information
and concrete actions along the lines recommended in the TIP
report. The Turkmen government is extremely close hold on
information, especially when it could cast the country in a
negative light. Regarding Turkmen students headed for AUCA,
while the concerns about studying in Kyrgyzstan might be
valid in some cases, they do not apply to AUCA students, a
point which Hajiyev seemed to acknowledge when the Charge
honed in on their situation. Hopefully, the Foreign Ministry
will be able overturn the travel ban in time for the start of
the school year. END COMMENT.
MILES