TURKMENISTAN: NATO-SPONSORED SEMINAR FIRST STEP IN

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ASHGABAT 001231

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR SCA/CEN;

E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/28/2019
TAGS: MARR PREL NATO TX
SUBJECT: TURKMENISTAN: NATO-SPONSORED SEMINAR FIRST STEP IN
ENHANCED COOPERATION

REF: ASHGABAT 0741

Classified By: Charge Sylvia Reed Curran, Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)


1. (C) SUMMARY. NATO will hold a seminar on civil emergency
planning methodology in Ashgabat, which is something of a
breakthrough in its engagement with the Turkmen government.
NATO's other Turkmen initiative, an assessment of a
radioactive waster remediation project, is also queued up for
implementation. The subject of overflight clearance for a
NATO AWACS plane is being handled bilaterally by Luxembourg
and would not be raised as a NATO issue. NATO has no
illusions that the Turkmen government will be ready any time
soon to engage more fully with the organization, but hopes
its limited contacts will move the Turkmen to draw on
resources offered through the Partnership for Peace. END
SUMMARY.


2. (C) On September 25, NATO Liaison Officer for Central Asia
Evan Tracz briefed representatives from NATO-member embassies
on NATO engagement with the Turkmen government. In
attendance were representatives from the Turkish, German,
French, British, Romanian and US Embassies, hosted by the
Polish Embassy as the NATO Contact Point Embassy in Ashgabat.
Tracz was in Ashgabat for meetings with Turkmen government
officials and to attend the first seminar that NATO has
sponsored in Turkmenistan without the joint sponsorship of
another international organization. The two-day seminar on
civil emergency planning methodology is to be conducted at
the Ministry of Defense on September 28-29 with up to 30
participants. The seminar was proposed during the February
visit of NATO Special Representative for the Caucasus and
Central Asia Robert Simmons when the Turkmen side discussed
its plan to create a Ministry of Emergency Situations and
represents the "soft side" of NATO. The seminar will be led
by U.S. and Dutch experts, together with a NATO staffer. It
will focus on how governments should respond to such crises.
Tracz shared that he had limited expectations for the event,
but that NATO viewed it as a first step on which to build.


3. (C) Regarding NATO's other initiative in Turkmenistan, a
project to remediate Soviet-era radioactive waste from
iodine and bromide plants in Hazar, Tracz said NATO's
Partnership for Peace had just approved offering an
assessment of a Russian firm's proposal to clean-up the
waste. Total cost of the assessment would be 15,000-20,000
euros. Tracz planned to offer the assessment to the Turkmen
government during his meetings on this trip.


4. (C) Finally, Tracz updated the embassy representatives on
the status of the request for Turkmen overflight clearance
for NATO Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS)
aircraft. He said that following his last visit to Ashgabat
(reftel),he had raised the issue of a NATO blanket
overflight agreement with Turkmenistan at NATO headquarters.
He was told that NATO member governments prefer to pursue
overflight agreements with the Turkmen on a bilateral basis.
Concerning Turkmen clearance for the Luxembourg-flagged AWACS
planes, Tracz said Luxembourg wanted to handle the request
bilaterally and had sent a series of incomplete and
improperly filled out requests to the Turkmen Embassy in
Brussels. Each had been rejected on technical grounds
without being forwarded to Ashgabat. Embassy officials said
the request would not be sent to Ashgabat until it was filled
out correctly, otherwise they could lose their jobs. During
his visit, Tracz said, he would not address the AWACS
overflight issue.


5. (C) Tracz hoped the civil emergency planning seminar would
lead to the Turkmen agreeing to participate in a NATO
exercise, although not to actually conduct their own. He
said NATO has no "grand vision" that the Turkmen government
would be willing to move its partnership with NATO to the
next level. Rather, the current goal is to induce the

ASHGABAT 00001231 002 OF 002


Turkmen to use the resources that are available to them under
Partnership for Peace. While NATO is aiming "low," Tracz
hoped its engagement would be thought provoking for the
Turkmen. Simmons will likely come to Turkmenistan in early
2010, and that will be an opportunity for NATO to query the
Turkmen government about a slightly more engaging follow-on
project.


6. (C) COMMENT: Given the Turkmen government's steadfast
neutrality policy, close engagement with NATO is not likely
in the offing under current conditions. Still, the fact that
NATO has delivered on its proposals in 2009 and has found a
toehold for modest engagement shows that the process of
confidence building has begun. NATO's apparent patience and
low expectations will serve it well in what will no doubt be
a lengthy courtship. END COMMENT.
CURRAN