MEDIA HIGHLIGHT DAS GEORGE KROL VISIT TO HEAD U.S.

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ASHGABAT 001489

SIPDIS

STATE FOR SCA/CEN, SCA/PPD, IIP, ECA

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL PGOV SCUL KPAO TX
SUBJECT: MEDIA HIGHLIGHT DAS GEORGE KROL VISIT TO HEAD U.S.
DELEGATION AT OIL AND GAS TURKMENISTAN EXPO 2009

REF: ASHGABAT 01255

ASHGABAT 00001489 001.2 OF 002




1. (U) Sensitive but unclassified. Not for public distribution.


2. (U) SUMMARY: The official visit of Deputy Assistant Secretary
for South and Central Asian Affairs, Ambassador George A. Krol to
Turkmenistan on November 16-18 received generally accurate and
widespread media coverage. Ambassador Krol headed a delegation from
the United States to the "Oil and Gas Turkmenistan 2009 (OGT 2009)"
International Conference and Exposition. Krol held a press
conference with foreign media stringers in Ashgabat and gave a few
exclusive interviews to foreign stringers. Adviser to Special Envoy
on Eurasian Energy Daniel Stein accompanied Krol and answered a few
questions at the press conference. Foreign media accurately
highlighted Krol's OGT remarks. END SUMMARY

MEDIA HIGHLIGHT DAS KROL MEETING WITH TURKMEN LEADER


3. (U) On November 16, the Azeri news agency "Trend" (English)
announced Krol's arrival based on the U.S. Embassy's press release.
The following day, the "Watan" evening TV news program (Turkmen)
gave a generally accurate highlight story on Krol's meeting with
President Berdimuhamedov, praising both sides' interest in
developing partnership in key Turkmen-American partnership areas,
such as trade, economy and humanitarian sectors. The story also
underlined the meeting's particular focus on cooperation in the fuel
and energy sectors. The broadcast carried Krol's interview remarks
following the meeting. Krol gave a few greetings in Turkmen and
noted the meeting was efficient. Krol also gave positive remarks
about the oil and gas conference, emphasizing its importance for
Turkmenistan. The following day, state-run dailies "Neytralniy
Turkmenistan" (Russian, circ. 49,091) and "Turkmenistan" (Turkmen,
circ. 38,091) printed stories that mirrored the "Watan" story on
their front pages. The government-run website "Turkmenistan Golden
Age"(www.turkmenistan.gov.tm) (Turkmen, Russian and English)
accurately highlighted the meeting with a similar story as carried
on the "Watan" broadcast.


4. (U) On November 17-18, Russian news agencies "ITAR-TASS"
(Russian, English) and "RIA Orienda" (English),Azeri news agency
"Trend" (Russian) carried accurate stories on the meeting based on
state media reporting. On November 19, Kyrgyzstan-based news
website "CA-News" (Russian) also published an accurate story on the
meeting.

MEDIA HIGHLIGHT PRESS CONFERENCE WITH KROL AND STEIN


5. (U) On November 17, Deputy Assistant Secretary Krol gave
exclusive interviews to "Reuters" and RFE/RL's Turkmen language
service. The same day "Reuters" (English) and RFE/RL's Turkmen
language service carried generally accurate stories based on their
interviews with Krol. Krol stressed the interest of U.S. companies'
in investing in Turkmenistan's oil and gas infrastructure.


6. (U) A November 20 article at "Eurasianet.org" accurately cited
Krol's remark from the press conference on the issue regarding
Turkmenistan's restrictions on international travel for a number of
students studying at American Universities. Krol noted he had
raised the issue with the Foreign Minister and indicated
Turkmenistan's intentions to solve the issue.


7. (U) On November 17, highlighting the press conference, several
media outlets cited Stein's remarks regarding the Caspian dispute
between Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan. The "Associated Press"
(English) accurately quoted Stein as saying that it was still
possible to carry energy projects across the Caspian Sea without
final agreements over territorial delimitation and noted that the
United States and Europe had encouraged the sides to reach an
agreement. He also emphasized that American companies, with their
great experience of working in difficult conditions, would be
helpful in developing Caspian blocks. The same day, "CNBC"
reprinted the "Associated Press" story. Russian news agency "RIA
Novosti" (Russian) carried similar remarks by Stein but extrapolated
that the United States offered assistance in resolving the dispute.
The same day, Kazakh information agency "Novosti-Kazakhstan"

ASHGABAT 00001489 002.2 OF 002


(Russian),Azeri news agencies "News.Az" (English) and "Azer-Press"
(English, Russian) carried stories with similar content and carried
the same inaccuracy. In subsequent days, Azeri based "ABC.AZ"
(English, Russian),"APA" (English) and Russian news source "What
the Paper Says (WPS)" (Russian, English) also carried the same
misleading reports.

MEDIA HIGHLIGHT KROL'S REMARKS AT OGT 2009


6. (U) On November 18, Deputy Assistant Secretary Krol gave his
remarks as the first foreign speaker at the OGT 2009. The same day,
Russian news agency "ITAR-TASS" (Russian),Azeri news agency "Trend"
(Russian, English) highlighted Krol's address at the conference.
The stories carried accurate quotes from Krol's remarks about the
importance of energy diversification, economic reforms and
transparency. Krol also emphasized that the United States
considered energy security to be a priority issue and that Central
Asia was an important region in the global energy picture. (NOTE:
The Embassy prepared and distributed the transcript of Krol's OGT
remarks in English, Russian and Turkmen on the same day. END
NOTE.)


8. (U) State "Turkmenistan" TV channel (Russian, Turkmen, English,
Chinese, Arabic, Persian, French) scheduled its story to highlight
their interview with Krol from OGT 2009 for later in the week.


9. (SBU) COMMENT: In general, the media widely covered DAS Krol
and accurately quoted him. As usual, the Turkmen state-run media
ignored the substance of his remarks, choosing instead to focus on
President Berdimuhamedov and generalities instead of specifics.
Interestingly, while Krol received no print coverage after his
remarks at the conference, Chevron Executive Doug Uchikura's remarks
received front-page treatment in both "Neytralniy Turkmenistan"
(Russian, circ. 49,091) and "Turkmenistan" (Turkmen, circ. 38,091).
END COMMENT.

CURRAN