Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
09ASHGABAT1542
2009-12-03 11:40:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Embassy Ashgabat
Cable title:  

TURKMENISTAN: CENTRAL ASIAN DIPLOMATS ATTEND UN

Tags:  PREL PGOV UN ZK TX 
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VZCZCXRO6309
PP RUEHIK
DE RUEHAH #1542 3371140
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 031140Z DEC 09
FM AMEMBASSY ASHGABAT
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 3826
INFO RUCNCLS/ALL SOUTH AND CENTRAL ASIA COLLECTIVE
RUCNCIS/CIS COLLECTIVE
RUCNMEM/EU MEMBER STATES COLLECTIVE
RUEHAK/AMEMBASSY ANKARA 5942
RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 3641
RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO 3500
RUEHIT/AMCONSUL ISTANBUL 4184
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
RHMCSUU/CDR USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHDC
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHDC
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC
RUEHVEN/USMISSION USOSCE 4133
UNCLAS ASHGABAT 001542 

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

DEPT FOR SCA/CEN

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL PGOV UN ZK TX
SUBJECT: TURKMENISTAN: CENTRAL ASIAN DIPLOMATS ATTEND UN
SEMINAR ON PREVENTIVE DIPLOMACY

UNCLAS ASHGABAT 001542

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

DEPT FOR SCA/CEN

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL PGOV UN ZK TX
SUBJECT: TURKMENISTAN: CENTRAL ASIAN DIPLOMATS ATTEND UN
SEMINAR ON PREVENTIVE DIPLOMACY


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


2. (SBU) The Ashgabat-based UN Regional Center for Preventive
Diplomacy for Central Asia (UNRCCA) conducted a seminar on
preventive diplomacy for junior-level diplomats from the five
Central Asian countries on November 3-6. The event was
organized jointly with the UN Institute for Training and
Research (UNITAR),which arranged for the speakers. The
sessions aimed at strengthening knowledge and skills in
conflict analysis and negotiation. According to UNRCCA
Political Officer Armands Pupols, the goal of the seminar was
to bring young diplomats from the five countries together for
an exchange of views. Seven Turkmen officials attended, as
well as three from Uzbekistan and five from each of the other
countries. Uzbek participation was uncertain, as the Uzbek
government provided names at the last minute. The Turkmen
government provided no advance list of names, but Pupols said
the Turkmen participants were surprisingly active and
attended all the sessions.


3. (SBU) Pupols noted that a highlight of the seminar was the
presentation by Vladimir Garayev, a UN civil servant who
worked in Tajikistan during its civil war and stood behind
efforts to establish the UNRCCA. He explained the origin of
the UNRCCA as a proposed response in 1999-2000 to incursions
by extremists in Kyrgyzstan's southern region. Garayev
described how the concept for the UNRCCA was passed over by
both Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan before it was accepted in
Turkmenistan. He also talked about the peace process in
Tajikistan to end its civil war, which the Tajik participants
did not contradict, but supplemented with their own
observations. Pupols characterized Garayev's presentation as
"just on the edge of what he could say and get away with,"
given the audience.


4. (SBU) Experts from Essex University in the UK led a module
on preventive diplomacy through support for human rights. A
representative from the OSCE's High Commissioner for Human
Rights focused on low-key engagement, so-called "silent
diplomacy." An American from Falls Church-based Consilium
International LLC conducted practical exercises, such as a
mock UN Security Council and role playing, that did not
involve regional politics and were detached from Central
Asian reality. Pupols thought the practical exercises were a
good contrast to the regional issues discussed by the experts
from Essex. Also, the UNRCCA did not want the seminar to
delve deeply into regional issues that might lead to problems
since there were officials from all five Central Asian
countries present.


5. (SBU) Pupols indicated that participant feedback was very
positive and that the UNRCCA would like to hold more such
events in future years. Next on the schedule is a May 2010
two-week seminar on international law for lawyers from the
region's foreign ministries and presidential administrations.



6. (SBU) COMMENT: Seminars such as this one address two
aspects of the UNRCCA's mandate: to build capacity for
preventive diplomacy in Central Asia and to serve as a forum
for the exchange of views among the region's governments.
The UNRCCA's ability to organize such events, not an easy
task in Central Asia, demonstrates its current and potential
effectiveness as a mechanism for dialogue within the region.
END COMMENT.
ECKSTROM