Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
09ASHGABAT43
2009-01-13 11:54:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Ashgabat
how-toVZCZCXRO5531 PP RUEHAG RUEHBI RUEHCI RUEHLH RUEHPW RUEHROV RUEHSR DE RUEHAH #0043/01 0131154 ZNY CCCCC ZZH P 131154Z JAN 09 FM AMEMBASSY ASHGABAT TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 2103 INFO RUCNCLS/ALL SOUTH AND CENTRAL ASIA COLLECTIVE PRIORITY RUCNCIS/CIS COLLECTIVE PRIORITY RUCNMEM/EU MEMBER STATES COLLECTIVE PRIORITY RUEHAK/AMEMBASSY ANKARA PRIORITY 4662 RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING PRIORITY 2465 RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO PRIORITY 2330 RUEHIT/AMCONSUL ISTANBUL PRIORITY 2910 RHMFISS/CDR USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL PRIORITY RUEHVEN/USMISSION USOSCE PRIORITY 3206 RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC PRIORITY RHEFDIA/DIA WASHDC PRIORITY RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC PRIORITY RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC PRIORITY RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHDC PRIORITY
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ASHGABAT 000043
SIPDIS
STATE FOR SCA/CEN
E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/12/2019
TAGS: PGOV TX
SUBJECT: TURKMENISTAN: NEW SENIOR ADVISOR JOINS
PRESIDENTIAL APPARAT, BUT HIS ROLE REMAINS UNCLEAR
Classified By: Charge Richard M. Miles for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ASHGABAT 000043
SIPDIS
STATE FOR SCA/CEN
E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/12/2019
TAGS: PGOV TX
SUBJECT: TURKMENISTAN: NEW SENIOR ADVISOR JOINS
PRESIDENTIAL APPARAT, BUT HIS ROLE REMAINS UNCLEAR
Classified By: Charge Richard M. Miles for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).
1. (C) SUMMARY: As in previous years, letters of
congratulation on the new year from various Turkmenistan
officials to the Turkmen president were published in the
state-controlled press, including one from senior officials
of the secretive Presidential Apparat. Two letters from
apparat officials appeared in the newspaper before and after
the new year, highlighting what the government perceived as
President Berdimuhamedov's greatest accomplishments. The
list of signatories also revealed that the President had
appointed a new senior advisor who may focus on
Berdimuhamedov's colossal pet project, the Avaza Tourism
Zone. With the addition of Guychgeldy Hojaberdiyev, three of
the seven individuals who run the apparatus are now
Berdimuhamedov's own appointees. The other four appear to
have been running things in the President's office since
independence. END SUMMARY.
LETTERS FROM APPARAT PRAISE BERDIMUHAMEDOV'S ACCOMPLISHMENTS
2. (U) On December 24 and January 2, the newspaper
"Neytralniy Turkmenistan" published congratulatory letters to
President Berdimuhamedov from the officials who run the
Presidential Apparat. The December letter congratulated the
President at length on the success of his recently adopted UN
Resolution on energy transit reliability, noting "...your
initiative has been recorded in the history of international
relations and diplomacy in golden letters." The January
letter was a flattering summary of the President's major
accomplishments on behalf of Turkmenistan and the Turkmen
people in 2008 as a first chapter in his "Epic of the New
Revival." Achievements identified included infrastructure
development, economic reform, foreign policy initiatives that
advanced Turkmenistan's stature (while preserving neutrality
and multi-lateral cooperation),his UN resolution on energy
transit security, the revised Constitution, the successful
conduct of the Mejlis elections "on a wide democratic basis,"
the harvest of over one million tons of cotton, publication
of the president's first collected writings, "Towrd New
Heights of Progress," and "an overall improvement in living
conditions for the people."
A NEW MEMBER OF THE INNER CIRCLE?
3. (C) The two letters also revealed that President
Berdimuhamedov had quietly appointed a new advisor to the
Presidential Apparat. "G. Hojaberdiyev" joined the names of
the other senior members of the Presidential Apparat who
signed the congratulatory letter. Post believes the new
member is Guychgeldy Hojaberdiyev, the former Chairman of the
State Committee on Tourism and Sport. Little information is
available on Hojaberdiyev, although a decree published in
January 2008 noted his "transfer to another post" from the
committee chairmanship. There were no public references to
him in 2008. In August 2006 he was moved from his post as
Deputy Chairman of the State Committee on Tourism and Sport,
and he became Rector of the National Institute of Sport and
Tourism. In May 2007, Berdimuhamedov appointed him Chairman
of the State Committee on Tourism and Sport. His meteoric
rise from obscurity may be related to the committee's
connection to the expansive Avaza National Tourist Zone
project. In July 2007, a presidential decree put
Hojaberdiyev's committee at the center of oversight for the
long-term implementation of Avaza, requiring him to work
closely with Deputy Cabinet Chairman Saparliyev, numerous
financial and construction ministries and agencies. The
decree also empowered Hojaberdiyev's committee to "examine"
investment projects for Avaza.
4. (C) Prior to this, only two of the six individuals who
operate almost entirely in the shadows were Berdimuhamedov's
appointees, Yusup Ishangulyev, identified as Chief of the
Presidential Administration, whom the new President brought
with him from the Ministry of Health, and Kakageldy
ASHGABAT 00000043 002 OF 002
Charyardurdiyev, the Presidential Press Secretary who came
from the Ministry of Culture. The other four are holdovers
from the Niyazov period, and very little is known about who
they are and what their responsibilities are within the
Apparat. Victor Hramov served Niyazov from the late 1980s
on, and according to Russian press reports controlled all
access to Niyazov, monitored international press and oversaw
state censorship. Yklymberdy Paromov served Niyazov in a
variety of high level positions from 1995 until Niyazov died,
including in the MNB, the Cabinet of Ministers, the
Presidential Apparat, the MFA and the Textile Ministry.
Alexander Jadan was said to have been Niyazov's personal
valet. Nothing is known about Victor Umnov, although Russian
press reported that he and Victor Hramov jointly engineered
Berdimuhamedov's rise to power.
5. (C) COMMENT: If Post's information is correct, and
Hojaberdiyev is handling Avaza, his elevation to a senior
position within the Presidential Apparat underscores the
priority that the President places on the completion of the
project. Post will try to gather more information about
Hojaberdiyev's appointment. END COMMENT.
MILES
SIPDIS
STATE FOR SCA/CEN
E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/12/2019
TAGS: PGOV TX
SUBJECT: TURKMENISTAN: NEW SENIOR ADVISOR JOINS
PRESIDENTIAL APPARAT, BUT HIS ROLE REMAINS UNCLEAR
Classified By: Charge Richard M. Miles for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).
1. (C) SUMMARY: As in previous years, letters of
congratulation on the new year from various Turkmenistan
officials to the Turkmen president were published in the
state-controlled press, including one from senior officials
of the secretive Presidential Apparat. Two letters from
apparat officials appeared in the newspaper before and after
the new year, highlighting what the government perceived as
President Berdimuhamedov's greatest accomplishments. The
list of signatories also revealed that the President had
appointed a new senior advisor who may focus on
Berdimuhamedov's colossal pet project, the Avaza Tourism
Zone. With the addition of Guychgeldy Hojaberdiyev, three of
the seven individuals who run the apparatus are now
Berdimuhamedov's own appointees. The other four appear to
have been running things in the President's office since
independence. END SUMMARY.
LETTERS FROM APPARAT PRAISE BERDIMUHAMEDOV'S ACCOMPLISHMENTS
2. (U) On December 24 and January 2, the newspaper
"Neytralniy Turkmenistan" published congratulatory letters to
President Berdimuhamedov from the officials who run the
Presidential Apparat. The December letter congratulated the
President at length on the success of his recently adopted UN
Resolution on energy transit reliability, noting "...your
initiative has been recorded in the history of international
relations and diplomacy in golden letters." The January
letter was a flattering summary of the President's major
accomplishments on behalf of Turkmenistan and the Turkmen
people in 2008 as a first chapter in his "Epic of the New
Revival." Achievements identified included infrastructure
development, economic reform, foreign policy initiatives that
advanced Turkmenistan's stature (while preserving neutrality
and multi-lateral cooperation),his UN resolution on energy
transit security, the revised Constitution, the successful
conduct of the Mejlis elections "on a wide democratic basis,"
the harvest of over one million tons of cotton, publication
of the president's first collected writings, "Towrd New
Heights of Progress," and "an overall improvement in living
conditions for the people."
A NEW MEMBER OF THE INNER CIRCLE?
3. (C) The two letters also revealed that President
Berdimuhamedov had quietly appointed a new advisor to the
Presidential Apparat. "G. Hojaberdiyev" joined the names of
the other senior members of the Presidential Apparat who
signed the congratulatory letter. Post believes the new
member is Guychgeldy Hojaberdiyev, the former Chairman of the
State Committee on Tourism and Sport. Little information is
available on Hojaberdiyev, although a decree published in
January 2008 noted his "transfer to another post" from the
committee chairmanship. There were no public references to
him in 2008. In August 2006 he was moved from his post as
Deputy Chairman of the State Committee on Tourism and Sport,
and he became Rector of the National Institute of Sport and
Tourism. In May 2007, Berdimuhamedov appointed him Chairman
of the State Committee on Tourism and Sport. His meteoric
rise from obscurity may be related to the committee's
connection to the expansive Avaza National Tourist Zone
project. In July 2007, a presidential decree put
Hojaberdiyev's committee at the center of oversight for the
long-term implementation of Avaza, requiring him to work
closely with Deputy Cabinet Chairman Saparliyev, numerous
financial and construction ministries and agencies. The
decree also empowered Hojaberdiyev's committee to "examine"
investment projects for Avaza.
4. (C) Prior to this, only two of the six individuals who
operate almost entirely in the shadows were Berdimuhamedov's
appointees, Yusup Ishangulyev, identified as Chief of the
Presidential Administration, whom the new President brought
with him from the Ministry of Health, and Kakageldy
ASHGABAT 00000043 002 OF 002
Charyardurdiyev, the Presidential Press Secretary who came
from the Ministry of Culture. The other four are holdovers
from the Niyazov period, and very little is known about who
they are and what their responsibilities are within the
Apparat. Victor Hramov served Niyazov from the late 1980s
on, and according to Russian press reports controlled all
access to Niyazov, monitored international press and oversaw
state censorship. Yklymberdy Paromov served Niyazov in a
variety of high level positions from 1995 until Niyazov died,
including in the MNB, the Cabinet of Ministers, the
Presidential Apparat, the MFA and the Textile Ministry.
Alexander Jadan was said to have been Niyazov's personal
valet. Nothing is known about Victor Umnov, although Russian
press reported that he and Victor Hramov jointly engineered
Berdimuhamedov's rise to power.
5. (C) COMMENT: If Post's information is correct, and
Hojaberdiyev is handling Avaza, his elevation to a senior
position within the Presidential Apparat underscores the
priority that the President places on the completion of the
project. Post will try to gather more information about
Hojaberdiyev's appointment. END COMMENT.
MILES