Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
09ASHGABAT512
2009-04-21 09:05:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Embassy Ashgabat
Cable title:
TURKMENISTAN: USG CONTRACTORS ARE THE INTERIOR MINISTER'S
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UNCLAS ASHGABAT 000512
SENSITIVE
SIPDIS
STATE FOR SCA/CEN, INL/AAE BUHLER
DOJ/ICITAP FOR MOGLE
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV KCRM SOCI TX
SUBJECT: TURKMENISTAN: USG CONTRACTORS ARE THE INTERIOR MINISTER'S
NIGHTMARE
REF: Ashgabat 392
UNCLAS ASHGABAT 000512
SENSITIVE
SIPDIS
STATE FOR SCA/CEN, INL/AAE BUHLER
DOJ/ICITAP FOR MOGLE
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV KCRM SOCI TX
SUBJECT: TURKMENISTAN: USG CONTRACTORS ARE THE INTERIOR MINISTER'S
NIGHTMARE
REF: Ashgabat 392
1. (U) Sensitive but unclassified. Not for public Internet.
2. (SBU) SUMMARY: A technician from the Tashkent office of the
Agilent Technologies was dispatched to Ashgabat under the auspices
of Post's INL-funded DOJ/ICITAP project with the Ministry of the
Interior in order to repair a gas chromatograph that had earlier
been donated under the project to the Ministry's Criminal Research
Center (CRC). Although the Agilent technician, in accordance with a
formal arrangement previously reached between the Embassy and the
Ministry, arrived in Ashgabat on April 8, the Ministry refused to
give him access to the CRC lab until the last day of his week-long
visit, leaving less then 12 hours for him to repair the equipment.
END SUMMARY.
3. (SBU) BACKGROUND: The CRC had previously informed Post that the
AC board on a donated gas chromatograph had been damaged by a power
surge, necessitating its replacement. ICITAP, in turn, contacted
Agilent's regional representative, the Fortek Company in Tashkent,
which had originally installed the chromatograph, requesting they
replace the spare part. Fortek agreed. However, the part was not
immediately available, and the company staff was booked for several
months. Post eventually sent two diplomatic notes in March to the
MFA informing of the technician's arrival date.
4. (SBU) The technician, who had previously traveled to
Turkmenistan in 2006 to install the original chomatograph, went to
the lab on the morning of April 9th, but was not allowed in. Post's
INL Assistant then contacted the CRC, who told him they could not
let the technician in without express permission from the Minister
and gave him the name of someone to contact at the Ministry. When
reached, the Ministry official said that they were aware of the
technician's visit, but had been unable to obtain the Minister's
consent. Consent was finally communicated on April 14, the day
before the technician's scheduled departure.
5. (SBU) COMMENT: Interior Minister Amanmyradov took office in
October 2007. Recently, he turned down ICITAP's invitation to
attend the annual conference of the American Academy of Forensic
Scientists. In addition, he has further been either unable or
unwilling to resolve an issue surrounding the shipment to the lab of
chemicals provided by ICITAP (Reftel).
6. (SBU) COMMENT CONTINUED: In a subsequent phone conversation,
CRC chemist Bezirgen Orazmyradov thanked INL Assistant profusely for
the Embassy's assistance in resolving the access issue and
commented, "I don't know why the bosses did that. It looks like
they're afraid to make decisions. I even called up the Ministry's
International Relations officer and chewed him out, and told him
that we, not they, needed this equipment to do our job, and that it
was only thanks to the Embassy that our equipment was repaired."
END COMMENT.
MILES
SENSITIVE
SIPDIS
STATE FOR SCA/CEN, INL/AAE BUHLER
DOJ/ICITAP FOR MOGLE
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV KCRM SOCI TX
SUBJECT: TURKMENISTAN: USG CONTRACTORS ARE THE INTERIOR MINISTER'S
NIGHTMARE
REF: Ashgabat 392
1. (U) Sensitive but unclassified. Not for public Internet.
2. (SBU) SUMMARY: A technician from the Tashkent office of the
Agilent Technologies was dispatched to Ashgabat under the auspices
of Post's INL-funded DOJ/ICITAP project with the Ministry of the
Interior in order to repair a gas chromatograph that had earlier
been donated under the project to the Ministry's Criminal Research
Center (CRC). Although the Agilent technician, in accordance with a
formal arrangement previously reached between the Embassy and the
Ministry, arrived in Ashgabat on April 8, the Ministry refused to
give him access to the CRC lab until the last day of his week-long
visit, leaving less then 12 hours for him to repair the equipment.
END SUMMARY.
3. (SBU) BACKGROUND: The CRC had previously informed Post that the
AC board on a donated gas chromatograph had been damaged by a power
surge, necessitating its replacement. ICITAP, in turn, contacted
Agilent's regional representative, the Fortek Company in Tashkent,
which had originally installed the chromatograph, requesting they
replace the spare part. Fortek agreed. However, the part was not
immediately available, and the company staff was booked for several
months. Post eventually sent two diplomatic notes in March to the
MFA informing of the technician's arrival date.
4. (SBU) The technician, who had previously traveled to
Turkmenistan in 2006 to install the original chomatograph, went to
the lab on the morning of April 9th, but was not allowed in. Post's
INL Assistant then contacted the CRC, who told him they could not
let the technician in without express permission from the Minister
and gave him the name of someone to contact at the Ministry. When
reached, the Ministry official said that they were aware of the
technician's visit, but had been unable to obtain the Minister's
consent. Consent was finally communicated on April 14, the day
before the technician's scheduled departure.
5. (SBU) COMMENT: Interior Minister Amanmyradov took office in
October 2007. Recently, he turned down ICITAP's invitation to
attend the annual conference of the American Academy of Forensic
Scientists. In addition, he has further been either unable or
unwilling to resolve an issue surrounding the shipment to the lab of
chemicals provided by ICITAP (Reftel).
6. (SBU) COMMENT CONTINUED: In a subsequent phone conversation,
CRC chemist Bezirgen Orazmyradov thanked INL Assistant profusely for
the Embassy's assistance in resolving the access issue and
commented, "I don't know why the bosses did that. It looks like
they're afraid to make decisions. I even called up the Ministry's
International Relations officer and chewed him out, and told him
that we, not they, needed this equipment to do our job, and that it
was only thanks to the Embassy that our equipment was repaired."
END COMMENT.
MILES