TURKMENISTAN: MEREDOV ADDRESSES OVERFLIGHT AND

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 ASHGABAT 000560 SIPDIS STATE FOR SCA/CEN E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/28/2019 TAGS: PREL MOPS TX SUBJECT: TURKMENISTAN: MEREDOV ADDRESSES OVERFLIGHT AND OTHER KEY ISSUES WITH DAS KROL ASHGABAT 00000560 001.2 OF 003 Classified By: Charge d'Affaires Richard Miles for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (C) SUMMARY: DAS Krol met with Deputy Chairman and Foreign Minister Rashid Meredov on April 23 on the sidelines of the Turkmenistan government's two-day energy security conference. Meredov expressed his appreciation for U.S. comments on the conference draft, and said the government might publish a chairman's statement outlining the ideas raised at the conference instead of a document that might be too difficult to coordinate among all participants. On the issue of overflight limits, he promised to "take care of" the $30,000 back overflight fee claim as well as the attached April 27 deadline for pament of thei amount. He stated that U.S. medevac flights would not be hindered. Finally, he said he would instruct Turkmen air authorities to meet with the U.S. defense attache. However, Meredov argued that the Turkmenistan government cannot give the United States a higher blanket overflight limit than 1,600 because the country has a limited capacity to support such air flight patterns in a safe manner. Meredov was responsive to the suggestion that taking concrete steps to improve the country's human rights record would lay positive groundwork for a presidential visit to Washington, but did not mention any specific steps that were planned in the near term. END SUMMARY. ¶2. (C) On the margins of the April 23 opening session of the Ashgabat conference on energy security, Deputy Assistant Secretary George Krol met with Deputy Chairman and Foreign Minister Rashid Meredov at Meredov's request. Meredov apologized for not being able to meet Krol the day before, as had originally been arranged. Meredov explained that he had gotten tied up meeting with various dignitaries who were attending the conference. ON THE CONFERENCE CLOSING STATEMENT ¶3. (C) Meredov thanked Krol for U.S. comments on the draft conference statement. He recognized the United States had given the Turkmen draft serious consideration and appreciated the points the United States had made. He was concerned, however, that he would have difficulty in the short time left before the end of the conference in negotiating a document acceptable to all participants based on the U.S. draft. He thought there would be debate about the voluntary principles the United States had suggested, even though Turkmenistan found them compelling. Krol acknowledged the problem and suggested to Meredov that he consider issuing a simple chairman's statement that would have no binding character. It should simply state the various ideas raised during the conference and suggest on behalf of the chairman that they be taken up in future sessions. Meredov readily agreed this was the very approach he was considering. Meredov indicated that he would make a few adjustments to the Turkmen draft to take out the reference to conventions and issue it as a chairman's statement that would not necessarily reflect an agreed statement of results. OVERFLIGHTS ¶4. (C) Krol raised the issue of overflights, noting Assistant Secretary Boucher's previous discussion with Meredov on the subject. Krol said that Turkmen Airways' apparent ultimatum to shut down Turkmen air space on April 27 if the United States did not pay $30,000 in back fees could seriously harm U.S.-Turkmen relations and send a confusing signal from the Turkmen leadership to the new American Administration. The United States would view the Turkmen Airways decision as a decision of the Turkmen leadership. Furthermore, denial of air space would affect the situation in Afghanistan negatively and raise concerns about Turkmenistan's commitment to stability in Afghanistan. Krol made a special plea for how this would affect necessary medical evacuation flights from the theater. ASHGABAT 00000560 002.2 OF 003 ¶5. (C) In response, Meredov assured Krol that Turkmenistan would not close off Turkmen air space to the United States on April 27. He committed to telling Turkmen Airways this cannot be done. He added that he would take care of the $30,000 claim. It should not be a problem. He said he also spoke to the air authorities to meet with the U.S. defense attache to discuss the issues and resolve them. ¶6. (C) On the broader issue of raising the overflight ceiling above the 1,600 limit previously allowed, Meredov argued that technical issues prevented Turkmenistan from significantly raising the ceiling of U.S. flights. He claimed the United States is the only country for which Turkmenistan has given blanket overflight clearance. All others must request clearance by notes. Technically speaking, he said Turkmen air controllers and equipment can only handle a limited number of flights overall per year. He did not cite the overall figure as he was not sure of it, but he said he had little power to force the air traffic controllers to exceed their limits, which are based on personnel and technical limitations. They simply did not have enough air traffic controllers or equipment to greatly expand their handling of overflight requests. Going beyond the limit could create unacceptable safety concerns. Krol asked whether focus on training or new equipment could help expand the capacity of the Turkmen air control system to accommodate more flights. Meredov did not exclude the possibiity that this could help, but noted it would take time. He suggested, however, that our experts could discuss the matter with Turkmen air authorities. ¶7. (C) He repeated that Turkmenistan had no political aim in limiting the number of overflights. It was simply a technicality driven by a lack of capacity. He indicated that once the United States surpassed its number of blanket overflights, it would have to make individual overflight requests by diplomatic note like every other country. He noted that if Turkmenistan were to raise the U.S. overflight ceiling, it would have to take overflights away from other requesters. He explained that Turkmenistan did hold several hundred overflights as a reserve, in case of emergencies. He assured Krol that Turkmenistan would never deny overflight clearance to medical evacuation flights and would turn around clearance for such requests "within 30 minutes." A BERDIMUHAMEDOV VISIT TO THE U.S. ¶8. (C) Krol indicated that the U.S. in principle would look forward to a visit from President Berdimuhamedov at the appropriate time, probably much later in the year. It would be most important thought to prepare for such a visit well in advance, especially the background. Here Krol noted growing negative attention to Turkmenistan's human rights record on the Hill and among human rights organizations. Concrete improvements in this area could pave the way for a successful presidential visit and a less contentious atmosphere. Meredov readily agreed Turkmenistan needed to do more to improve its record for its own sake and not just to prepare for a visit. Although some steps had been taken with the International Red Cross's possible prison visits and training of prison officials, the process would be slow. It would be hard to change the mentality of the organs that are the most regressive. Still, he said Turkmenistan would continue to work on the human rights issues. ¶9. (C) Meredov indicated that the work of his own schedule, so deeply connected to Berdimuhamedov's made it highly unlikely he could find time to visit Washington himself. He encouraged a meeting on the margins of an international meeting. Meredov would welcome high-level visitors such as the Secretary any time, including on trips to or from Afghanistan. Meredov said he would welcome guest lecturers from the U.S. to speak at the Ministry of Foreign Affair's diplomatic academy. He wanted to expose these future Turkmen ASHGABAT 00000560 003.2 OF 003 diplomats to different points of view on international relations. He understood the U.S. funded a speaker's program and hoped Turkmenistan could get more speakers, especially for the diplomatic academy. ¶10. (U) DAS Krol cleared this cable. MILES