TURKMENISTAN: MEDIA REACTION ON MAY POST EVENTS

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ASHGABAT 000720

SENSITIVE

SIPDIS

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

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL PGOV SCUL KPAO TX
SUBJECT: TURKMENISTAN: MEDIA REACTION ON MAY POST EVENTS

REF: (A) ASHGABAT 562 (B) ASHGABAT 518

ASHGABAT 00000720 001.3 OF 003



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


2. (U) SUMMARY: Embassy Ashgabat maintained a high
profile in state media during the month of May. Post
organized events such as USAID's 15th anniversary
celebration of partnership with Turkmenistan in early
May, a one-week tour of the U.S. Air Force band
"Mirage," and USAID-sponsored study tours to Kazakhstan
and the U.S. received generally accurate and positive
media coverage. The Fifth Annual Fulbright conference in
mid-May, sponsored by the Embassy, received positive and
accurate coverage in state media, but also saw inaccurate
and misleading stories on non-state websites. Other
programs and media opportunities for the Embassy received
positive coverage as well. END SUMMARY.

USAID's 15TH ANNIVERSARY IN TURKMENISTAN


3. (U) On May 6, the government-run website
"Turkmenistan Golden Age" (www.turkmenistan.gov.tm)
(Turkmen, Russian and English) and Azeri News agency
"Trend" (Russian),based on Embassy handouts and press
release, carried accurate stories on the 15th anniversary
celebration of USAID's work in Turkmenistan. The same
day, "Watan" TV evening news program (Turkmen) reported
on the event. No video followed. The following day,
state-run dailies "Neutral Turkmenistan" (Russian, circ.
47,091) and "Turkmenistan" (Turkmen, circ. 36,091) ran
the "Turkmenistan Golden Age" story and Turkish newspaper
"Zaman-International's" Turkmenistan edition (Turkmen,
circ. 34,100) highlighted the event. Russia based pro-
government website "Turkmenistan.ru" (Russian, English)
and independent news website www.turkmeninform.com
(Russian) posted accurate articles on the event based on
state media reports. Russian "RIA OREANDA" (English) May
8 article reprinted the state-run daily story and "Asia-
PLUS Daily Blitz" (English) reprinted the story from
"Turkmenistan.ru". On May 11, state "Turkmenistan" TV
channel (Russian, Turkmen, English, Chinese, Arabic,
Persian, French) carried an accurate ten minute story
highlighting the event. The story included a video of the
event and accurate interview remarks by U.S. Charge
d'Affaires, USAID Acting Regional Director, as well as
USAID's Country Director. On May 18, "The Times of
Central Asia" (English) ran an accurate article based on
the Embassy press release.

ANNUAL FULBRIGHT CONFERENCE IN ASHGABAT


4. (U) On May 16, the government-run website
"Turkmenistan Golden Age" (www.turkmenistan.gov.tm)
(Turkmen, Russian and English) posted an accurate article
on the 5th International Fulbright conference, which was
the first ever to be jointly organized with
Turkmenistan's Supreme Council for Science and Technology
(SCST). The article emphasized active participation of
foreign and state scholars in the conference, and carried
accurate quotes by U.S. Charge d'Affaires from the
opening ceremony. The same day, "Watan" TV evening news
program (Turkmen) also carried an accurate short story on
the event. The "Turkmenistan Golden Age" article
appeared on state-run dailies "Neutral Turkmenistan"
(Russian, circ. 47,091) and "Turkmenistan" (Turkmen,
circ. 36,091) on May 18. On May 19, state newspaper
"Ashgabat" (Turkmen, circ. 23,091),based on state daily
stories, ran a short article on the event.


5. (U) On May 17, the hourly news program of
"Turkmenistan" TV channel (Russian, Turkmen, English,
Chinese, Arabic, Persian, French) carried a short,
accurate story on the Fulbright conference. On May 19,

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the same TV channel carried a separate longer story about
the conference. The program carried accurate interview
remarks by U.S. Charge d'Affaires, Public Affairs
Officer, and participating scholars from the U.S.,
Afghanistan, and Azerbaijan. On May 23, Turkish
newspaper "Zaman-International's" Turkmenistan edition
(Turkmen, circ. 34,100) ran an accurate article on the
conference, also using the Embassy-provided information
and photos. On May 21, Russian news agency "Ejednevnye
novosti - Energetika i energoresursy Ukrainy i SNG" also
posted an accurate article on the event.

WEBSITES DISTORT FULBRIGHT CONFERENCE


6. (U) On May 24, the opposition website "Chronicle of
Turkmenistan" (www.chrono-tm.org) (Russian, English)
posted an inaccurate story on the Fulbright conference,
accusing the U.S. Embassy of preventing journalists from
participating in the conference. In fact, the Public
Affairs Section invited many working-level journalists,
both state and foreign stringers, to the event, resulting
in the coverage noted above. In the past, the website
had carried responses from the PAO which corrected
inaccuracies. However, in this case "Chronika" ignored
two submissions by PAO which sought to correct the
record.


7. (SBU) On or about May 27, "IWPR" (International War
and Peace Reporting) posted a similar article accusing
Turkmenistan's SCST of forbidding journalists at the
joint conference. The "CA-NEWS" website (Russian) re-
posted the same IWPR article on May 27. "IWPR" removed
the article without explanation soon after receiving a
response from PAO correcting the story's inaccuracies.
(NOTE: PAO later met with the IWPR correspondent who
reported on the conference. Septel. END NOTE)

MEDIA COVERAGE OF U.S. AIR FORCE BAND TOUR TO
TURKMENISTAN


8. (U) On May 6, "Turkmenistan" TV channel carried
accurate coverage on the public performance in Ashgabat
by the U.S. Air Force band "Mirage." The program praised
the concert as a sign of growing Turkmen-American
cultural dialogue, and carried accurate interview remarks
by U.S. Embassy officials and "Mirage" band members. On
May 11, "States News Service" (English) posted an
accurate lengthy article on the "Mirage" music tour of
Turkmenistan, describing its public performances
throughout the country. The article praised the role of
music in uniting two different cultures by citing the
examples of joint performances by American and Turkmen
military bands.

UNIVERSITY WEBSITE HIGHLIGHTS TV CREW VISIT TO TEXAS
UNDER TV CO-OP PROGRAM


9. (U) On May 5, the U.S. website "Texas A&M The
Battalion - College Station, TX, USA" posted a long
article, accurately highlighting the visit by a TV crew
from Turkmenistan under the State Department's TV CO-OP
project. The crew toured the university in early April.
The story in particular emphasized the importance of U.S.
experience for the TV crew and praised their visit to the
university.

RFE/RL ARTICLE ON USCIRF TURKMENISTAN REPORT


10. (U) On May 5, the Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
website posted an article noting that the U.S. Commission
on International Religious Freedom had urged Washington
to appoint a U.S. Ambassador to Turkmenistan. The
story accurately carried PAO's remarks that human rights
issues are regularly discussed with Turkmenistan's

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Government.

MEDIA HIGHLIGHT USAID-FUNDED TOURS OF TURKMEN
REPRESENTATIVES


11. (U) On May 19, Kazakh News agency "KZ Press-Club"
(Kazakh) carried an accurate story on a study tour by
Turkmen media specialists to Kazakhstan, organized within
the joint project from USAID and the "Internews Network."
The article emphasized the significance of the tour for
Turkmen specialists to get acquainted with the media
environment in Kazakhstan.


12. (U) On May 21, the "U.S. Fed News" (English) posted
an accurate article on the USAID-funded tour for Turkmen
governmental delegation to the U.S. under the Local
Governance program. The story highlighted the goal of
the program to promote professional dialogue between
government officials of Turkmenistan and the United
States.

OPPOSITION WEBSITE GIVES "BIO" ON POST'S CHARGE
D'AFFAIRES


13. (U) On May 28, the opposition website "Gundogar"
(Russian) posted a lengthy unsolicited article about the
career of the U.S. Charge d'Affaires to Turkmenistan,
Ambassador Richard Miles. The article highlighted Miles'
diplomatic career, with an emphasis on his presence or
role in "revolutions" in Yugoslavia, Georgia and Ukraine,
and praised Ambassador Miles as a supporter of democracy.
(NOTE: There is no link to the Orange Revolution in
Ukraine, but Post determined that there was no need for a
response. END NOTE.)

STATE TV CHANNELS CARRY PAO'S REMARKS ON TURKMEN CARPET
HOLIDAY


14. (U) On May 30, "Altyn Asyr" TV channel's (Turkmen)
afternoon broadcast carried a congratulatory message on
Turkmenistan's national carpet holiday by PAO. Later in
the day, "Miras" TV channel (Turkmen) also carried an
accurate message by PAO from the event. Both interviews
emphasized Americans' respect for Turkmen carpets and one
included PAO's comments about the Turkmen carpet located
in the Foreign Service Institute's main lobby.


15. COMMENT: During the month of May, Post continued to
work in conjunction with state and foreign media to cover
U.S. Embassy events and visits and often took advantage
of targets of opportunity with state media. At key
events, PAS staff noted the collegial, open approach of
state and non-state media with each other and with the
Embassy staff. This represents continued openness and
improvement in a tightly controlled media environment,
even though there has been little concrete reform in the
field of media. On a less positive note, post was
disappointed that opposition and even US-funded media
(IWPR) carried innaccurate stories on the Fulbright
Conference (paras. 6 and 7). Ironically, state media
provided more accurate coverage of the same event, pro-
Turkmen government spin notwithstanding.

MILES