TURKMENISTAN: FM MEREDOV CALLS FOR A MORE ACTIVE

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 ASHGABAT 000842

SIPDIS

STATE FOR SCA/CEN

E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/06/2019
TAGS: PREL ECON EPET TX
SUBJECT: TURKMENISTAN: FM MEREDOV CALLS FOR A MORE ACTIVE
DIALOGUE WITH THE UNITED STATES

Classified By: Charge Richard Miles for reasons, 1.4 (b) and (d).


1. (C) SUMMARY: On July 3, Deputy Chairman and Foreign
Minister Rashid Meredov met with the Charge to discuss his
recent visit to Washington. He thanked the Charge for
assistance in arranging his meetings and noted how useful
they had been, especially the one with the Secretary.
Meredov said that the United States and Turkmenistan should
establish a bilateral commission to activize contact and
dialogue. He looked forward to a more concrete discussion of
the bilateral commission as well as other issues, including
human rights, during the upcoming visit of Under Secretary
Burns. Meredov said that the UN Center for Preventative
Diplomacy would be an appropriate forum for the international
community to discuss solutions for Afghanistan. He said
Turkmenistan strongly supports President Obama's policy of
using expanded diplomacy to solve world problems. Meredov
said he did not know why the purchase of three Boeing
airplanes had been delayed, but promised to speak to Deputy
Chairman Shagulyev about it again. END SUMMARY.


2. (C) Deputy Chairman and Foreign Minister Rashid Meredov
called in the Charge on July 3 to brief on his recent visit
to Washington. He thanked the Charge for the invitation to
the Embassy's 4th of July reception, which had been held the
night before. He noted that the evening had been most
enjoyable.

ESTABLISHING A BILATERAL COMMISSION


3. (C) Meredov also thanked the Charge for assistance on his
meetings in Washington. He was glad that he had been able to
meet with the Secretary, and described the meeting as very
useful. Meredov said he had briefed President
Berdimuhamedov, in detail, on the trip to Washington and
meetings with the Secretary, Deputy Secretary Steinberg, NSC
McFoul, OVP Senator Lugar, and U.S. business representatives.
One issue discussed was international politics and regional
concerns, especially involving Turkmenistan's neighbors.
Meredov said contact at that level on international issues is
very important. Turkmenistan is ready to continue this type
of cooperation and dialogue on this level. He said that
there is a wide range of issues that should be dealt with,
but there needs to be a formal structure for this dialogue,
which could be either a working group or a bilateral
commission. There could also be sub-committees dealing with
individual themes. Meredov said this structure would help
activize contact between the two countries and permit us to
deal with issues jointly. He said he understood that when a
delegation led by Under Secretary Burns visits on July 10-11,
U/S Burns would be prepared to discuss the idea of a
commission in more concrete terms.

AFGHANISTAN


4. (C) During the meeting with the Secretary, Meredov said,
she discussed broadening and strengthening relations with
Turkmenistan. He said the Secretary agreed with him that a
framework is needed to intensify contact and that the United
States is ready to work closer with Turkmenistan. The two
sides also discussed energy security; the UN resolution on
this being an initiative by President Berdimuhamedov. They
discussed the need to stabilize the situation in Afghanistan.
Meredov said that Turkmenistan is prepared to cooperate in
this area. He believed there was no need to reinvent the
wheel and devise a new political mechanism. Working through
the UN Special Representative and the UN Center for
Preventative Diplomacy, which could be the forum for a more
active political dialogue, would be the best way for the
international community to try to resolve the problems in
Afghanistan.

PRAISES OBAMA APPROACH


5. (C) Meredov noted that President Obama has the goal of

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using expanded diplomacy to solve the different problems that
surface in the world. He said this is a good approach. As a
neutral country, Turkmenistan strongly believes that problems
should be solved through diplomatic means.

EDUCATION, HUMAN RIGHTS, ENERGY


6. (C) During the meeting with U/S Burns, the two sides
discussed cooperation in the sphere of education, said
Meredov. He said there are 15 different educational programs
with the United States, involving students, academics, and
teachers. Burns said cooperation in this area would continue
and strengthen. Meredov said Turkmenistan would like to see
increased training for specialists in the area of energy.
Human Rights was also discussed. He said the dialogue on
human rights will continue during the upcoming visit of U/S
Burns.


7. (C) Meredov said that President Berdimuhamedov's policy of
energy diversification is not limited to the development of
pipelines, but extends to other areas of the energy industry,
including oil products, propane, and diesel fuel. He pointed
out that diversification also included alternative sources of
energy, such as wind and solar energy. If there are any
suggestions in this area. Meredov said, we are ready to
listen.

CONGRESSIONAL VISITS


8. (C) Since Meredov had met with Senator Lugar, The Charge
asked if future congressional visits had been discussed.
Meredov said the two had exchanged ideas on energy. He said
Berdimuhamedov in February had given the Mejlis (parliament)
the charge to improve ties with parliaments all over the
world. There have been exchanges with the German Bundestag,
and relations with the French parliament are very active.
Meredov said formal links should be established with the U.S.
Congress, because, this should be an important element in
U.S.-Turkmenistan bilateral relations.

BOEING


9. (C) The Charge asked the notetakers to leave the room and
then asked Meredov to explain the delayed purchase agreement
for the three Boeing aircraft. The Charge noted that he had
spoken to Meredov about it earlier. He had spoken to Deputy
Chairman Shagulyev and he understood that Meredov had met
with the Boeing representatives in Washington. Yet, the
Charge still did not know what the problem was that was
causing the delay. He asked if it was a budget problem.
Meredov said he did not think it was a budget problem. He
himself did not know exactly what was causing the delay
although following his trip to Washington, he had discussed
this with Shagulyev while they were both on the plane
accompanying President Berdimuhamedov to Croatia and Jordan.
He thought that perhaps there was still a disagreement
between Shagulyev and the Director of the Turkmen Airline
company, but he was not sure of this. It was a delicate
issue for him (Meredov),because the matter was not one which
came under his jurisdiction.


10. (C) The Charge said that the situation was perplexing.
Berdimuhamedov had favorably mentioned the purchase to
Morningstar several weeks ago. Yet, the agreement was not
yet approved, and the clock was ticking for Boeing. first of
all, Boeing wanted to finish the deal and deliver the
aircraft. Second, failure to meet Boeing's deadline could
result in the planes going to another buyer, and the Turkmen
would have to renegotiate the deal. This did not seem to be
in any one's interest. The Charge said he was at a loss. If
he knew what the problem was, he could try to overcome it.
He hesitated to mention it to Berdimuhamedov. He did not
want to get anyone fired. If the issue were not resolved by
the end of the week, the Burns delegation would probably
raise it with Meredov. Meredov said he would speak to

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Shagulyev again.


11. (C) COMMENT: The Turkmen are very eager to establish a
bilateral inter-governmental commission with the United
States and expect that we will propose a concrete format to
the Burns delegation. They have established bilateral
commissions with a number of other countries, and this is
something they are very comfortable with. Although these
commissions do not always serve as active mechnisms on all
topics, once one is set up, it seems to provide the official
imprimatur increased/improved relations and even commercial
negotiations. END COMMENT.
MILES