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 ASHGABAT 00000842 002 OF 003 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 ASHGABAT 00000842 003 OF 003 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