TURKMENISTAN: LAW ENFORCEMENT WORKING GROUP

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ASHGABAT 000094

SIPDIS

STATE FOR SCA/CEN

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/19/2020
TAGS: KCRM PGOV PREL SNAR MASS TX
SUBJECT: TURKMENISTAN: LAW ENFORCEMENT WORKING GROUP
REPORTS PROGRESS...AND A FEW FRUSTRATIONS

REF: 09 ASHGABAT 974

Classified By: Charge d'Affaires Sylvia Reed Curran. Reasons 1.4 (b) an
d (d).


1. (C) SUMMARY: In its most recent quarterly meeting, members
of Embassy Ashgabat's Law Enforcement Working Group reported
progress in their activities with the Turkmen government, as
well as a few frustrations. All agencies reported that
bilateral exchanges and training activities are continuing,
but with some obstacles, including government officials'
refusal to meet or communicate without submission of a
diplomatic note, failure to take prompt receipt of
USG-donated equipment, and problems with information sharing.
The USG plans to construct a new border crossing checkpoint
(BCC) on the Turkmen/Iranian border, and a Critical Incident
Management Course is planned in February 2010. Overall, the
Turkmen appear eager to cooperate in the law enforcement
field and to learn from their U.S. counterparts. END SUMMARY.


2. (C) Post's Law Enforcement Working Group ("Working
Group"),comprised of DATT, Pol-Mil Chief, Office of Military
Cooperation (OMC) Chief, INL Coordinator and RSO, and chaired
by the Acting DCM, convened on January 14 to discuss Mission
agencies' current assistance and cooperation activities with
Turkmen law enforcement agencies.

DATT: TRAINING PLANNED FOR BORDER SERVICE


3. (C) DATT reported about a planned training by SOCCENT
(Special Operations Command, Central) to train officers of
the Turkmen State Border Service (SBS) in various skills,
including patrolling, the use of ATVs and land navigation.
In conjunction with the training, scheduled to take place
from April until June, the Commander of SOCCENT is to visit
Ashgabat January 19-20 to work out details of the training.


4. (C) According to DATT, there have been issues regarding
the roles and responsibilities of the SBS versus the Ministry
of Defense (MOD) in terms of which agency has responsibility
for defending Turkmenistan's borders. He noted that General
Major Murat Yslamov, the SBS Chief (previously head of the
State Counter-Narcotics Service) wants to acquire more
weapons for his service, making it more of a military
organization than it already is.

OMC: ISSUES WITH THE COUNTER-NARCOTICS AGENCY


5. (C) Post's OMC Chief detailed difficulties that his office
has experienced recently in its relationship with the State
Counter-Narcotics Service (SCNS),particularly since the
acting head of that agency, Serdar Batyrov, was replaced in
September by Colonel Aman Garayev, who was brought over from
the Ministry of National Security (reftel). Garayev has
declined recent meeting requests from OMC. The SCNS delayed
taking receipt of communications equipment that OMC had
procured for their use. The first month delay cost more than
USD 30,000; fortunately SBS took receipt for the next two
months until SCNS finally was willing to accept the radio
equipment. This was the third tranche; previous SCNS
leadership had accepted radio equipment without problems. As
a result of these issues, OMC, with Embassy and CENTCOM
concurrence, delivered only the UHF equipment to SCNS and
gave the HF radios to SBS to reward them for their
cooperation. SCNS was quick to deploy the radios it received
in the border area with Afghanistan. SCNS has still not
facilitated training for the radio equipment, whereas SBS
completed training in Summer 2009. While SCNS accepted
Embassy-offered English Language Training, when post
requested a meeting to introduce the teacher and discuss
details, SCNS responded that it needed a diplomatic note to
set up the meeting.

CENTCOM TO FUND CONSTRUCTION OF NEW BCC AT SARAHS


6. (SBU) OMC also reported that CENTCOM has conducted a site
survey and plans construction of a new Border Crossing

ASHGABAT 00000094 002 OF 002


Checkpoint at Sarahs, a town in SE Turkmenistan on the
Iranian border. Construction is expected to begin in late
2010, to be completed in the fall of 2011. The total cost of
the project will be approximately USD five million, with
materials transported to the building site by train, rather
than by truck, resulting in significant cost savings.

ATA TEAM VISIT


7. (C) RSO reported that the Anti-Terrorism Assistance (ATA)
team, who visited Ashgabat in October, learned that the
Turkmen government has a particular interest in canine
training, anti-cyber crime technology, and training in
hostage negotiations. An upcoming team of ATA trainers will
be in Ashgabat next month to conduct courses in hostage
negotiations and managing a crisis command and control
center. RSO, however, has been experiencing difficulties
obtaining the necessary bio information from the Turkmen
authorities required for the Leahy vetting request.

INL: COOPERATION CONTINUES


8. (SBU) Post's INL Coordinator outlined recent cooperation
activities, including the recent and first-ever Intellectual
Property Rights (IPR) study tour to the U.S. for several
Turkmen officials, an upcoming UK study tour for two
graduates of INL's English Language Training (ELT) course for
law enforcement officers, and Crime Scene Investigation (CSI)
training taking place this week, sponsored by INL and
implemented by DOJ/ICITAP. In addition, the U.S. Drug
Enforcement Agency (DEA) will hold two courses in March in
basic counter-narcotics skills, and DEA further plans to
invite Colonel Garayev, the SCNS chief, to attend the
International Counternarcotics Conference in Brazil in April.


9. (C) COMMENT: Despite the vicissitudes of working with
Turkmen law enforcement, all Working Group members were able
to report progress in their activities with the Turkmen
government. Law enforcement activities, and working with
their U.S. counterparts, continues to be a priority for the
Turkmen, who are very cognizant of the import and value of
cooperation in this area. END COMMENT.
CURRAN