2004 Press Releases

Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Lynn Pascoe Visits Turkmenistan

March 11, 2004

Deputy Assistant Secretary B. Lynn Pascoe from the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs visited Turkmenistan March 10-11, 2004 at the invitation of President Saparmurat Niyazov. During a meeting with President Niyazov today, Deputy Assistant Secretary Pascoe discussed several areas of bilateral interest, including human rights, regional security, and education. Deputy Assistant Secretary Pascoe also met with local civil society groups, businesspeople, and alumni of U.S. Government-sponsored exchange programs, and paid a visit to historic Nissa during his stay.

Following his meeting with President Niyazov, Deputy Assistant Secretary Pascoe made the following statement:

"It is very nice to be able to speak with you. I came at the President's invitation to have a conversation about our bilateral relations. We talked about a broad range of bilateral issues, global strategic issues and developments inside Turkmenistan. On the broad international issues, we discussed regional developments and Turkmenistan's neutrality, for which I reaffirmed the support of the U.S. We also talked about our close cooperation in the war against terrorism. Finally, we had a very straightforward and frank discussion about various issues of concern to us inside Turkmenistan. We discussed issues like the religion law and registration of NGOs, and the President said he would be taking some very interesting steps in that regard.

I would describe it as a good discussion. As you know, our Ambassador had a very good discussion with the President about one week ago and we look forward to many more such discussions in the future to make sure the two sides are working closely together on a wide variety of issues. I believe our discussion today and everything I heard from the President will make a very positive contribution to the future of the bilateral relations between our two countries."

Deputy Assistant Secretary Pascoe's areas of responsibility include countries in the Eastern Mediterranean, the Caucasus, and Central Asia. A Career Minister in the Senior Foreign Service, Ambassador Pascoe served most recently as American Ambassador in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. He earlier served as the U.S. Special Negotiator for Nagorno-Karabakh and Regional Conflicts and as the U.S. Co-Chair of the Organization for Security and cooperation in Europe's (OSCE) Minsk Group. In over three decades in the Foreign Service, he has held numerous senior-level positions in Washington, and been posted to Moscow, Hong Kong, Bangkok, Taipei and Kuala Lumpur, as well as twice to Beijing. He speaks Mandarin Chinese.