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C O N F I D E N T I A L ASHGABAT 000179 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR SCA/CEN 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/04/2020 
TAGS: KISL PHUM PGOV PTER TX
SUBJECT: WAHABIS IN TURKMENISTAN? 
 
Classified By: Charge Sylvia Reed Curran, Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) 
 
¶1. (C) SUMMARY: Despite GOTX claims to the contrary, there 
are credible reports of presence of fundamentalist Islam in 
Turkmenistan, although the number of adherents currently 
seems to be fairly small.  Using the term "Wahabis" to 
describe these groups, an Embassy contact recently told PAO 
about three examples.  In all three instances, local security 
services were quick to arrest suspected fundamentalists.  END 
SUMMARY. 
 
A GOOD EMPLOYEE GONE BAD 
 
¶2. (C) One embassy contact, who is a well-connected mid-level 
official at the Ministry of Culture, recently told us 
examples of individuals he knew who were Islamic 
fundamentalists or about incidents that appear to show the 
presence of such adherents domestically.  One example was of 
a young, energetic man that worked for our contact at his 
government office before "disappearing."  The contact 
explained that this young man had begun attending an 
"underground mosque" that taught a more rigid version of 
Islam.  This young man stopped drinking alcohol and began to 
criticize other Muslims in his office for adhering to 
"stupid, wrong, Turkmen traditions."  After a few months, in 
mid 2008, this young man simply stopped coming to the office. 
 When our contact tried to reach him, his family reported 
that he had been taken by "the services." 
 
PAMPHLETS AND OTHER MATERIAL 
 
¶3. (C) Our contact reported that the "underground mosque" to 
which the above-mentioned young man had belonged reportedly 
had been liquidated, but that it was obvious that 
fundamentalists were still active throughout Turkmenistan. 
He reported seeing "pamphlets and other material" distributed 
after Friday services at mosques, and that he had met a few 
other young men that professed a stricter version of Islam. 
(NOTE: Most Turkmen follow a more animist version of Islam 
that fuses many Sufi and other traditions.  Even in rural 
areas, many Turkmen drink alcohol and ignore other Islamic 
laws. END NOTE.) 
 
DESECRATING A MUSLIM GRAVEYARD 
 
¶4. (C) Our contact also told us the desecration of a cemetery 
in Balkanat, which he suspected was done by persons who 
follow a strict version of Islam.  The desecration was 
focused on those grave markers that had faces and photographs 
etched into the stone, which is a common Russian practice, - 
something that is anathema under a strict interpretation of 
Islam.  According to our contact, citizens immediately blamed 
a group of young Wahabis in the region, and the young men 
quickly disappeared. 
 
¶5. (C) COMMENT: In a country with all the risk factors for 
the growth of an extremist movement - poverty, poorly 
educated groups of unemployed and unemployable young men, 
drug abuse, and little optimism toward the future - it is not 
surprising to hear that at least a few residents would be 
attracted to a more fundamentalist form of Islam than that 
practiced by the majority of Turkmen Muslims. The GOTX 
clearly understands this risk and devotes considerable 
intelligence and police resources to preventing 
fundamentalist influences and swiftly dealing with it, 
whenever it appears.  Given the conservative (meaning a 
desire to preserve their own culture and traditions) 
inclination of most Turkmen as well as the predominance of 
secular culture and the moderate form of Islam that has been 
practiced for centuries here, it is unlikely that 
fundamentalist Islam would be attractive to the overwhelming 
majority of Turkmen Muslims.  Nevertheless, since it is 
impossible to keep out outside influences and given the risk 
factors present, this is an issue that bears watching.  END 
COMMENT. 
CURRAN