VZCZCXRO9181
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RUEHLZ RUEHPW RUEHROV RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHAH #0977/01 2601053
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 171053Z SEP 07
FM AMEMBASSY ASHGABAT
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INFO RUCNCLS/ALL SOUTH AND CENTRAL ASIA COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUCNCIS/CIS COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
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RUEHAK/AMEMBASSY ANKARA PRIORITY 2764
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RUEHIT/AMCONSUL ISTANBUL PRIORITY 1047
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RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC PRIORITY
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC PRIORITY
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEHVEN/USMISSION USOSCE PRIORITY 1776

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ASHGABAT 000977 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR SCA/CEN, ECA, DRL 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PHUM SCUL TX
SUBJECT: TURKMENISTAN:  RUHNAMA GOING, GOING, BUT NOT YET 
GONE 
 
REF: 06 ASHGABAT 1095 
 
¶1.  Sensitive but unclassified.  Not for public Internet. 
 
¶2.  (SBU) SUMMARY:  Since Turkmenistan's President 
Berdimuhamedov's inauguration in February, there has been a 
gradual diminution of the cult surrounding the Ruhnama. 
References to and articles on former President Niyazov's book 
in the local media have decreased sharply, the number of 
Ruhnama-related events has diminished, and -- most 
significantly -- the state has refocused its play of the 
Ruhnama to support Berdimuhamedov's "multifaceted program of 
reform and transformation."  Although the Ruhnama exploded 
back into public life in the month of September, with a flood 
of Ruhnama-related articles appearing daily in the print 
media and a series of Ruhnama-related events, most here 
believe that the sudden increase is focused more on the 
beginning of the new school year and on the September 12 
Ruhnama Day, than on reviving a dying Niyazov legacy.  END 
SUMMARY. 
 
PRAISE FOR THE RUHNAMA EQUALS SUPPORT FOR NIYAZOV 
 
¶3.  (SBU) The Ruhnama is a rambling and poorly written 
melange of regional history, reflections on the meaning of 
Turkmen ethnicity and nationhood, language and philosophy 
written by Turkmenistan's former president, Saparmyrat 
Niyazov ("Turkmenbashy") and published in 2001.  Aggressively 
popularized throughout all sectors of Turkmenistan -- and 
especially in schools -- under Niyazov, it became the 
regime's primary tool for glorifying Turkmenistan and for 
promoting Niyazov's cult of personality.  From kindergarten, 
children spent most of their schooltime each day memorizing 
vast portions of it and learning subjects as diverse as math 
and chemistry through Ruhnama-linked examples.  But the 
popularization of the Ruhnama did not stop with the education 
system.  All government employees and workers at all state 
enterprises had Ruhnama classes at least a few hours a week, 
and almost every workplace had a "Ruhnama Room" where 
employees could read Niyazov's "sacred book."  At the same 
time, passages from the Ruhnama infused Turkmenistan's 
television and print media, billboards showed pictures of 
happy students studying the Ruhnama, and most cultural events 
were based around public readings of the Ruhnama and 
performances of new songs created from the Ruhnama. 
 
¶4.  (SBU) Inextricably linked in the presentation of the 
Ruhnama was the glorification of its author, Saparmyrat 
Turkmenbashy the Great.  Niyazov used the Ruhnama to 
propagate a sense of Turkmen nationalism and national unity 
built around the use of the Turkmen language and an idealized 
Turkmen history and culture.  Niyazov was the "Great Leader" 
around which this idealized concept revolved and, as such, he 
became inextricably linked with the glorification of the 
Turkmen state.  While his initial goal may have been to give 
Turkmenistan's people a positive, common identity in the 
tough days following the Soviet Union's dissolution -- an 
effort to keep Turkmenistan from dissolving into a morass of 
rival tribal and regional factions -- his aggressive efforts 
to push an idealized version of a Turkmen nation did not 
allow the emergence of any alternative initiative, 
self-identity or critical thinking.  Indeed, those who did 
not show heart-and-mind enthusiasm for Niyazov's "Holy 
Ruhnama" were viewed as potentially disloyal. 
 
RUHNAMA ROOMS EMPTY OUT 
 
¶5.  (SBU) Since President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov's 
inauguration in February, there has been a gradual 
downgrading of the emphasis on the Ruhnama, which has 
corresponded with the president's decision to phase-out 
gradually some of the most extravagant aspects of Niyazov's 
cult of personality.  Schools are likely to observe more 
closely the curriculum requirement for formal Ruhnama lessons 
 
ASHGABAT 00000977  002 OF 003 
 
 
to occupy only one hour a week for all grades except the 10th 
year, when students must study the Ruhnama two hours per 
week.  (That said, history, literature and cultural classes 
may, in fact, continue to draw at least in part on the 
Ruhnama.)  Most public cultural events based around the 
Ruhnama have been eliminated or revamped to focus ore on 
promoting Turkmen culture (such as traditional songs and 
dances, many of which had not been performed publicly for 
years) than on reading Ruhnama passages.  Media articles on 
the Ruhnama, too, have greatly decreased from one or more 
articles per day in Niyazov's era to a few articles a month. 
While most workplaces still have Ruhnama rooms, those rooms 
are either remaining empty, or they are being putting to use 
in other ways.  For example, in one AIDS clinic in Balkan 
Province we saw the Ruhnama Room being used for meetings of 
young volunteers directed toward expanding community 
understanding of how HIV/AIDS is transmitted -- to the 
discomfort of a visiting official from the Ministry of 
Foreign Affairs.  Few officials are still quoting the Ruhnama 
in their speeches and meetings.  Most importantly, although 
the few 
remaining events continue matter-of-factly to link the "Holy 
Ruhnama" to its author, Niyazov, that is as far as the praise 
and glorification of the former president goes. 
 
RUHNAMA AS THE GUIDE FOR A NEW ERA 
 
¶6.  (SBU) Instead, the new focus at these events increasingly 
has been on the book's value as an educational, historical 
and philosophical work that helps guide Turkmenistan's 
citizens as they enter the "new national revival" epoch -- 
the post-Niyazov era.  Rather than proclaiming the Ruhnama 
principles of unity and consensus as evidence of Niyazov's 
"greatness," presentations on the Ruhnama stress that, under 
Berdimuhamedov, the Ruhnama's precepts of unity and consensus 
are being "creatively interpreted" and now serve as a 
guideline for the president's "multifaceted program of reform 
and transformation."  Even though some question whether the 
new focus on Berdimuhamedov is a harbinger of a new cult of 
personality, there has not yet been evidence of 
Berdimuhamedov seeking to use the Ruhnama to "dumb-down" 
Turkmenistan's citizens or to promote a single line of 
thought that quashes any alternative thinking.  In fact, such 
a message would be antithetical to the president's push for 
greater engagement with the outside world and his policy of 
promoting the fastest-possible development -- including 
through international exchanges -- of a new corps of trained 
experts. 
 
RUHNAMA MAKES A NEW APPEARANCE IN SEPTEMBER, THE MONTH OF 
RUHNAMA 
 
¶7.  (SBU) Contradicting the trend over the last seven months, 
there has been a sudden explosion of Ruhnama-related articles 
and events in the run-up to Ruhnama Day on Ruhnama 
(September) 12.  Beginning in early September, articles on 
the Ruhnama started appearing almost daily in Turkmenistan's 
newspapers.  Most of these articles used a Ruhnama title or a 
few sentences about the Ruhnama to discuss the country's 
accomplishments in certain areas, achieved under 
Berdimuhamedov's policy of "new revival and great reforms." 
Also in the month of Ruhnama, the 
government has celebrated the book's publication in foreign 
languages -- Malaysian, Belarusian, Beluchi -- in a type of 
ceremony not seen since before Niyazov's death.  These events 
and the "international scientific conference" held on Ruhnama 
Day to celebrate the Ruhnama's purported status as an 
"inalienable part of the world's spiritual history" helped to 
remind many of past days, even as the content of these 
sessions continued to mirror Berdimuhamedov's "new era" 
message.  That said, most also believe the current hype will 
fade away once the month named after the Ruhnama is over. 
One of the organizers suggested to a visiting American that 
the just-concluded Ruhnama Day conference could be the last 
 
ASHGABAT 00000977  003 OF 003 
 
 
such event. 
 
¶8.  (SBU) COMMENT:  Most here believe that eliminating the 
Ruhnama in one fell swoop would create a gaping vacuum that 
could leave young people -- many of whom, following years of 
Ruhnama indoctrination, actually believe the hype -- 
vulnerable to other, even more extreme ways of thinking. 
Those who make this argument suggest there needs to be a 
gradual phase-out of Ruhnama as students start being exposed 
to other ways of thinking, and, in fact, this thinking seems 
to be mirrored in at least some of the curriculum changes. 
We have confirmed, for example, that the new "Social Studies" 
class in the education curriculum is spent studying about 
other countries, including (at higher levels) other political 
and economic systems, rather than Ruhnama.  In the meantime, 
Berdimuhamedov seems to be using the Ruhnama to his own ends, 
to keep citizens unified behind him as he seeks to redefine 
Turkmenistan's domestic and foreign policies to suit his own, 
more outward-looking and relatively progressive priorities. 
END COMMENT. 
HOAGLAND