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DE RUEHAH #0323 0701024
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 101024Z MAR 08
FM AMEMBASSY ASHGABAT
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0407
INFO RUCNCLS/ALL SOUTH AND CENTRAL ASIA COLLECTIVE
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RUEHIT/AMCONSUL ISTANBUL 1735
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RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
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RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC

UNCLAS ASHGABAT 000323 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR SCA/CEN, DRL, SCA/PPD 
USAID/W FOR EE/AA 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV SOCI KDEM TX
SUBJECT:  TURKMENISTAN:  ANOTHER NEW IDEOLOGY?  WHAT'S IN IT FOR ME? 
 
¶1.  (U) Sensitive but unclassified.  Not for public Internet. 
 
¶2.  (SBU) SUMMARY:  In January, President Berdimuhamedov announced 
his new "Great Revival Epoch" ideology, based on the principle of 
"government for the people."   The new ideology claims to guide 
developmental reforms that Berdimuhamedov initiated to strengthen 
the rule of law and promote a market economy in Turkmenistan.  But 
it also seems to be a vehicle for phasing out former President 
Niyazov's Ruhnama ideology.  So far, the state-controlled media - 
and the government - have been unable to articulate the goals and 
potential benefits of the ideology, leaving citizens to wonder how 
this is really "for the people."  END SUMMARY. 
 
WHY A NEW IDEOLOGY? 
 
¶3.  (SBU) On January 19, during a widely reported meeting with 
Turkmenistan's intelligentsia, President Berdimuhamedov unveiled a 
new ideology for Turkmenistan.  According to him, "Further 
strengthening of the state and its successful transition to a new 
stage of development requires an absolutely new ideology based on 
reality and the needs of the new period."  He stated the new goals 
include the creation of a market economy and improved living 
standards, and he exhorted that "all efforts" should be directed 
toward achievement of these goals.  However, he did not indicate how 
the new ideology is to guide reform, how his reforms will be 
implemented, or what the concrete results will be "for the people." 
(COMMENT:  The concept of a state ideology is deeply ingrained in 
Turkmenistan.  For most of the 20th century, it was Soviet 
Communism.  For much of the period after independence, it was 
Niyazov's basically incoherent and fatuous Ruhnama.  END COMMENT.) 
 
TRANSITION FROM RUHNAMA 
 
¶4.  (SBU) President Niyazov's much ridiculed Ruhnama is headed for 
the dustbin of history - or, at the very least, for the remainder 
table and then pulping.  Ruhnama is no longer read on television, 
Ruhnama Corners in public buildings are gathering dust, and the 
ubiquitous Ruhanama billboards are disappearing.  But with Ruhnama 
fast fading away, there seems to be a hollow spot, or at least the 
government seems to think there is, for a guiding ideology. 
 
¶5.  (SBU) But the ovine official journalists are unable to make the 
case for the new ideology.  They seem stuck in the rut of a 
journalistic style that fears to misinterpret the leader and so rely 
on flowery locutions and vague generalities saying, in the end, 
essentially nothing.  Probably equally important, they likely have 
only a general concept of "market economy" and what concrete 
benefits it could bring.  And so they fall back on the tried and 
true - praising the leader for his new ideology. 
 
POPULAR REACTION - NOT IMPRESSED 
 
¶6.  (SBU) Because of the leadership's and media's failure to explain 
the importance of developing a market economy, people do not 
understand the focus or implications of the president's reforms. 
And it's sometimes debatable whether he himself truly understands 
them, or if he's simply chosen a topic sentence for his new 
paragraph but has yet to add the supporting detail.  Instead, 
Turkmenistan's citizens naturally view the government's reform 
policies by the impact of those policies on their daily lives, on 
own economic status.  When they see the 800% increase in the price 
of gasoline and the ever-rising cost of food, the new reform 
ideology of "government for the people" can seem ironic at best, and 
sometimes even cynical. 
 
HOAGLAND