VZCZCXRO2172
PP RUEHAG RUEHAST RUEHBI RUEHCI RUEHDBU RUEHDF RUEHIK RUEHLH RUEHLN
RUEHLZ RUEHNEH RUEHPW RUEHROV RUEHSK RUEHSR RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHAH #0306 0651333
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 061333Z MAR 09
FM AMEMBASSY ASHGABAT
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 2425
INFO RUCNCLS/ALL SOUTH AND CENTRAL ASIA COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUCNCIS/CIS COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUCNMEM/EU MEMBER STATES COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHAK/AMEMBASSY ANKARA PRIORITY 4907
RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING PRIORITY 2670
RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO PRIORITY 2535
RUEHIT/AMCONSUL ISTANBUL PRIORITY 3151
RHMFIUU/CDR USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL PRIORITY
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC PRIORITY
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHDC PRIORITY
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC PRIORITY
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEHRC/DEPT OF AGRICULTURE WASHDC PRIORITY

UNCLAS ASHGABAT 000306 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR SCA/CEN, EEB 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: SOCI ECON TX
SUBJECT:  TURKMENISTAN: FEMALE GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES RECEIVE CASH 
GIFTS FOR WOMEN'S DAY 
 
¶1.  (U) Sensitive but unclassified.  Not for public Internet. 
 
¶2.  (U) Women in Turkmenistan have been given 40 manats ($14) each 
as a gift on the occasion of the forthcoming International Women's 
Day on March 8.  The tradition of presenting women with monetary 
gifts was introduced by former President Saparmurat Niyazov in 2001. 
 Niyazov later replaced Women's Day with the three-day spring 
holiday of Nowruz celebrated on March 20, 21, and 22.  In January 
2008, President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov reinstated March 8 as a 
national holiday honoring women.  On this occasion, women of all 
ages, including female children, receive money as a gift. 
 
¶3.  (SBU) In the past, the government began dispersing money only 
after former President Niyazov had issued a resolution to that end, 
which would normally appear in the official press on the eve of the 
holiday, according to local staff.  Since such a presidential 
resolution did not appear in the official press this year, the rumor 
spread that possibly the government had ended the practice. 
Pol/Econ local staff confirmed that state organizations, 
enterprises, universities, schools and kindergartens began 
dispersing the money beginning the week of March 2. 
 
¶4.  (SBU) A distinctive feature of the traditional activity this 
year was that all eligible females, regardless of age, received cash 
gifts.  (NOTE:  A woman is considered eligible for this gift if she 
is attached to a government institution in one of the following 
capacities: employee, pensioner, student or kindergartener.  END 
NOTE.)  In the past, heads of organizations and enterprises, in 
order to cut expenses, presented less expensive gifts instead of 
cash.  For example, female textile workers received towels or a 
bathrobe set, and schoolchildren and kindergarteners received 
educational games and toys.  A friend of a Pol/Econ local staff 
member, however, said that her 5-year old daughter received a 40 
manat cash gift for Women's Day.  A Pol/Econ staffer's 
daughter-in-law, who worked at a textile factory and currently is on 
maternity leave, said that the cash gift was a welcome addition to 
the family's budget. 
 
¶5.  (SBU) The Women's Day holiday in Soviet-era Turkmenistan was 
intended to celebrate the achievements of female workers, and would 
include state ceremonies that showcased the government's 
achievements in improving the status of women.  After Turkmenistan 
became independent, the celebrations lost their feminist and 
political overtones, and in present-day Turkmenistan the focus has 
been re-directed to more traditional values for women as "the 
guardians of family, hearth and home".  This year, 
government-sponsored events during the week leading up to the 
holiday centered largely on Turkmen women's contributions in art, 
fashion, theatre and music. 
 
¶6.  (SBU)  COMMENT:  It is not surprising that the holiday has 
experienced alterations along the way as the state itself has seen 
much change as well.  For the women who are old enough to remember 
the original themes of the holiday, it must feel somewhat like a 
step back in regard to the role of women in this society.  END 
COMMENT. 
 
MILES