VZCZCXRO8260
PP RUEHAG RUEHAST RUEHBC RUEHBI RUEHCI RUEHDBU RUEHDE RUEHDF RUEHDIR
RUEHIK RUEHKUK RUEHLH RUEHLN RUEHLZ RUEHPW RUEHROV RUEHSK RUEHSR
RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHAH #0522/01 1141204
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 241204Z APR 09
FM AMEMBASSY ASHGABAT
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 2711
INFO RUCNCLS/ALL SOUTH AND CENTRAL ASIA COLLECTIVE
RUCNCIS/CIS COLLECTIVE
RUCNMEM/EU MEMBER STATES COLLECTIVE
RUCNIRA/IRAN COLLECTIVE
RUEHAK/AMEMBASSY ANKARA 5127
RUEHIT/AMCONSUL ISTANBUL 3371
RHMFIUU/CDR USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHDC
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHDC
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ASHGABAT 000522 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR SCA/CEN 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PREL TX
SUBJECT: TURKMENISTAN: DAS KROL'S MEETING WITH THE GRAND 
MUFTI - "TURKMEN MEANS ISLAM" 
 
¶1. (U) Sensitive but unclassified.  Not for public Internet. 
 
¶2. (SBU) SUMMARY: On April 22, 2009, visiting Deputy 
Assistant Secretary George Krol, met with Grand Mufti, 
Rovshen Allaberdyev, and the Deputy Chairman of the Council 
on Religious Affairs, Nurmuhammet Gurbanov.  The Mufti 
emphasized that to be Turkmen is to be Muslim.  He said that 
theology students are no longer sent abroad to study, because 
of the concern they could trained in Wahabist or extremist 
principles.  The Mufti did not believe that outside 
influences, such as from Iran or Afghanistan, have an effect 
on the religious practices of the majority of Turkmen. 
Turkmen practice a moderate form of Islam moderately, they 
reject extremism, and believe that religion is sometimes used 
as a pretext to mask horrendous acts.  END SUMMARY. 
 
¶3. (SBU) On April 22, 2009, visiting Deputy Assistant 
Secretary George Krol, met with Grand Mufti, Rovshen 
Allaberdyev, and the Deputy Chairman of the Council on 
Religious Affairs, Nurmuhammet Gurbanov.  The meeting took 
place at the Council of Religious Affairs.  The Chairman of 
the Council, Charigeldi Seryayev, also attended the meeting, 
but said virtually nothing.  Following pleasantries, DAS Krol 
asked the Grand Mufti about religion in Turkmenistan.  The 
meeting focused on Islam and there was no discussion of any 
other religion, despite efforts to get Gurbanov to speak more 
broadly. 
 
¶4. (SBU)  The Mufti noted the majority of Turkmen are 
Muslims.  Turkmen do not separate religion from customs and 
traditions.  You cannot have one without the other.  He went 
on to say that people (in Turkmenistan) are free to pursue 
religion however they want.  The Grand Mufti said that 
"Turkmen is Muslim."  If a Turkmen distances himself from his 
religion (Islam) he could be ostracized by the community. 
However, customs and traditions are more important than 
religion, per se.  For example, if one chooses to not go to 
the mosque but follows other customs and traditions of Islam, 
they may not be criticized.  However, if you do not follow 
traditions, such as marking the death of a relative after 3, 
7 and 40 days, the community may disapprove.  In addition, if 
a man does not follow Islam, he would not be buried according 
to Muslim tradition, even if that was what he wished.  The 
Mufti made the point that conformity to tradition is not 
mandated, but people carry it out as part of a societal 
(religious) norm. 
 
¶5. (SBU) The Mufti explained that the education of religious 
staff in Turkmenistan is carried out at the Theology 
Department of The State University in the Faculty of History. 
 This department provides education on all religions, not 
just Islam.  He said they looked at many different 
methodologies, best practices and other places for religious 
training but concluded their staff were the best option. The 
religious professors are known as "Ahuns" and are considered 
to have the equivalent of a doctorate or masters degree and 
are capable of providing instruction in multiple religions. 
The Mufti felt that the Theology department is sufficient and 
saw no need to train religious personnel abroad.  Students 
had been sent away for religious education in the past, but 
not anymore.  The Mufti felt that students would get a 
different type of training, possibly in Wahabi principles, 
and Turkmen do not like this.  Regarding prayer, each mosque 
provides this type of education, and every Mullah of every 
mosque is free to train their visitors anyway they like. 
 
¶6. (SBU)  The Mufti first said that the shoot-out in 
Khitrovka in September 2008 was connected to religious 
extremism.  On questioning, he indicated that he had spoken 
somewhat out of turn and he explained that people assumed 
this because it was such an extreme event.  Murder is 
prohibited in the religion of Islam.  The perpetrators used 
religion as a cover for their activity when, in reality, they 
were involved in narcotics trafficking.  It is common for 
these types of incidents to be carried out under the guise of 
religion, when in fact they are not related.  Due to the 
extreme nature of this incident, people assumed it was 
 
ASHGABAT 00000522  002 OF 002 
 
 
somehow connected to Wahabism.  The country of Saudi Arabia 
pursues Wahabism as their religion.  However, on an official 
visit to Turkmenistan, their leaders condemned the Khitrovka 
incident and said that it had nothing to do with religion. 
 
¶7. (SBU) Regarding the influence of Iran and Afghanistan, the 
Mufti believes there is influence from outsiders.  However, 
it does not affect the majority of the population.  Instead, 
it is more situational and is influenced by family ties.  The 
Mufti said Turkmen-Turkish schools are secular.  All schools 
are secular regardless of their country of origin.  For 
example, they would not call an American school "Christian" 
or and Indian school "Hindi."  All curriculum is approved by 
the Ministry of Education. 
 
¶8. (SBU) The Mufti mentioned that if you look at Turkmen 
history, no single fight happened because of religion.  As 
the Prophet Mohammed taught all Muslims, if you follow the 
five tenets of Islam, you will go to heaven.  The five 
tenants are 1) visit to Haj, 2) fasting during Ramazan, 3) 
reading the Namaz prayer five times per day, 4) participating 
in charitable acts and 5) acknowledging that Allah is the 
only God and Mohammed is his prophet.  As Turkmen, they 
follow religion moderately and not to the extreme.  The Mufti 
said he would be criticized if he did not follow all aspects 
of Islam. 
 
¶9. (SBU) COMMENT:  The meeting ended on a cordial note, but 
without time to discuss anything other than Islam.  The most 
senior person in attendance (the Chairman of the Religious 
Council) said nothing during the entire meeting.  Gurbanov 
deferred to the Mufti on efforts to engage him in a broader 
discussion of religion.  During a brief tour of the compound, 
including the central mosque, Gurbanov spoke warmly of the 
Russian Orthodox community and nearby churches, but made no 
mention of other denominations.  The Grand Mufti stressed 
that Turkmen were free to choose their own beliefs, but at 
the same time pointed out that they would receive pressure 
from the community if they did not choose Islam.  He 
mentioned over and over how the leaders of the Mosque and the 
religious council really had no influence on an individual's 
beliefs, that pressure came entirely from society.  The Mufti 
seemed to back pedal a bit when asked about his reference to 
"Turkmen is Islam".  He said he read it on the internet and 
in reality, it is difficult to separate religion from customs 
and traditions.  END COMMENT. 
 
¶10. (U) DAS Krol cleared this cable. 
MILES