VZCZCXRO9048
PP RUEHIK
DE RUEHAH #1625 3511157
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 171157Z DEC 09
FM AMEMBASSY ASHGABAT
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 3927
INFO RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHDC PRIORITY
RUCNCLS/ALL SOUTH AND CENTRAL ASIA COLLECTIVE
RUCNCIS/CIS COLLECTIVE
RUCNMEM/EU MEMBER STATES COLLECTIVE
RUEHAK/AMEMBASSY ANKARA 6019
RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 3713
RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO 3572
RUEHIT/AMCONSUL ISTANBUL 4261
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 1326
RHMCSUU/CDR USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL
RUEHVEN/USMISSION USOSCE 4200
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHDC
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHDC

UNCLAS ASHGABAT 001625 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR SCA/CEN 
COMMERCE FOR EHOUSE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ELAB SOCI PGOV TX
SUBJECT:  GOVERNMENT WORKERS SLEEPLESS IN ASHGABAT 
 
¶1.  (U) Sensitive but unclassified.  Not for public Internet. 
 
¶2.  (SBU) SUMMARY:  Long working hours are the norm for 
Turkmen government employees.  Few agencies compensate their 
staff for overtime.  Some higher-level officials bring bedding 
from home for the long nights at the office.  On the plus 
side, long hours mean some officials can be contacted directly 
at night to resolve urgent matters.  Still, one wonders how 
officials can sustain such a schedule over the long-term and 
remain able to function effectively.  END SUMMARY. 
 
¶3.  (SBU) Despite former President Niyazov's passing, his 
popular slogan "We will turn our nights into working days!" 
remains in effect.  An unwritten code prescribes state 
officials to work from 6:00 a.m. until late every night.  The 
chief accountant of the government joint venture Turkmen- 
Turkish Bank remains at work until midnight to make sure the 
cash pouches from all the bank's exchange outlets reach the 
main office.  Fear of unemployment forces her to work until 
late at night without payment for overtime.  Few employers 
compensate their workers for staying on the job into the 
night.  Senior officials provide themselves with sofas or 
roll-away beds at their offices for use when they are unable 
to go home. 
 
¶4. (SBU) One high-ranking MFA official told us that he works 
every night until 11:00pm, and sometimes his children stay up 
that late just so they can see him.  He said it was the hardest 
 part of the job.  A colleague from a European Embassy arrived 
at MFA one day at 5:30am to deal with one particular 
issue and was surprised to see the aforementioned MFA official 
arriving at work. 
 
¶5.  (SBU) With so many employees working late, getting a 
problem solved with a government office is sometimes easier at 
night than during the day.  In a recent case, an assistant to 
the Minister of Civil Aviation worked with an Embassy employee 
at 9:00 p.m. in order to reverse a denial of overflight 
clearance for a private U.S. cargo carrier.  Despite the late 
hour, the minister's assistant acted as if it was business as 
usual, providing a quick and positive solution.  During the 
day, an appropriate official can be hard to track down and 
matters are viewed as less pressing.  Raising an issue at 
night gives it a sense of urgency.  As it turned out, none of 
the senior officials at the civil aviation authority were 
sleeping that night, due to the arrival in Turkmenistan of 
three visiting heads of state.  Everyone at the agency was on 
alert. 
 
¶6.  (SBU) COMMENT:  Turkmen government employees appear to 
have an exhausting modus operandi of unavoidably long work 
hours.  Unfortunately, excessive time spent at the office does 
not translate into productivity, and most likely has the 
opposite effect.  Nonetheless, employees seem willing to 
endure the harsh work regimen for the sake of their jobs.  END 
COMMENT. 
 
CURRAN