Elections, Activists and Faith in Dashoguz

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DEPT FOR SCA/CEN (PERRY); NSC FOR DEHART
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PREL TX

SUBJECT: Elections, Activists and Faith in Dashoguz

Summary
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1. (SBU) During a recent pre-election trip to Dashoguz Welayat
(Province),local election officials were friendly but constrained,
given the (unexpected) presence of Central Election Commission
Chairman, Myrat Garryev. They maintained to the A/DCM that
Turkmenistan's February 11 presidential election represented a major
step forward, with the most concerted push ever to educate voters on
candidates, platforms, voters' rights and issues. Questions asked
during candidates' meetings with "voters" were not planted; Garryev
noted that the broad range of issues under discussion was convincing
voters that local candidates, no matter how well they understood
local concerns, might not be the best choice for president. A/DCM's
interlocutors also clarified that platform discussion of "land
ownership" was not an indication that land would be privatized. In
a short side meeting with the Principle Deputy Governor, A/DCM also
called for an open and fair judicial process for environmental
activist Andrey Zatoka (who a few days later was given a 3-year
suspended sentence); she also visited Turkmenistan's most holy
pilgrimage site with a visibly moved Garryev, who double-hats as
Deputy Chairman of the Council of Religious Affairs. End Summary.


2. (SBU) During a January 26 trip to Dashoguz Welayat (Province) to
discuss preparations for the February 11 presidential election,
A/DCM found her trip largely hijacked by the Chairman of the Central
Election Commission, Myrat Garryev, who had flown up from Ashgabat
the previous night to attend (and dominate) the A/DCM's meeting with
the chairman of the provincial election commission, First Deputy
Governor Charyguly Shadurdyev. Afterwards, Garryev and Shadurdyev
accompanied A/DCM to visit a district polling and election education
station, then Garryev, who also double-hats as Deputy Chairman of
Turkmenistan's Council of Religious Affairs, insisted on taking
A/DCM to visit the nearby Najm-ed-din Kubra Mausoleum, one of
Turkmenistan's most holy pilgrimage sites.

Plenty of Bread in Dashoguz
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3. (U) Prior to meeting with Shadurdyev, the A/DCM and Pol/Econ
assistant walked through the Dashoguz market, Turkmenistan's
second-largest, to survey availability of bread and flour. Flat
bread was plentiful, but the commercial price for a loaf had almost
doubled since the summer. Even at an early hour, bread vendors were
doing a brisk business. There was no local flour available, but
A/DCM saw bags of imported flour from Kazakhstan for sale.

A Surprise Meeting with an Old Friend
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4. (SBU) Upon arriving at Shadurdyev's office, A/DCM was surprised
to see Garryev and his new assistant standing with the deputy
governor and leaders of the welayat "public associations," including
the Democratic Party, and the women's, youth, and veterans'
associations. The septuagenarian Garryev, with whom the A/DCM had
met several weeks earlier in Ashgabat, looked tired, and seemed less
steady on his feet than in previous meetings.

Shadurdyev: Voter Questions Not Planted
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5. (U) Shadurdyev briefly outlined Dashoguz' voting statistics:
the welayat had 9 voting precincts and 271 voting districts which
serviced the province's 550,000 voters. The series of campaign
meetings which each of the six presidential candidates had held in
Dashoguz had served to increase the world perspective of Dashoguz'
citizens. Media coverage of the candidates' meetings had given
Dashoguz citizens a basic familiarity with the platforms of all
candidates. Participants in the meetings prepared their questions
in advance, based on questions they had from what the candidates had
said. It was notable that, even though the province was
predominantly agricultural, Dashoguz' people had come to see that
any future president had to be able to address a broad spectrum of
issues, not just agriculture.

Luring Voters to Polls with Music and Dancing

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6. (U) Responding to a question about voter turnout, Garryev
insisted that all voters would turn out. The February 11 election
represented Turkmenistan's first step to democracy, and citizens
wanted to participate. Further sweetening the pot, the government
would declare a general holiday, and voters would be lured to
polling places with live music and dancing. Asked about observers,
Garryev said that there would be 12 from the OSCE and 2 UN
observers. (Comment: Garryev's likely confused, the OSCE reps are
in-country to assist the OSCE mission with reporting on the
elections, they are not/not observing, which entails a wholly
different set of procedures and reporting requirements, including
starting observing during the nominating process. End Comment.)

Garryev: Let Voters Choose for Themselves
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7. (U) Without prompting, Garryev stressed that the election would
be "genuinely democratic": nobody would interfere with voters.
Although there would be observers from public associations present
at the polling place, they were operating under strict instructions
not to instruct voters how to vote. The Central Election Commission
had instructed that a special election reading room should be
established in each voting district; these rooms contained
information about voters' rights, voting procedures, and the
candidates' backgrounds and platforms. This allowed voters to
decide for themselves which candidate was best. Looking at the
association leaders at the table, Garryev asked them whether they
were telling members how to vote; all shook their heads. Garryev
stressed that this practice was different from the "democracy" of
Soviet days, when there was only one candidate and people were
expected to vote for that individual even if they did not know him.


8. (U) Warming to this theme, Garryev stated that issues were being
discussed to an unprecedented degree in this election. For the
first time, voters were asking questions about matters that affected
their lives: agricultural policy, medical care, education, living
standards, division of land and foreign affairs were all issues
under the public microscope. Likewise, voters were beginning to see
that it was not enough to vote for a local candidate just because he
understood local concerns better than the other candidates;
Turkmenistan's citizens for the first time were beginning to
appreciate how many issues their future leader would have to be able
to address.

Garryev: "Land Ownership" Not Private Ownership
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9. (U) A/DCM noted that several candidates, including the interim
president, had discussed the need for land ownership, and asked
whether this meant that citizens would be allowed to own, buy and
sell land. Garryev responded emphatically, saying that the land
belonged to the state. While people could rent the land and even
build houses, they would never be permitted to buy or sell the land.
Indeed, if people wanted to own land, they could do so in the
United States, he said.

Urging Open Justice for Zatoka
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10. (SBU) At the end of the meeting, after Garryev and the others
had left the room, the A/DCM told Shadurdyev that she wanted to
raise USG concerns regarding the case of environmental activist
Andrey Zatoka, who had first been imprisoned for creating a public
disturbance, but subsequently been charged with a number of other,
more serious charges, including possession of weapons and poisonous
substances. The embassy wanted to bring to the attention of the
Dashoguz provincial government that Zatoka's arrest had evoked an
unprecedented international response. The eyes of the world were on
Dashoguz, and the case was being seen as a barometer of how
Turkmenistan's new government would respond to the rule of law. The
United States hoped that the judicial process against Zatoka would
be transparent, fair and open. Shadurdyev responded that laws were
laws and must be followed, and asked whether the United States was
trying to tell him that Zatoka was innocent. A/DCM replied that the

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United States had no way of knowing whether he was guilty or
innocent of the charges against him. Instead, the United States was
urging Turkmenistan to try Zatoka in a fair and open judicial
process, and to give him full access to his attorney, as required by
Turkmenistan's criminal code. Shadurdyev nodded, clearly getting
the message. (Note: Several days later, a Dashoguz court sentenced
Zatoka to a three-year suspended sentence. End Note.)

Education 101: Educating the Voters
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11. (U) After the meeting, Garryev and Shadurdyev drove the A/DCM
out to Kone Urgench Etrap (county) to visit a polling station and
election education center. The two functions were together under
the same roof of a district cultural center. In the first room --
obviously the education center -- Ruhnama materials had largely been
replaced by stacks of newspapers, posters with pictures of the
candidates and either their bio information or platforms, and tables
with "volunteers." The volunteers were busy reviewing voter lists,
which were based on residency records. Responding to a question
from the A/DCM, they said that each voter must come in and show his
national passport before getting a ballot. No voter would be able
to cast more than one ballot, and no one could cast votes for others
in his household. Another volunteer, tasked with asking information
about voting procedures and voters' rights, was seated at a separate
desk with a brochure containing the recently passed presidential
election law, which Garryev proudly said had been sent to all
polling stations by the Central Election Commission.


12. (U) In the next room were two clear plastic voting boxes: one
very large and the other quite small. A district voting official
sitting in the room, who would be tasked on election day with
checking an individual's name off a voter list once he had seen the
vote cast, said that the small box was to gather votes of pensioners
or infirm citizens. The lists of individuals who would be visited
by this traveling voting box were being be compiled ahead of time by
polling officials.

Looking for Miracles at Najm-ed-din Kubra Mausoleum
-------------- --------------


13. (U) Also in Kone Urgench are the ruins of the once-thriving
capital of the Khorezm Empire that are now designated a UNESCO World
Heritage site. Brutal attacks and massacres by Genghis Khan and
Tamerlane left little intact of the ancient city, an important
center of Islamic learning with more than a million inhabitants.
The mausoleum of Najm-ed-din Kubra, a famous 12th century Khorezm
Muslim teacher and poet who founded the Sufic Kobra order and was
beheaded by the Mongols, and the 360 tombs surrounding the mausoleum
are the town's holiest site. Every year thousands of devout Muslims
make their way to the Kone Urgench complex -- and particularly the
Najm-ed-din Kubra Mausoleum -- in search of miracles.


14. (U) Stressing the importance of seeing the Najm-ed-din Kubra
Mausoleum to gaining a better understanding the faith of
Turkmenistan's Muslims, Garryev insisted on accompanying the A/DCM
and her translator to the mausoleum before departing Kone Urgench.
Afterwards, Garryev walked through the grounds of the "360" with the
A/DCM, telling her how much the experience meant to him personally
and spiritually.

Comment
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15. (SBU) With Turkmenistan's election soon to be under an
international spotlight, voter turnout remains an issue of critical
concern. It is important to the central government to demonstrate
the "success" of its election with convincing participation rates,
yet the turnout in the July 2006 gengesh (village council) and
December 2006 district-level people's council elections were almost
certainly substantially lower than the 90%-plus official figure.
Clearly there remains a huge gap between these elections and
OSCE-approved fair, open and democratic elections. Nevertheless,
excitement over Turkmenistan's first-ever multi-party elections and
the accompanying opportunity for change is palpable throughout the
country. In addition to these pre-election visits, embassy

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personnel will be on the road on election day watching first-hand
whether Turkmenistan's citizens will go to the polls to choose their
new leader; their first chance to do so in 15 years. End Comment.


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