TURKMENISTAN: RUHNAMA GOING, GOING, BUT NOT YET

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ASHGABAT 000977 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS DEPT FOR SCA/CEN, ECA, DRL E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PHUM SCUL TX SUBJECT: TURKMENISTAN: RUHNAMA GOING, GOING, BUT NOT YET GONE REF: 06 ASHGABAT 1095 ¶1. Sensitive but unclassified. Not for public Internet. ¶2. (SBU) SUMMARY: Since Turkmenistan's President Berdimuhamedov's inauguration in February, there has been a gradual diminution of the cult surrounding the Ruhnama. References to and articles on former President Niyazov's book in the local media have decreased sharply, the number of Ruhnama-related events has diminished, and -- most significantly -- the state has refocused its play of the Ruhnama to support Berdimuhamedov's "multifaceted program of reform and transformation." Although the Ruhnama exploded back into public life in the month of September, with a flood of Ruhnama-related articles appearing daily in the print media and a series of Ruhnama-related events, most here believe that the sudden increase is focused more on the beginning of the new school year and on the September 12 Ruhnama Day, than on reviving a dying Niyazov legacy. END SUMMARY. PRAISE FOR THE RUHNAMA EQUALS SUPPORT FOR NIYAZOV ¶3. (SBU) The Ruhnama is a rambling and poorly written melange of regional history, reflections on the meaning of Turkmen ethnicity and nationhood, language and philosophy written by Turkmenistan's former president, Saparmyrat Niyazov ("Turkmenbashy") and published in 2001. Aggressively popularized throughout all sectors of Turkmenistan -- and especially in schools -- under Niyazov, it became the regime's primary tool for glorifying Turkmenistan and for promoting Niyazov's cult of personality. From kindergarten, children spent most of their schooltime each day memorizing vast portions of it and learning subjects as diverse as math and chemistry through Ruhnama-linked examples. But the popularization of the Ruhnama did not stop with the education system. All government employees and workers at all state enterprises had Ruhnama classes at least a few hours a week, and almost every workplace had a "Ruhnama Room" where employees could read Niyazov's "sacred book." At the same time, passages from the Ruhnama infused Turkmenistan's television and print media, billboards showed pictures of happy students studying the Ruhnama, and most cultural events were based around public readings of the Ruhnama and performances of new songs created from the Ruhnama. ¶4. (SBU) Inextricably linked in the presentation of the Ruhnama was the glorification of its author, Saparmyrat Turkmenbashy the Great. Niyazov used the Ruhnama to propagate a sense of Turkmen nationalism and national unity built around the use of the Turkmen language and an idealized Turkmen history and culture. Niyazov was the "Great Leader" around which this idealized concept revolved and, as such, he became inextricably linked with the glorification of the Turkmen state. While his initial goal may have been to give Turkmenistan's people a positive, common identity in the tough days following the Soviet Union's dissolution -- an effort to keep Turkmenistan from dissolving into a morass of rival tribal and regional factions -- his aggressive efforts to push an idealized version of a Turkmen nation did not allow the emergence of any alternative initiative, self-identity or critical thinking. Indeed, those who did not show heart-and-mind enthusiasm for Niyazov's "Holy Ruhnama" were viewed as potentially disloyal. RUHNAMA ROOMS EMPTY OUT ¶5. (SBU) Since President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov's inauguration in February, there has been a gradual downgrading of the emphasis on the Ruhnama, which has corresponded with the president's decision to phase-out gradually some of the most extravagant aspects of Niyazov's cult of personality. Schools are likely to observe more closely the curriculum requirement for formal Ruhnama lessons ASHGABAT 00000977 002 OF 003 to occupy only one hour a week for all grades except the 10th year, when students must study the Ruhnama two hours per week. (That said, history, literature and cultural classes may, in fact, continue to draw at least in part on the Ruhnama.) Most public cultural events based around the Ruhnama have been eliminated or revamped to focus ore on promoting Turkmen culture (such as traditional songs and dances, many of which had not been performed publicly for years) than on reading Ruhnama passages. Media articles on the Ruhnama, too, have greatly decreased from one or more articles per day in Niyazov's era to a few articles a month. While most workplaces still have Ruhnama rooms, those rooms are either remaining empty, or they are being putting to use in other ways. For example, in one AIDS clinic in Balkan Province we saw the Ruhnama Room being used for meetings of young volunteers directed toward expanding community understanding of how HIV/AIDS is transmitted -- to the discomfort of a visiting official from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Few officials are still quoting the Ruhnama in their speeches and meetings. Most importantly, although the few remaining events continue matter-of-factly to link the "Holy Ruhnama" to its author, Niyazov, that is as far as the praise and glorification of the former president goes. RUHNAMA AS THE GUIDE FOR A NEW ERA ¶6. (SBU) Instead, the new focus at these events increasingly has been on the book's value as an educational, historical and philosophical work that helps guide Turkmenistan's citizens as they enter the "new national revival" epoch -- the post-Niyazov era. Rather than proclaiming the Ruhnama principles of unity and consensus as evidence of Niyazov's "greatness," presentations on the Ruhnama stress that, under Berdimuhamedov, the Ruhnama's precepts of unity and consensus are being "creatively interpreted" and now serve as a guideline for the president's "multifaceted program of reform and transformation." Even though some question whether the new focus on Berdimuhamedov is a harbinger of a new cult of personality, there has not yet been evidence of Berdimuhamedov seeking to use the Ruhnama to "dumb-down" Turkmenistan's citizens or to promote a single line of thought that quashes any alternative thinking. In fact, such a message would be antithetical to the president's push for greater engagement with the outside world and his policy of promoting the fastest-possible development -- including through international exchanges -- of a new corps of trained experts. RUHNAMA MAKES A NEW APPEARANCE IN SEPTEMBER, THE MONTH OF RUHNAMA ¶7. (SBU) Contradicting the trend over the last seven months, there has been a sudden explosion of Ruhnama-related articles and events in the run-up to Ruhnama Day on Ruhnama (September) 12. Beginning in early September, articles on the Ruhnama started appearing almost daily in Turkmenistan's newspapers. Most of these articles used a Ruhnama title or a few sentences about the Ruhnama to discuss the country's accomplishments in certain areas, achieved under Berdimuhamedov's policy of "new revival and great reforms." Also in the month of Ruhnama, the government has celebrated the book's publication in foreign languages -- Malaysian, Belarusian, Beluchi -- in a type of ceremony not seen since before Niyazov's death. These events and the "international scientific conference" held on Ruhnama Day to celebrate the Ruhnama's purported status as an "inalienable part of the world's spiritual history" helped to remind many of past days, even as the content of these sessions continued to mirror Berdimuhamedov's "new era" message. That said, most also believe the current hype will fade away once the month named after the Ruhnama is over. One of the organizers suggested to a visiting American that the just-concluded Ruhnama Day conference could be the last ASHGABAT 00000977 003 OF 003 such event. ¶8. (SBU) COMMENT: Most here believe that eliminating the Ruhnama in one fell swoop would create a gaping vacuum that could leave young people -- many of whom, following years of Ruhnama indoctrination, actually believe the hype -- vulnerable to other, even more extreme ways of thinking. Those who make this argument suggest there needs to be a gradual phase-out of Ruhnama as students start being exposed to other ways of thinking, and, in fact, this thinking seems to be mirrored in at least some of the curriculum changes. We have confirmed, for example, that the new "Social Studies" class in the education curriculum is spent studying about other countries, including (at higher levels) other political and economic systems, rather than Ruhnama. In the meantime, Berdimuhamedov seems to be using the Ruhnama to his own ends, to keep citizens unified behind him as he seeks to redefine Turkmenistan's domestic and foreign policies to suit his own, more outward-looking and relatively progressive priorities. END COMMENT. HOAGLAND