Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
08ASHGABAT242
2008-02-15 10:53:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Embassy Ashgabat
Cable title:
TURKMENISTAN: ONE YEAR WITHOUT PERSONALITY CULT
how-toVZCZCXRO9306 PP RUEHAG RUEHAST RUEHBI RUEHCI RUEHDF RUEHIK RUEHLH RUEHLN RUEHLZ RUEHPW RUEHROV RUEHVK RUEHYG DE RUEHAH #0242 0461053 ZNR UUUUU ZZH P 151053Z FEB 08 FM AMEMBASSY ASHGABAT TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0293 INFO RUCNCLS/ALL SOUTH AND CENTRAL ASIA COLLECTIVE RUCNCIS/CIS COLLECTIVE RUCNMEM/EU MEMBER STATES COLLECTIVE RUEHAK/AMEMBASSY ANKARA 3396 RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 1214 RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO 1081 RUEHIT/AMCONSUL ISTANBUL 1650 RHMFIUU/CDR USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHDC RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC RUEHVEN/USMISSION USOSCE 2234 RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 1391
UNCLAS ASHGABAT 000242
SIPDIS
SENSITIVE
SIPDIS
STATE FOR SCA/CEN, SCA/PPD, DRL
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PHUM SCUL DRL
SUBJECT: TURKMENISTAN: ONE YEAR WITHOUT PERSONALITY CULT
SUBJECT: TURKMENISTAN: ONE YEAR WITHOUT PERSONALITY CULT
UNCLAS ASHGABAT 000242
SIPDIS
SENSITIVE
SIPDIS
STATE FOR SCA/CEN, SCA/PPD, DRL
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PHUM SCUL DRL
SUBJECT: TURKMENISTAN: ONE YEAR WITHOUT PERSONALITY CULT
SUBJECT: TURKMENISTAN: ONE YEAR WITHOUT PERSONALITY CULT
1. (U) Sensitive but unclassified. Not for public Internet.
2. (U) President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov celebrated the
one-year anniversary of his February 14, 2007, inauguration
in private. The only public event to our knowledge --
although there may have been low-key private receptions and
parties -- was a concert at the National Cultural Center in
honor of the anniversary. Some ministers and deputy cabinet
chairmen attended, but not all. The only speech was Speaker
of Parliament Akja Nurberdiyeva's in which she announced the
splendid concert hall as the new permanent home of the
National Symphony Orchestra of Turkmenistan.
3. (SBU) The concert hall was packed to the rafters with
Ashgabat's elite and a fair number of students. Charge asked
several students if they were required to attend. Each
answered about the same: "Are you kidding? We've waited a
long time to get back to normal."
4. (U) The concert program was strictly symphonic, and
included no "traditional culture." Composers included Bizet,
Borodin, Brahms, Kachaturian, Mozart, Rossini, and
Tchaikovsky, as well as Soviet-era Turkmen composers of
European-style music Nury Halmammedov and Dangatar Ovezov.
Deputy Foreign Minister Hajiyev pointed out to Charge that
the soloists were all great artists who had been banned in
the latter years of the previous government. The orchestra
itself was surprisingly proficient, equivalent to any
second-tier orchestra in the West.
5. (SBU) One European ambassador commented to Charge, "We
should probably be more patient with Turkmenistan. If the
Soviets could create this from desert nomads in just a few
decades, who can imagine what Turkmenistan will be like 50
years from now?"
HOAGLAND
SIPDIS
SENSITIVE
SIPDIS
STATE FOR SCA/CEN, SCA/PPD, DRL
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PHUM SCUL DRL
SUBJECT: TURKMENISTAN: ONE YEAR WITHOUT PERSONALITY CULT
SUBJECT: TURKMENISTAN: ONE YEAR WITHOUT PERSONALITY CULT
1. (U) Sensitive but unclassified. Not for public Internet.
2. (U) President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov celebrated the
one-year anniversary of his February 14, 2007, inauguration
in private. The only public event to our knowledge --
although there may have been low-key private receptions and
parties -- was a concert at the National Cultural Center in
honor of the anniversary. Some ministers and deputy cabinet
chairmen attended, but not all. The only speech was Speaker
of Parliament Akja Nurberdiyeva's in which she announced the
splendid concert hall as the new permanent home of the
National Symphony Orchestra of Turkmenistan.
3. (SBU) The concert hall was packed to the rafters with
Ashgabat's elite and a fair number of students. Charge asked
several students if they were required to attend. Each
answered about the same: "Are you kidding? We've waited a
long time to get back to normal."
4. (U) The concert program was strictly symphonic, and
included no "traditional culture." Composers included Bizet,
Borodin, Brahms, Kachaturian, Mozart, Rossini, and
Tchaikovsky, as well as Soviet-era Turkmen composers of
European-style music Nury Halmammedov and Dangatar Ovezov.
Deputy Foreign Minister Hajiyev pointed out to Charge that
the soloists were all great artists who had been banned in
the latter years of the previous government. The orchestra
itself was surprisingly proficient, equivalent to any
second-tier orchestra in the West.
5. (SBU) One European ambassador commented to Charge, "We
should probably be more patient with Turkmenistan. If the
Soviets could create this from desert nomads in just a few
decades, who can imagine what Turkmenistan will be like 50
years from now?"
HOAGLAND