Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
08ASHGABAT408
2008-04-01 11:17:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Ashgabat
Cable title:
TURKMENISTAN: LEADER OF UNREGISTERED RELIGIOUS
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C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ASHGABAT 000408
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
STATE FOR SCA/CEN, DRL/IRF
USAID/W FOR EE/AA
E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/20/2017
TAGS: PGOV PHUM SOCI KIRF TX
SUBJECT: TURKMENISTAN: LEADER OF UNREGISTERED RELIGIOUS
GROUP STILL HASSLED IN MARY -- BUT REGISTRATION ADVANCES
Classified By: Charge Richard E. Hoagland for reasons 1.4 (B) and (D).
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ASHGABAT 000408
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
STATE FOR SCA/CEN, DRL/IRF
USAID/W FOR EE/AA
E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/20/2017
TAGS: PGOV PHUM SOCI KIRF TX
SUBJECT: TURKMENISTAN: LEADER OF UNREGISTERED RELIGIOUS
GROUP STILL HASSLED IN MARY -- BUT REGISTRATION ADVANCES
Classified By: Charge Richard E. Hoagland for reasons 1.4 (B) and (D).
1. (C) SUMMARY: The leader of an unregistered evangelical
religious group in the city of Mary has been banned from
traveling outside of Turkmenistan, and his home raided -- and
religious material seized -- by security authorities in the
middle of a religious meeting. Meanwhile, the Council of
Religious Affairs has forwarded his application for
registration of a religious group to the Ministry of Justice
-- a significant step towards obtaining registration. In
this society of great transition and contradiction, it is
clear not all authorities are on the same page or
transitioning at the same pace. END SUMMARY.
PASTOR BARRED FROM TRAVEL
2. (C) Ilmyrat Nurlyyev and his wife, Maya, lead a branch of
the Turkmen Baptist Church in the city of Mary. On March 27,
they told visiting EmbOff that security authorities took
Ilmyrat off of a plane that was to depart for Minsk on
November 11, 2007. In April 2007 -- during the time when
Turkmen citizens still needed border permits to visit
Dashoguz -- the authorities made him return directly to Mary
on the train after arriving in Dashoguz. The Nurlyyevs said
the Turkmen Immigration Service told them that the Ministry
of National Security (MNB, ex-KGB) refuses to allow Ilmyrat
to travel to Ukraine for a friend's wedding in April. They
asked if post would intervene so that he could obtain
permission. Ilmyrat also asked for post's assistance in
inviting a Ukrainian pastor to Turkmenistan.
OSCE IS INVOLVED IN HIS PROTESTS
3. (C) The Organization for Security and Cooperation in
Europe (OSCE) helped Ilmyrat to prepare a January 21 letter
for the Turkmen Immigration Service about the status of his
freedom to travel. He has not yet received a reply. Ilmyrat
has also sent complaint letters to the Prosecutor General
regarding the lack of a response to his requests to visit
Ukraine. When asked if he wasn't concerned about not being
allowed to return to Turkmenistan, Ilmyrat replied that the
MNB had indeed made threats that they would throw him out of
the country.
STILL NO CHURCH REGISTRATION...BUT THERE IS MOVEMENT
4. (C) The Nurlyyevs submitted documents necessary for
church registration in February 1997 -- with last corrections
to the application submitted in June 2007. The Council on
Religious Affairs sent a letter to the Nurlyyevs dated March
3 stating that the Council has forwarded the registration
application to the Ministry of Justice.
SECURITY AUTHORITIES DISRUPT MEETINGS AND ATTEMPT TO MEDDLE
5. (C) Fifteen people from the mayor's office, MNB, police,
and city housing office arrived during a religious meeting at
the Nurlyyev's apartment on February 10, demanding to know
why the group was holding a meeting in light of its
unregistered status. The officials seized 124 DVDs and four
VHS cassettes, which they have not yet returned. Following
Nurlyyev's complaint letter about this seizure, the mayor's
office called him in to tell him that "experts" were
reviewing the DVDs. Associates of the family are looking out
for them, however, and the Nurlyyevs are grateful that their
neighbors did not report them to security authorities. The
MNB also visited Maya's boss to try to have her fired, but
her boss said that she has been an exemplary employee at the
cotton factory for 25 years, and she kept her job. The
Nurlyyevs keep church books at home, but keep Russian- and
Turkmen-language Bibles in a separate location in case
security authorities search their home. They carry on with
ASHGABAT 00000408 002 OF 002
their lives with the knowledge that their home is bugged and
that they are followed.
ASPIRATIONS FOR DOING SERVICE IN THE COMMUNITY
6. (C) The Nurlyyevs emphasize that their conversion to
Christianity does not mean that they have turned their back
on Turkmen culture or people. Noting his previous experience
and success in rehabilitating drug addicts in his home,
Ilmyrat said that he would like to open a drug rehabilitation
center, for which he would not need money from the government
-- but he would need a space.
7. (C) COMMENT: Post sees the receipt of the letter from
the Council of Religious Affairs which states that Ilmyrat
Nurlyyev's application for registration of a religious group
has been forwarded to the Ministry of Justice for
consideration as encouraging. Nevertheless, the continued
harassment of the Nurlyyevs by local officials needs to stop.
Turkmenistan is a country in transition on multiple levels,
and not all levels are undergoing transition at the same
pace. And not all officials -- especially at local levels,
who are more accustomed to an enforcer role -- feel
comfortable with change. However, brave people like the
Nurlyyevs and their friends and colleagues who continue
quietly, patiently to insist on their rights are the future
of Turkmenistan as a normal country. END COMMENT.
HOAGLAND
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
STATE FOR SCA/CEN, DRL/IRF
USAID/W FOR EE/AA
E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/20/2017
TAGS: PGOV PHUM SOCI KIRF TX
SUBJECT: TURKMENISTAN: LEADER OF UNREGISTERED RELIGIOUS
GROUP STILL HASSLED IN MARY -- BUT REGISTRATION ADVANCES
Classified By: Charge Richard E. Hoagland for reasons 1.4 (B) and (D).
1. (C) SUMMARY: The leader of an unregistered evangelical
religious group in the city of Mary has been banned from
traveling outside of Turkmenistan, and his home raided -- and
religious material seized -- by security authorities in the
middle of a religious meeting. Meanwhile, the Council of
Religious Affairs has forwarded his application for
registration of a religious group to the Ministry of Justice
-- a significant step towards obtaining registration. In
this society of great transition and contradiction, it is
clear not all authorities are on the same page or
transitioning at the same pace. END SUMMARY.
PASTOR BARRED FROM TRAVEL
2. (C) Ilmyrat Nurlyyev and his wife, Maya, lead a branch of
the Turkmen Baptist Church in the city of Mary. On March 27,
they told visiting EmbOff that security authorities took
Ilmyrat off of a plane that was to depart for Minsk on
November 11, 2007. In April 2007 -- during the time when
Turkmen citizens still needed border permits to visit
Dashoguz -- the authorities made him return directly to Mary
on the train after arriving in Dashoguz. The Nurlyyevs said
the Turkmen Immigration Service told them that the Ministry
of National Security (MNB, ex-KGB) refuses to allow Ilmyrat
to travel to Ukraine for a friend's wedding in April. They
asked if post would intervene so that he could obtain
permission. Ilmyrat also asked for post's assistance in
inviting a Ukrainian pastor to Turkmenistan.
OSCE IS INVOLVED IN HIS PROTESTS
3. (C) The Organization for Security and Cooperation in
Europe (OSCE) helped Ilmyrat to prepare a January 21 letter
for the Turkmen Immigration Service about the status of his
freedom to travel. He has not yet received a reply. Ilmyrat
has also sent complaint letters to the Prosecutor General
regarding the lack of a response to his requests to visit
Ukraine. When asked if he wasn't concerned about not being
allowed to return to Turkmenistan, Ilmyrat replied that the
MNB had indeed made threats that they would throw him out of
the country.
STILL NO CHURCH REGISTRATION...BUT THERE IS MOVEMENT
4. (C) The Nurlyyevs submitted documents necessary for
church registration in February 1997 -- with last corrections
to the application submitted in June 2007. The Council on
Religious Affairs sent a letter to the Nurlyyevs dated March
3 stating that the Council has forwarded the registration
application to the Ministry of Justice.
SECURITY AUTHORITIES DISRUPT MEETINGS AND ATTEMPT TO MEDDLE
5. (C) Fifteen people from the mayor's office, MNB, police,
and city housing office arrived during a religious meeting at
the Nurlyyev's apartment on February 10, demanding to know
why the group was holding a meeting in light of its
unregistered status. The officials seized 124 DVDs and four
VHS cassettes, which they have not yet returned. Following
Nurlyyev's complaint letter about this seizure, the mayor's
office called him in to tell him that "experts" were
reviewing the DVDs. Associates of the family are looking out
for them, however, and the Nurlyyevs are grateful that their
neighbors did not report them to security authorities. The
MNB also visited Maya's boss to try to have her fired, but
her boss said that she has been an exemplary employee at the
cotton factory for 25 years, and she kept her job. The
Nurlyyevs keep church books at home, but keep Russian- and
Turkmen-language Bibles in a separate location in case
security authorities search their home. They carry on with
ASHGABAT 00000408 002 OF 002
their lives with the knowledge that their home is bugged and
that they are followed.
ASPIRATIONS FOR DOING SERVICE IN THE COMMUNITY
6. (C) The Nurlyyevs emphasize that their conversion to
Christianity does not mean that they have turned their back
on Turkmen culture or people. Noting his previous experience
and success in rehabilitating drug addicts in his home,
Ilmyrat said that he would like to open a drug rehabilitation
center, for which he would not need money from the government
-- but he would need a space.
7. (C) COMMENT: Post sees the receipt of the letter from
the Council of Religious Affairs which states that Ilmyrat
Nurlyyev's application for registration of a religious group
has been forwarded to the Ministry of Justice for
consideration as encouraging. Nevertheless, the continued
harassment of the Nurlyyevs by local officials needs to stop.
Turkmenistan is a country in transition on multiple levels,
and not all levels are undergoing transition at the same
pace. And not all officials -- especially at local levels,
who are more accustomed to an enforcer role -- feel
comfortable with change. However, brave people like the
Nurlyyevs and their friends and colleagues who continue
quietly, patiently to insist on their rights are the future
of Turkmenistan as a normal country. END COMMENT.
HOAGLAND