Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
09ASHGABAT306
2009-03-06 13:33:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Embassy Ashgabat
Cable title:
TURKMENISTAN: FEMALE GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES RECEIVE CASH
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UNCLAS ASHGABAT 000306
SENSITIVE
SIPDIS
STATE FOR SCA/CEN, EEB
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: SOCI ECON TX
SUBJECT: TURKMENISTAN: FEMALE GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES RECEIVE CASH
GIFTS FOR WOMEN'S DAY
UNCLAS ASHGABAT 000306
SENSITIVE
SIPDIS
STATE FOR SCA/CEN, EEB
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: SOCI ECON TX
SUBJECT: TURKMENISTAN: FEMALE GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES RECEIVE CASH
GIFTS FOR WOMEN'S DAY
1. (U) Sensitive but unclassified. Not for public Internet.
2. (U) Women in Turkmenistan have been given 40 manats ($14) each
as a gift on the occasion of the forthcoming International Women's
Day on March 8. The tradition of presenting women with monetary
gifts was introduced by former President Saparmurat Niyazov in 2001.
Niyazov later replaced Women's Day with the three-day spring
holiday of Nowruz celebrated on March 20, 21, and 22. In January
2008, President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov reinstated March 8 as a
national holiday honoring women. On this occasion, women of all
ages, including female children, receive money as a gift.
3. (SBU) In the past, the government began dispersing money only
after former President Niyazov had issued a resolution to that end,
which would normally appear in the official press on the eve of the
holiday, according to local staff. Since such a presidential
resolution did not appear in the official press this year, the rumor
spread that possibly the government had ended the practice.
Pol/Econ local staff confirmed that state organizations,
enterprises, universities, schools and kindergartens began
dispersing the money beginning the week of March 2.
4. (SBU) A distinctive feature of the traditional activity this
year was that all eligible females, regardless of age, received cash
gifts. (NOTE: A woman is considered eligible for this gift if she
is attached to a government institution in one of the following
capacities: employee, pensioner, student or kindergartener. END
NOTE.) In the past, heads of organizations and enterprises, in
order to cut expenses, presented less expensive gifts instead of
cash. For example, female textile workers received towels or a
bathrobe set, and schoolchildren and kindergarteners received
educational games and toys. A friend of a Pol/Econ local staff
member, however, said that her 5-year old daughter received a 40
manat cash gift for Women's Day. A Pol/Econ staffer's
daughter-in-law, who worked at a textile factory and currently is on
maternity leave, said that the cash gift was a welcome addition to
the family's budget.
5. (SBU) The Women's Day holiday in Soviet-era Turkmenistan was
intended to celebrate the achievements of female workers, and would
include state ceremonies that showcased the government's
achievements in improving the status of women. After Turkmenistan
became independent, the celebrations lost their feminist and
political overtones, and in present-day Turkmenistan the focus has
been re-directed to more traditional values for women as "the
guardians of family, hearth and home". This year,
government-sponsored events during the week leading up to the
holiday centered largely on Turkmen women's contributions in art,
fashion, theatre and music.
6. (SBU) COMMENT: It is not surprising that the holiday has
experienced alterations along the way as the state itself has seen
much change as well. For the women who are old enough to remember
the original themes of the holiday, it must feel somewhat like a
step back in regard to the role of women in this society. END
COMMENT.
MILES
SENSITIVE
SIPDIS
STATE FOR SCA/CEN, EEB
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: SOCI ECON TX
SUBJECT: TURKMENISTAN: FEMALE GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES RECEIVE CASH
GIFTS FOR WOMEN'S DAY
1. (U) Sensitive but unclassified. Not for public Internet.
2. (U) Women in Turkmenistan have been given 40 manats ($14) each
as a gift on the occasion of the forthcoming International Women's
Day on March 8. The tradition of presenting women with monetary
gifts was introduced by former President Saparmurat Niyazov in 2001.
Niyazov later replaced Women's Day with the three-day spring
holiday of Nowruz celebrated on March 20, 21, and 22. In January
2008, President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov reinstated March 8 as a
national holiday honoring women. On this occasion, women of all
ages, including female children, receive money as a gift.
3. (SBU) In the past, the government began dispersing money only
after former President Niyazov had issued a resolution to that end,
which would normally appear in the official press on the eve of the
holiday, according to local staff. Since such a presidential
resolution did not appear in the official press this year, the rumor
spread that possibly the government had ended the practice.
Pol/Econ local staff confirmed that state organizations,
enterprises, universities, schools and kindergartens began
dispersing the money beginning the week of March 2.
4. (SBU) A distinctive feature of the traditional activity this
year was that all eligible females, regardless of age, received cash
gifts. (NOTE: A woman is considered eligible for this gift if she
is attached to a government institution in one of the following
capacities: employee, pensioner, student or kindergartener. END
NOTE.) In the past, heads of organizations and enterprises, in
order to cut expenses, presented less expensive gifts instead of
cash. For example, female textile workers received towels or a
bathrobe set, and schoolchildren and kindergarteners received
educational games and toys. A friend of a Pol/Econ local staff
member, however, said that her 5-year old daughter received a 40
manat cash gift for Women's Day. A Pol/Econ staffer's
daughter-in-law, who worked at a textile factory and currently is on
maternity leave, said that the cash gift was a welcome addition to
the family's budget.
5. (SBU) The Women's Day holiday in Soviet-era Turkmenistan was
intended to celebrate the achievements of female workers, and would
include state ceremonies that showcased the government's
achievements in improving the status of women. After Turkmenistan
became independent, the celebrations lost their feminist and
political overtones, and in present-day Turkmenistan the focus has
been re-directed to more traditional values for women as "the
guardians of family, hearth and home". This year,
government-sponsored events during the week leading up to the
holiday centered largely on Turkmen women's contributions in art,
fashion, theatre and music.
6. (SBU) COMMENT: It is not surprising that the holiday has
experienced alterations along the way as the state itself has seen
much change as well. For the women who are old enough to remember
the original themes of the holiday, it must feel somewhat like a
step back in regard to the role of women in this society. END
COMMENT.
MILES