TURKMENISTAN: TRADITIONS OF NOHUR CHALLENGED BY

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 ASHGABAT 000671

SIPDIS

STATE FOR SCA/CEN

E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/31/2019
TAGS: PINR PINS SCUL SOCI EAGR TX IR SA TC
SUBJECT: TURKMENISTAN: TRADITIONS OF NOHUR CHALLENGED BY
OUTSIDE INFLUENCES

Classified By: Charge Richard Miles, reasons 1.4 (B) and (D).


1. (C) SUMMARY: Nohur, a remote settlement of about 5,000
people located in a mountainous area near Iran in the Western
part of Ahal province, is notable for its traditional culture
and animalistic-superstitious variant of Islamic belief.
Living conditions are primitive and the economy is based
largely on subsistence farming. The area's pristine nature
is a potential source of tourism revenue, but locals object
to the potential negative impact of inappropriate behavior of
some visitors. Bureaucratic restrictions on the ability of
non-resident Nohurli to return to Nohur has generated
conflict with government officials in the past, a sensitive
subject for a government preoccupied with maintaining
internal stability. The existence of Nohur and tolerance of
its unique culture by the Turkmen Government illustrates the
complexity of inter-tribal relations in Turkmenistan, which
can require the government to tread lightly at times in order
to preserve peaceful co-existence. END SUMMARY.

WHAT IS NOHUR


2. (C) Nohur, a settlement of about 5,000 people located in
a mountainous area close to the Iranian border and between
Ahal and Balkan provinces, is distinguished by the
traditional nature of its culture, which is protected from
outside influence by the area's remoteness. Nohurli speak
their own language, called Nohur, which is a dialect of
Turkmen containing influences from Persian and Arabic.
Locals practice Islam tinged with superstition and animalism,
which can be seen in the cemetery where gravestones are
topped by the horns of goats -- and which outsiders are
forbidden to enter or photograph. Columns on the front of
homes in the area include details that may be in the Ionic
style, or could represent sheep horns. Nohur is also home to
several legends concerning holy people and which are linked
to the Persian legend of the Peri. Very little is known
about the origins of Nohurli, some of whom claim that they
are the descendents of Alexander the Great's soldiers. Among
the Nohurli, there is a preponderance of blue-eyed,
long-nosed people whose appearance clearly differs from that
of ethnic Turkmen.

PRIMITIVE LIVING CONDITIONS; SUBSISTENCE ECONOMY


3. (C) During a 24-hour stay in the area, a local family
told Embassy Officer that children hardly ever go to school
and when they do, not much is expected of them. Hence,
nearly everyone is illiterate. According to the daily
routine, adults get up at about 6:00 a.m. to begin the day's
work. Women wear traditional long Turkmen dresses and spend
their days milking cows, baking bread, preparing meals,
tending children, and cleaning. Men tend fields or watch
livestock. Children generally play or help with the
livestock. At the end of the workday, village elders call
men to prayer in the mosque, and elderly women, but not young
women, pray in their homes on prayer mats. Some Nohurli are
able to sell produce on the market, but much of the farming
is for subsistence. The home where Embassy Officer stayed
had running water and electricity, albeit unreliable, with a
separate outhouse in the back. In the evenings, women watch
Russian television programs, which helps some to learn
passable Russian, while weaving silk by hand on a loom. Men
and women eat meals in the traditional Turkmen way, on the
floor and in separate rooms. The elder of the family where
Embassy Officer stayed still knew Russian from his experience
in the Soviet Army. Two brothers, one age 26 and the other
30, said that they didn't know anything about the U.S.,
except from what they saw in pictures that a non-Nohurli
friend took during a U.S. Government-funded trip to the U.S.
Like elsewhere in Central Asia, Nohurli highly value
hospitality and refuse to allow visitors to help with chores.

PRESIDENT'S CLASSMATE: THE VILLAGE DENTIST


ASHGABAT 00000671 002 OF 003



4. (SBU) Embassy Officer noticed a man wearing the dark suit
and tie, white shirt, and Turkmenistan flag pin
characteristic of government officials. The brothers
explained that he is the area's dentist. He is not a
government official, but dresses like one because he went to
dental school with President Berdimuhamedov.

TO LEAVE, OR NOT TO LEAVE NOHUR


5. (C) The 30-year-old brother is thinking about leaving
Nohur -- as he estimated 70 percent of Nohurli have done --
to become a driver in Ashgabat. The younger brother was
content with life in the village and planned on staying.
They explained that villagers accepted that young people
moved elsewhere because of the limited living and farming
space on the mountain. They explained that those who left
Nohur retained their traditions and some local habits, like
having wooden chests painted in a traditional Nohur style in
their homes, which differ in style and motifs from similar
furniture owned by Turkmen. These brothers acknowledged the
prevalence of inbreeding and the health problems that it
caused. The household elder did not want members of his
household engaging in this practice any longer, and they are
now allowed to marry outside of their clan, to members of
other clans in the Nohur area. (NOTE: Nohurli apparently
understand that inbreeding leads to birth defects and
learning disabilities, but not so much that they know that
they will have to expand the pool beyond 5,000, or the
approximate total of 17,000 Nohurli in Turkmenistan in order
to avoid this. END NOTE.) The two brothers admitted that
Nohurli who live in other parts of Turkmenistan are known to
be wily businessmen, which contributes to a bad reputation
for Nohurli -- their illiteracy leaves them few options in
the professional world and they have to rely on their street
smarts. One Turkmen told emboff that she knows of a Nohur
woman who is a shuttle trader of goods from Iran, and
marveled that she is able to do this job without being able
to read or write.

BEHIND THE WATERFALLS, PEOPLE STAND UP TO AUTHORITY -- AND
OUTSIDERS


6. (C) The area's pristine nature, including several
waterfalls, has long attracted Turkmen, but -- according to
various sources both inside and outside of the area -- local
Nohurli tore down the Chandybil Tourist Center because
"Turkmen brought prostitutes and drank." Nohurli are
especially critical of drunkenness and complained about this
behavior several times when explaining the refusal of local
elders to accept tourism in the area. (NOTE: When asked
about Nohur, one Ashgabat resident told emboff that he wanted
to go to Nohur soon, to "drink vodka under the waterfalls,"
and maintained that he would sneak alcohol into these areas,
even if he stayed with locals. END NOTE.) A tourism company
interested in developing tourism in Nohur asked to meet with
members of this family, who in addition to farming, also work
for the Ministry of Nature Protection as forest rangers of
the nearby national forest. However, the family declined to
work with the company because it did not appear sincerely
interested in the area or people, but just wanted
information. They family was also suspicious of the problems
that tourism could bring to the area.


7. (C) A non-Nohur and close friend of the family explained
how Nohurli forced Turkmen security officials to discontinue
requiring border permits in order to enter the area three
years ago. Security officers prevented some Nohurli who
lived outside the area from returning to attend a funeral
because they didn't have the necessary permits. (NOTE:
Nohurli believe in burying the dead within a 24-hour window,
and obtaining border permissions took several days at a
minimum. END NOTE.) Nohurli, angered that the government
was interfering in their lives and sacred burial traditions,
tore down the officers' building, and literally drove them
out of the area. This source noted the extreme sensitivity

ASHGABAT 00000671 003 OF 003


of this information, explaining that Turkmen authorities are
extremely fearful about the spread of information containing
any hint of instability in the country.

MORE ON THE COMPLICATED RELATIONSHIP WITH THE OUTSIDE WORLD


8. (C) The brothers noted that one good thing about border
permissions was that Iranians could enter the area only with
difficulty. They said that Iranians bring two things to
Nohur that no one likes: drugs, and in the other extreme,
the Iranian brand of religious observance. They also said
that some young people were going to Saudi Arabia and the
United Arab Emirates for religious education, and elders did
not like the new ideas that these youth brought back with
them. Nohurli like the way that they worship and want it to
stay that way.


9. (SBU) COMMENT: The existence of Nohur and tolerance of
its unique culture by the Turkmen Government illustrates the
complexity of inter-tribal relations in Turkmenistan. While
some Nohurli seek to protect their traditional culture, it is
clear that pressures are building to open up to the outside
world. Increasingly Nohurli move elsewhere to earn a living
and, tourism, which could provide local jobs, would bring the
influence of pernicious habits. Still, options are limited
if the Nohurli are going to improve their current dire living
conditions. END COMMENT.
MILES