TURKMENISTAN: SMALL PENTECOSTAL GROUP FACES

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ASHGABAT 000838 SIPDIS DEPT FOR SCA/CEN; DRL/IRF E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/01/2019 TAGS: KIRF PGOV SCUL SOCI TX SUBJECT: TURKMENISTAN: SMALL PENTECOSTAL GROUP FACES BUREAUCATIC OBSTACLES REF: ASHGABAT 723 Classified By: Charge Richard Miles, reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) ¶1. (C) SUMMARY. Despite a long history of Pentecostalism in Turkmenistan dating back to the 1940s, the current Full Gospel Church is a small, scattered group that meets in its members' homes. Registered since 2004, the group is currently in the process of re-registering due to changes in its leadership and legal address. Its members do not openly proselytize and a stockpile of Bibles from the 1990s still meet their need for religious literature. While the group has not suffered any particular difficulties from government officials, if it decides to operate more openly, authorities might become more diligent in imposing restrictions. END SUMMARY. ¶2. (C) On June 29, poloff met with Pastor Ali Nuryev of the Full Gospel Church. He lives in Annau, a town five miles outside of Ashgabat. The group is the remnant of a once much larger Pentecostal presence dating back to the post-WWII era, although its members suffered persecution throughout the Soviet period. In Ashgabat, the group was mostly ethnic Russian, while in Mary there was a large Turkmen membership. In post independence Turkmenistan, the group was denied registration in 1995, but finally was able to register in ¶2004. At that time, Nuryev's predecessor was the group's leader. When he left Turkmenistan in 2007, Nuryev took his place. In April 2008, the church submitted re-registration documents to include the new pastor, the group's new legal address and meeting place (both of which were the previous leader's home address). The Council on Religious Affairs held the documents for one year, finally approving them and passing them to the Ministry of Justice in May. Nuryev pointed out that his predecessor was ethnic Russian, and that since he is an ethnic Turkmen, the authorities might be more reluctant to approve the group's documents due to a bias that Turkmen should be Muslims. ¶3. (C) According to Nuryev, registration for a religious group involves separate registrations with three government agencies: the Ministry of Justice (MOJ),the State Commission for Statistics and the Unified State Register. Registration at both the MOJ and the Statistics Commission does not expire, but registration at the State Register is valid for �A;only four years, so the group's registration expired in April ¶2008. Registration with the State Register allows a group to have a bank account. According to Nuryev, when looking for premises to rent, a landlord cares only about the group's State Registry approval since that is needed in order for him to get paid. He was pressing the MOJ to provide him with a letter saying the group's documentation was submitted, averring that such a letter would resolve any difficulties about the group's legal status with local authorities. Once the re-registration issue is resolved, Nuryev plans to rent space for the church in Ashgabat. The reason for this is that if the government cracks-down on religious groups, the presence of diplomatic missions and international organizations would minimize the impact, which would not be the case in the provinces. ¶4. (C) The Full Gospel Church does not have a public meeting place, but gathers in small groups at the homes of its adherents. Nuryev estimated the group's total membership throughout Turkmenistan at 50. He asserted that despite the church's status as a religious group, as opposed to a religious organization, it has the right to establish branches all over Turkmenistan with no further registration requirements. In addition to Ashgabat and Annau, he mentioned that the group has members in Turkmenabat, Tokhtabazar, Kipchak and Turkmenbashy. Nuryev said that they meet in apartments, and therefore have had no problems. He suggested that the authorities might not be aware of their activities. Nuryev said church members try to be discrete. ASHGABAT 00000838 002 OF 002 ¶5. (C) Nuryev has no formal theological training, although prior to his involvment with this church, he attended the Greater Grace Church in Ashgabat (reftel) and enrolled in some of its video bible courses. He said religious training for a church leader is not a legal requirement for registration. Although Nuryev has had contact with Pentecostals outside Turkmenistan, especially by attending conferences in Turkey, his group receives no outside material support. The group needs to have current registration in order to invite foreign guests. He commented that the CRA does not like to deal with him because he speaks like a lawyer (by profession he works in the financial services sector) and knows his rights. "When you break the law, you don't want to talk about it, and the CRA breaks the law." The group still has a supply of Bibles, acquired many years ago in the immediate post-independence period. They are stored at his apartment, which he acknowledged is somewhat risky. He has been able to bring religious DVDs when returning from trips outside Turkmenistan, saying that his baggage was not inspected. The group does not proselytize openly, but spreads its message through personal contacts with friends and acquaintances. ¶6. (C) COMMENT: Despite waiting one year for the CRA to forward his group's registration documents to the MOJ, Nuryev seemed neither bothered by the delay nor pessimistic about prospects for re-registration. As has been the case with other leaders of minority religious groups, their experiences and understandings of legal requirements vary significantly. Nuryev was the first to mention the triple registration process, or the fact that the registration of a religious group numbering less than 50 members is valid throughout the country. Likewise, formal theological training, which he lacks, has been an issue for at least one other group. Perhaps none of this currently matters to Nuryev because, despite his group's registered status, they function on a very small scale and, for all practical purposes, like an underground church. If the group decides to operate more openly and hold public meetings, authorities might by more diligent in imposing restrictions. END COMMENT. MILES