Turkmen imams urge citizens not to celebrate “alien” New Year — reports 

Imams are discouraging Turkmens from celebrating ‘un-Islamic’ New Year and the authorities in some regions have restricted sales of pork, according to reports. 

The Europe-based Turkmenistan Chronicles website said, citing its reporters on the ground, that imams in Balkan Region have been telling congregations in mosques not to mark the New Year because it “goes against Islamic tradition”. 

They also say that “squandering” money around New Year is harmful for the national budget. 

“On the night of 31 December – 1 January, people eat pork, drink alcohol, cook too much food, letting themselves squander their money, which contradicts our faith,” one imam was quoted as saying. 

He added that “even a 7-year-old child knows about Isa’s (Jesus Christ) birthday, while even 70-year-old men do not know when Prophet Mohammad’s birthday is”.  

According to the website’s reporters, authorities in some regions have ordered restricted sales of pork during the New Year holidays, saying it was “demanded” by Muslims. 

Some pork stalls at local markets will be closed for the period, while some will be moved to the markets’ more remote parts. The measure will be enforced by the police, the website said. 

Although the traditional New Year tree has been installed in Ashgabat’s main square, New Year trees have been removed from in front of some government buildings in the capital and Turkmenabat, the website also said. 

The Turkmen Muslim clergy’s calls to abandon the New Year holiday and some officials’ cooperation with them may signal a spread of conservative Islam in Turkmen society after decades of total suppression of individual freedoms. 

Conservative Islam could also be used by the authorities as one more tool for cultivating even more submissiveness among citizens. 

Meanwhile, on Tuesday President Serdar Berdimukhamedov heard regional governors’ reports on the state of agricultural sector and instructed them “to ensure a high level of organization of the upcoming New Year celebrations”. 

He also ordered governors to ensure “abundance of affordable food stuffs in shops and timely payment of wages”, official reports said.  Another Europe-based Turkmen website on Tuesday reported a shortage of bread in at least one settlement of Balkan Region, with shops forced to limit sales to two loaves per person.   

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