2006 Press Releases

U.S. Chargé d'Affaires a.i. Jennifer Brush addresses the participants during the opening ceremony.

U.S.Government Opens Two Cultural Preservation Projects in Turkmenistan

Sept. 27, 2006

Today the U.S. Embassy held a ceremony to announce the winners of the 2007 Ambassador's Fund for Cultural Preservation grants. This year, two grantees will receive funding from the United States to restore and conserve, and to promote public study of Turkmenistan's cultural heritage. The National Institute of Manuscripts in Ashgabat received a grant of $17,550 to restore fifteen manuscripts dating from the XVIII, XIX, and early XX centuries, written in Arabic, Turkmen and Persian that describe Turkmen history, culture, religion and literary works. The Ancient Merv State Historical and Cultural Park-Reserve received a grant of $14,250 to conserve and restore the Bronze Age archaeological site of Gonur-Depe, in eastern Turkmenistan. Representatives from the government of Turkmenistan joined foreign diplomats and cultural specialists at the opening, which took place at the Institute of Manuscripts.

U.S. Chargé d'Affaires, a.i. Jennifer Brush in her opening remarks emphasized that "a vital element of all of these projects is teaching the public of Turkmenistan, and of the United States, about Turkmenistan's cultural heritage and history... for the second year in a row we are happy to be able to support two exciting projects in different fields. "The grantees provided background on their projects, which will begin this fall and continue through fall 2007.

Established by Congress in 2001, the Ambassador's Fund for Cultural Preservation aims to assist countries in preserving their cultural heritage. Congress noted that "cultural preservation offers another opportunity for America to provide assistance to other countries. In efforts to preserve the heritage of other cultures, we show our respect for them."Over the past five years, the U.S. Government has invested over $80,000 to preserve historically important cultural sites and objects in Turkmenistan. The most recently concluded project was the preservation of 17 th and 18 th century Turkmen carpets at the Turkmenistan National Museum of Carpets. Currently two projects are underway in northern Turkmenistan: conservation of the Ak-Saray Ding Tower in Gerogly etrap and the Sultan Tekesh Mausoleum in Kunya Urgench.

More information about the Ambassador's Fund for Cultural Preservation projects can be found at the U.S. Embassy web site.