Tuesday, November 08, 2011

public holidays in turkmenistan

In response to a comment from yesterday's post, here is a list of public holidays in Turkmenistan. To compare and contrast, here are the public federal holidays in the United States and even that list is a sham since the only paid holidays in many non-government workplaces are Thanksgiving and the day after, Christmas Eve and Christmas, New Year's Day, Labor Day, Memorial Day, and Independence Day.

The holiday that is going on right now in Turkmenistan (and most of the Muslim world) is Eid al-Adha which commemorates Abraham's willingness to sacrifice his son Ishmael, but was given a sheep to sacrifice instead because God likes to psychologically terrorize its followers. In terms of significance to Muslims, this ranks right up there with Eid ul-Fitr which is to celebrate the end of Ramadan. If it can be said that Christians have Christmas and Easter as their two most significant holidays, then for Muslims Eid al-Adha and Eid ul-Fitr are arguably their two most significant holidays.

In terms of pay and public versus private sector employees, if the government declares a holiday then it is an official holiday and the same rules apply to all locals. This means if you do need to work that day, then pay is doubled. For government employees, I am not sure, but I assume most government offices are closed and only essential government functions are working on holidays (like the police).

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