Editing Turkmens (section)

==Culture and society==
{{Culture of Turkmenistan}}

===Religion===
{{main|Religion in Turkmenistan|Islam in Turkmenistan}}
[[File:TurkmenistanMaryMosque.jpg|thumb|300px|left|Mosque in the city of [[Mary, Turkmenistan|Mary]]]]
The Turkmen of [[Turkmenistan]], like their kin in [[Uzbekistan]], [[Afghanistan]], and [[Iran]] are predominantly [[Muslim]]s. According the U.S. Department of State's ''International Religious Freedom Report'' for 2019,<blockquote>According to U.S. government estimates, the country is 89 percent Muslim (mostly Sunni), 9 percent Eastern Orthodox, and 2 percent other. There are small communities of Jehovah’s Witnesses, Shia Muslims, Baha’is, Roman Catholics, the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, and evangelical Christians, including Baptists and Pentecostals. Most ethnic Russians and Armenians identify as Orthodox Christian and generally are members of the Russian Orthodox Church or Armenian Apostolic Church. Some ethnic Russians and Armenians are also members of smaller Protestant groups. There are small pockets of Shia Muslims, consisting largely of ethnic Iranians, Azeris, and Kurds, some located in Ashgabat, with others along the border with Iran and in the western city of Turkmenbashy.<ref name="relfreedom">{{cite web|url=https://www.state.gov/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/TURKMENISTAN-2019-INTERNATIONAL-RELIGIOUS-FREEDOM-REPORT.pdf|title=TURKMENISTAN 2019 INTERNATIONAL RELIGIOUS FREEDOM REPORT|date=2019|publisher=[[United States Department of State]]}} ''This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the [[public domain]].''</ref></blockquote>

The Turkmen adopted Islam between the 12th and 14th centuries. Sufi orders like the [[Ahmad Yasawi|Yasawiya]] and [[Kubrawiya]] greatly contributed to the conversion of the Turkmens to Islam.<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Bennigsen|first1=Alexandre|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nO0NAQAAMAAJ|title=Muslims of the Soviet Empire: A Guide|last2=Wimbush|first2=S. Enders|date=1986|publisher=Indiana University Press|isbn=978-0-253-33958-4|pages=100–101|language=en}}</ref>

The great majority of [[Turkmen people|Turkmen]] readily identify themselves as [[Muslims]] and acknowledge [[Islam]] as an integral part of their cultural heritage.<ref name="Silk Road Paper">{{Cite web|title=Religion and the Secular State in Turkmenistan - Silk Road Paper|url=https://isdp.eu/publication/religion-and-the-secular-state-in-turkmenistan/|access-date=5 April 2021|website=Institute for Security and Development Policy|language=en}}</ref>  The country of Turkmenistan encourages the conceptualization of "Turkmen Islam", or worship that is often mixed with veneration of elders and saints, life-cycle rituals, and Sufi practices.<ref name="Silk Road Paper"/>

Since Turkmenistan's independence saw an increase in religious practices and the development of institutions like the Muftiate and the building of mosques, today it is often regulated.<ref name="Silk Road Paper"/>

The government leadership of Turkmenistan often uses Islam to legitimize its role in society by sponsoring holiday celebrations such as iftar dinners during Ramadan and presidential pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia. This sponsorship has validated the country's two presidents ({{lang|tk-Latn|Nyýazow}} and {{lang|tk-Latn|Berdimuhamedow}}) as pious Turkmen, giving them an aura of cultural authority.<ref name="Silk Road Paper"/>

The Russian Academy of Sciences has identified many instances of [[Syncretism#Religious syncretism|syncretic]] influence of pre-Islamic [[Turkic peoples|Turkic]] belief systems on practice of Islam among Turkmen, including placing offerings before trees.<ref name="ras">{{cite book|url=http://static.iea.ras.ru/news/%21%21%20Book%20Flora%26Fauna_COLOR.pdf|title=Растения и Животные в Легендах и Верованиях Туркмен|pages=22–23|first=Sergey Mikhaylovich|last=Demidov|publisher=Staryy sad|place=Moscow|date=2020}}</ref>  The Turkmen word ''taňry'', meaning "God", derives from the Turkic ''Tengri'', the name of the supreme god in the pre-Islamic Turkic pantheon.<ref name="ras2">{{cite book|url=http://static.iea.ras.ru/news/%21%21%20Book%20Flora%26Fauna_COLOR.pdf|title=Растения и Животные в Легендах и Верованиях Туркмен|pages=143–144|first=Sergey Mikhaylovich|last=Demidov|publisher=Staryy sad|place=Moscow|date=2020}}</ref> The Turkmen language features a multitude of euphemisms for "wolf", because of a belief that speaking the actual word while tending a flock of sheep will invoke a wolf's appearance.<ref name="ras3">{{cite book|url=http://static.iea.ras.ru/news/%21%21%20Book%20Flora%26Fauna_COLOR.pdf|title=Растения и Животные в Легендах и Верованиях Туркмен|pages=151–152|first=Sergey Mikhaylovich|last=Demidov|publisher=Staryy sad|place=Moscow|date=2020}} Demidov cites the Turkmen proverb, "Gurt agzasan, gurt geler" (Mention the wolf, the wolf comes), in explaining why the original Turkic word for wolf, ''böri'', is virtually never used.</ref> In other examples of syncretism, some infertile Turkmen women, rather than praying, step or jump over a live wolf in order to assist them in getting pregnant, and children born subsequently are typically given names associated with wolves; alternatively the mother may visit shrines of Muslim saints.<ref name="ras4">{{cite book|url=http://static.iea.ras.ru/news/%21%21%20Book%20Flora%26Fauna_COLOR.pdf|title=Растения и Животные в Легендах и Верованиях Туркмен|pages=155–156|first=Sergey Mikhaylovich|last=Demidov|publisher=Staryy sad|place=Moscow|date=2020}}</ref> The future is divined by reading of dried camel dung by special [[fortune teller]]s.<ref name="ras5">{{cite book|url=http://static.iea.ras.ru/news/%21%21%20Book%20Flora%26Fauna_COLOR.pdf|title=Растения и Животные в Легендах и Верованиях Туркмен|page=356|first=Sergey Mikhaylovich|last=Demidov|publisher=Staryy sad|place=Moscow|date=2020}}</ref>

===Language===
[[File:Child's tunic, Yomud Turkmen people, Northern Afghanistan , early to mid 20th century, wool, cotton, metal, cowrie shells, glass beads - Textile Museum of Canada - DSC00915.JPG|thumb|upright|Turkmen child's tunic, early to mid 20th century, Textile Museum of Canada]]
{{Main|Turkmen language}}

Turkmen ([[Turkmen language|Turkmen]]: {{lang|tk-Latn|Türkmençe}}, {{lang|tk-Cyrl|Түркменче}}, {{lang|tk-Arab|{{Script/Arabic|تۆرکمنچه}}}}) is a [[Turkic languages|Turkic language]] spoken by the Turkmens of [[Central Asia]], mainly of [[Turkmenistan]], [[Iran]], and [[Afghanistan]]. It has an estimated five million native speakers in Turkmenistan, a further 719,000 speakers in Northeastern [[Iran]]<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.ethnologue.com/country/IR/status|title=Iran|website=Ethnologue}}</ref> and 1.5 million people in Northwestern [[Afghanistan]].<ref name="e18">{{Ethnologue18|tuk}}</ref>

The Turkmen language is closely related to [[Azerbaijani language|Azerbaijani]], [[Turkish language|Turkish]], [[Gagauz language|Gagauz]], [[Qashqai language|Qashqai]], and [[Crimean Tatar language|Crimean Tatar]], sharing common linguistic features with each of those languages. There is a high degree of mutual intelligibility between these languages.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vn-xZ3O1G-cC&pg=PA71|title=Aspects of Altaic Civilization III: Proceedings of the Thirtieth Meeting of the Permanent International Altaistic Conference, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana, June 19-25, 1987|date=13 December 1996|publisher=Psychology Press|isbn=9780700703807}}</ref><ref>"Language Materials Project: Turkish". UCLA International Institute, Center for World Languages. February 2007</ref> However, the closest language of Turkmen is considered [[Khorasani Turkic]], spoken in northeastern regions of Iran and with which it shares the eastern subbranch of Oghuz languages, as well as Khorezm, the Oghuz dialect of Uzbek language spoken mainly along the Turkmenistan border.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Brown |first1=Keith |title=Concise Encyclopedia of Languages of the World |date=2010 |publisher=Elsevier |isbn=978-0-080-87775-4 |page=1117}}</ref>

The [[standard language|standardized form]] of Turkmen (spoken in Turkmenistan) is based on the [[Teke (Turkmen tribe)|Teke]] dialect, while Iranian Turkmen uses mostly the [[Yomud]] dialect, and [[Afghan Turkmens|Afghan Turkmen]] use the [[Ersary]] dialect.<ref name="celcar.indiana.edu"/>

In Iran, the Turkmen language comes second after the Azerbaijani language in terms of the number of speakers of Turkic languages of Iran.<ref>{{cite web |title=TURKMENS OF PERSIA ii. LANGUAGE |url=https://iranicaonline.org/articles/turkmens-language |website=Encyclopedia Iranica}}</ref>

===Literature===
{{Main|Turkmen literature}}

[[File:USSR-1991-1ruble-CuNi-Magtymguly-b.jpg|thumb|right|175px|[[Magtymguly Pyragy]] on a [[Soviet rouble]], 1991]]
Turkmen literature comprises oral compositions and written texts in old [[Oghuz Turkic]] and [[Turkmen language|Turkmen]] languages. Turkmens have joint claims to a great number of literary works written in Old Oghuz Turkic and [[Persian language|Persian]] (by [[Seljuks]] in 11-12th centuries) languages with other people of the Oghuz Turkic origin, mainly of [[Azerbaijan]] and [[Turkey]]. This works include, but are not limited to the [[Book of Dede Korkut]], [[Epic of Koroghlu|Gorogly]] and others.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Akatov |first1=Bayram |title=Ancient Turkmen Literature, the Middle Ages (X-XVII centuries) (in Turkmen) |date=2010 |publisher=Turkmen State Pedagogical Institute, Ministry of Education of Turkmenistan |location=Turkmenabat |pages=29, 39, 198, 231}}</ref> The medieval Turkmen literature was heavily influenced by [[Arabic Language|Arabic]] and Persian, and used mostly [[Arabic alphabet]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Babyr |title=Diwan |date=2004 |publisher=Miras |location=Ashgabat |page=7}}</ref>

There is general consensus, however, that distinctively Turkmen literature originated in 18th century with the poetry of [[Magtymguly Pyragy]], who is considered the father of the Turkmen literature.<ref>{{cite web |title=Turkmenistan Culture |url=https://asian-recipe.com/turkmenistan-culture-3481 |website=Asian recipe|date=17 September 2012 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Levin |first1=Theodore |last2=Daukeyeva |first2=Saida |last3=Kochumkulova |first3=Elmira |title=Music of Central Asia |date=2016 |publisher=Indiana University press |isbn=978-0-253-01751-2 |page=128}}</ref> Other prominent Turkmen poets of that era are [[Döwletmämmet Azady]] (Magtymguly's father), Nurmuhammet Andalyp, Abdylla Şabende, Şeýdaýy, Mahmyt Gaýyby and Gurbanally Magrupy.<ref>{{cite web |title=Nurmuhammet Andalyp |url=http://www.turkmenkultur.com/menu/ml/t8/andalyp.html |website=Dunya Turkmenleri}}</ref>

In the 20th century, Turkmenistan's most prominent Turkmen-language writer was [[Berdi Kerbabayev]], whose novel ''Decisive Step'', later made into a motion picture directed by [[Alty Karliev|Alty Garlyyev]], is considered the apotheosis of modern Turkmen fiction. It earned him the USSR State Prize for Literature in 1948.<ref name="berdi">{{cite book|url=http://feb-web.ru/feb/kle/kle-abc/ke3/ke3-4953.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150108175800/http://feb-web.ru/feb/kle/kle-abc/ke3/ke3-4953.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=8 January 2015|title=Краткая литературная энциклопедия|volume=3|first=Клыч Мурад|last=Каррыев|date=1966|article=КЕРБАБА́ЕВ, Берды|publisher=«Советская энциклопедия»|editor-first=Алексей|editor-last=Сурков|place=Moscow}}</ref>

=== Music ===
{{Main|Music of Turkmenistan}}

The musical art of the Turkmens is an integral part of the musical art of the [[Turkic peoples]]. The music of the Turkmen people is closely related to the [[Kyrgyz people|Kyrgyz]] and [[Kazakh people|Kazakh]] [[folk music|folk forms]]. Important musical traditions include traveling singers called ''[[bakshy]]'', who sing with instruments such as the two-stringed [[lute]] called [[dutar]].

Other important musical instruments are [[gopuz]], [[Zurna|tüydük]], [[dombura]], and gyjak. The most famous Turkmen bakshys are those who lived in the 19th century: Amangeldi Gönübek, Gulgeldi ussa, Garadali Gokleng, Yegen Oraz bakshy, Hajygolak, Nobatnyyaz bakshy, Oglan bakshy, Durdy bakshy, Shukur bakshy, Chowdur bakshy and others. Usually they narrated the woeful and gloomy events of the Turkmen history through their music. The names and music of these bakshys have become legendary among the Turkmen people, and passed orally from generation to generation.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Weyisova |first1=Ayjemal |title=Sungatyň sarpasy (Respect to the Art) |url=https://zamanturkmenistan.com.tm/?p=19153 |website=Zaman Turkmenistan|date=December 2018 }}</ref>

The Central Asian classical music tradition [[muqam]] is also present in Turkmenistan.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.hauntedink.com/almaty/photos8.html |title=Almaty or Bust |website=www.hauntedink.com |access-date=17 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050413193832/http://www.hauntedink.com/almaty/photos8.html |archive-date=13 April 2005 |url-status=dead}}</ref>  In the 20th century, [[Danatar Ovezov]] began composing classical music using Turkmen themes, and that classical expression of Turkmen motifs and melodies reached its apotheosis in the compositions of [[Nury Halmammedov]].

===Folk crafts===
[[File:Fountain "Friendship of Peoples" fragment Фонтан «Дружба народов» фрагмент.jpg|thumb|Sculpture of a girl in traditional Turkmen dress in [[All-Russia Exhibition Centre]] in Moscow, Russia]]
{{More citations needed|section|date=April 2021}}
'''Embroidery'''
[[File:Traditional turkmen embroidery for women's dress.jpg|thumb|upright=0.6|Traditional Turkmen embroidery for women's dress]]
[[File:Traditional dressed turkmen bride.jpg|thumb|upright|Turkmen woman in traditional bride's dress. Bride's face is covered during a certain ceremony]]
Turkmen pictorial [[embroidery]] became widespread in the [[Scythians|Scythian]] period and reached great perfection in other periods. It is known that for a long time the Turkmens were engaged in the production of [[silk]] as the main material for embroidery, and Turkmen women and girls embroidered their dresses with colored silks. All these deeds are clearly expressed in the songs of [[Women in Turkmenistan|Turkmen women]] and in the oral [[Turkmen literature]].

The main materials for Turkmen embroidery are thread and fabric. There are several types of threads: natural threads such as silk and [[cotton]] threads; synthetic and acrylic threads. As for the types of fabrics, silk and [[woolen]] fabrics are usually used for embroidery.

It is customary for the Turkmens to embroider with colored silks girls' and men's skullcaps ([[Taqiyah (cap)|tahya]]), collars and sleeves of women's dresses (and in more distant times, men's shirts), the lower part of pants protruding from under the dress, various small bags for storing small things.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|year=2000|editor-last=Gundogdyev|editor-first=Ovez|title=Историко-культурное наследие Туркменистана: энциклопедический словарь (History-and-Cultural Heritage of Turkmenistan: Encyclopedic Dictionary)|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=w7mhPgAACAAJ|publisher=UNDP|location=Istanbul|isbn=9789759725600}}</ref>

'''Weaving'''

Weaving is one of the types of home craft that has its roots in the deep past. During excavations of many ancient and early medieval settlements on the territory of Turkmenistan, archaeologists discovered fragments of cotton and woolen fabrics, the analysis of which does not exclude local production: the warp and wefts (transverse threads) have the same thickness, the yarn is single, the weave is simple.

The techniques of weaving craft of Turkmen women are similar to homespun production of other peoples. First, there were three stages of preparation of different types of threads. To obtain cotton thread: 1) cleaning cotton from seeds using a small machine, loosening the resulting fiber with rods, rolling into small bunches; 2) spinning the fiber with a spinning wheel, twisting it into a thread and winding the threads into skeins; 3) winding the threads on the hook and bobbin. For woolen thread: 1) washing and drying wool, scuttling with twigs until a fluffy mass is obtained; 2) combing, loosening, yarn and twisting into a thread with a spindle, winding into skeins; 3) dyeing skeins. For silk thread: 1) cleaning and unwinding (sarmak) cocoons (goza) with a spinning wheel (parh), steaming in a boiler with boiling water; 2) fixing the threads on the spindle using a rotating spinning wheel, twisting the threads into one thread, rewinding them from the spindle into a ball, then into skeins; 3) dyeing skeins, drying in the sun.

Home weaving was extremely widespread throughout the territory of Turkmenistan. In almost every family, weaving skills were instilled in girls from an early age. They began to learn the art of making yarn, weaving and sewing from the age of 8–10. Fabrics, depending on the purpose, were divided into various types: for sewing women's and men's clothing, thin fabric for camel wool dressing gowns, for cotton tablecloths was highly valued. Bags for storing grain and flour were made of fabric of thick twisted yarn, narrow strong strips of fabric (5–12&nbsp;cm) were used to fasten the poles to the yurt lattice. Using a simple technique of weaving, the craftswomen achieved a great effect in the manufacture of peculiar national fabrics, which cannot be reproduced in mechanical production: a loom consisting of 3-4 columns dug into the ground, a transverse roller, a heald. Tools made of wood in the form of a [[Sabre|saber]] were used to seal the weft threads.<ref name=":0" />

===Cuisine===
{{Main|Turkmen cuisine}}

[[File:Turkmenistan bread baking.jpg|thumb|Baking {{lang|tk-Latn|çörek}} and {{lang|tk-Latn|somsa}} in the Turkmen [[Tandoor|tamdyr]]]]

Characteristics of traditional Turkmen cuisine are rooted in the largely nomadic nature of day-to-day life prior to the Soviet period coupled with a long local tradition, dating back millennia before the arrival of the Turkmen in the region, of white wheat production.  Baked goods, especially flat bread ({{langx|tk|çörek}}) typically baked in a [[tandoor]], make up a large proportion of the daily diet, along with cracked wheat porridge ({{langx|tk|ýarma}}), wheat puffs ({{langx|tk|pişme}}), and dumplings ({{langx|tk|börek}}).  Since sheep-, goat-, and camel husbandry are traditional mainstays of nomadic Turkmen, mutton, goat meat, and camel meat were most commonly eaten, variously ground and stuffed in dumplings, boiled in soup, or grilled on spits in chunks ({{langx|tk|şaşlyk}}) or as fingers of ground, spiced meat ({{langx|tk|kebap}}).  Rice for [[Pilaf|plov]] was reserved for festive occasions.  Due to lack of refrigeration in nomad camps, dairy products from sheep-, goat-, and camel milk were fermented to keep them from spoiling quickly.  Fish consumption was largely limited to tribes inhabiting the Caspian Sea shoreline.  Fruits and vegetables were scarce, and in nomad camps limited mainly to carrots, squash, pumpkin, and onions.  Inhabitants of oases enjoyed more varied diets, with access to pomegranate-, fig-, and stone fruit orchards; vineyards; and of course melons. Areas with cotton production could use cottonseed oil and sheep herders used fat from the fat-tailed sheep.  The major traditional imported product was tea.<ref name="cookbook">{{cite book|title=Туркменская кулинария|last1=Багдасаров|first1=A.|last2=Ванукевич|first2=A.|last3=Худайшукуров|first3=T.|publisher=Издательство "Туркменистан"|date=1981|place=Ашхабад|language=ru}}</ref><ref name="cookbook2">{{cite book|title=Turkmen dastarkhan|publisher=Turkmen State Publishing Service|date=2014|place=Ashgabat|volume=1|language=en|url=https://neutrality.gov.tm/library/en/reading?src=books%2F7c8f0405-bbe9-4cf4-a498-16731b917bd4}}</ref><ref name="cookbook3">{{cite book|title=Turkmen dastarkhan|publisher=Turkmen State Publishing Service|date=2014|place=Ashgabat|volume=2|language=en|url=https://neutrality.gov.tm/library/en/reading?src=books%2F24e993bc-52c5-4fa6-aa5a-682c4c6e11e3}}</ref>

The [[Royal Geographical Society]] reported in 1882,<blockquote>The food of the Tekkes <nowiki>[</nowiki>''sic''<nowiki>]</nowiki> consists of well-prepared pillaus and of game; also of fermented camels' milk, melons, and water-melons.  They use their fingers in conveying food to their mouths, but guests are provided with spoons.<ref name="newfrontier">{{cite book|title=Country of the Turkomans|editor-first=Sir Duncan|editor-last=Cumming|place=London|publisher=Oguz Press and the Royal Geographical Society|year=1977|chapter=Chapter 13 ''The new Russian-Persian Frontier East of the Caspian Sea''|page=184}}</ref></blockquote>

In sharp contrast to other Central Asian and Turkic ethnic groups, Turkmen do not eat horse meat, and in fact eating of horse meat is prohibited by law in Turkmenistan.<ref name="horsemeat">{{cite web|url=http://www.flayrah.com/4650/profile-turkmenistan-land-horse-heaven|title=Profile: Turkmenistan - The Land of Horse Heaven|first=Fred|last=Patten|date=19 April 2013}}</ref><ref name="rferl">{{cite web|url=https://www.rferl.org/a/turkmenistan-horses-akhal-teke-berdymukhammedov/24955104.html|title=Turkmenistan: A Land Of Health And Happiness...And Horses|date=11 April 2013|publisher=Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty|first=Deana|last=Kjuka}}</ref>

Conquest by the Russian Empire in the 1880s introduced new foods, including such meats as beef, pork, and chicken, as well as potatoes, tomatoes, cabbage, and cucumbers, though they did not find widespread use in most Turkmen households until the Soviet period. While now consumed widely, they are, strictly speaking, not considered "traditional".<ref name="cookbook2" /><ref name="darra">{{cite web |url=https://archive.aramcoworld.com/issue/200601/turkmenistan.on.a.plate.htm|title=Turkmenistan on a Plate|publisher=Saudi Aramco World|date=2006|volume= 57|number=1|first=Darra|last=Goldstein}}</ref>

===Nomadic heritage===
{{See also|Turkmen tribes}}
[[File:19. Базар в Мерве.jpg|thumb|Turkmens in [[Merv]] in 1890]]
[[File:Turkmen man with camel.jpg|thumb|A Turkmen man of Central Asia in traditional clothes. Photo by [[Sergey Prokudin-Gorsky|Prokudin-Gorsky]] between 1905 and 1915]]
[[File:Tolkuchka Bazaar4.jpg|thumb|Turkmen carpets at the local bazaar, Ashgabat]]

Before the establishment of [[Soviet power]] in [[Central Asia]], it was difficult to identify distinct ethnic groups in the region. Sub-ethnic and [[supra-ethnic]] loyalties were more important to people than ethnicity. When asked to identify themselves, most Central Asians would name their kin group, neighborhood, village, religion or the state in which they lived; the idea that a state should exist to serve an ethnic group was unknown. That said, most Turkmen could identify the tribe to which they belonged, though they might not identify themselves as Turkmen.<ref name="Adrienne Lynn Edgar 2007 18">{{cite book|author= Adrienne Lynn Edgar|title=Tribal Nation: The Making of Soviet Turkmenistan|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=9Q11AQAAQBAJ |year=2007|publisher=Princeton University Press|page=18|isbn=9781400844296}}</ref>

Most Turkmen were nomads until the 19th century when they began to settle the area south of the [[Amu Darya]]. Many Turkmen became semi-nomadic, herding sheep and camels during spring, summer, and fall, but planting crops, wintering in oasis camps, and harvesting the crops in the summer and autumn.  As a rule they did not settle in cities and towns until the advent of the Soviet government. This mobile lifestyle precluded identification with anyone outside one's kin group and led to frequent conflicts between different [[Turkmen tribes]], particularly regarding access to water.

In collaboration with the local nationalists, the Soviet government sought to transform the Turkmen and other similar ethnic groups in the USSR into modern socialist nations that based their identity on a fixed territory and a common language.  Prior to the [[Battle of Geok Tepe]] in January 1881 and subsequent conquest of Merv in 1884, the Turkmen "retained the condition of predatory, horse-riding nomads, who were greatly feared by their neighbours as 'man-stealing Turks.'  Until subjugated by the Russians, the Turkmens were a warlike people, who conquered their neighbours and regularly captured ethnic Persians for sale as slaves in Khiva.  It was their boast that not one Persian had crossed their frontier except with a rope round his neck."<ref name="turanians" />

The Soviet-led standardization of the Turkmen language, education, and projects to promote ethnic Turkmen in industry, government and higher education led growing numbers of Turkmen to identify with a larger national Turkmen culture rather than with sub-national, pre-modern forms of identity.<ref name="Adrienne Lynn Edgar 2007 261">{{cite book|first= Adrienne Lynn|last=Edgar|title=Tribal Nation: The Making of Soviet Turkmenistan|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=9Q11AQAAQBAJ |year=2007|publisher=Princeton University Press|page=261|isbn=9781400844296}}</ref> After gaining independence from the Soviet Union, Turkmen historians went to great lengths to prove that the Turkmen had inhabited their current territory since time immemorial; some historians even tried to deny the nomadic heritage of the Turkmen.<ref name="Adrienne Lynn Edgar 2007 264">{{cite book|first= Adrienne Lynn|last=Edgar|title=Tribal Nation: The Making of Soviet Turkmenistan|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=9Q11AQAAQBAJ |year=2007|publisher=Princeton University Press|page=264|isbn=9781400844296}}</ref>

Turkmen lifestyle was heavily invested in horsemanship and as a prominent horse culture, Turkmen horse-breeding was an ages old tradition. Before the Soviet era, a proverb stated that the Turkmen's home was where his horse happened to stand. In spite of changes prompted during the Soviet period, the Ahal Teke tribe in southern Turkmenistan has remained very well known for its horses, the [[Akhal-Teke]] ''desert horse'' – and the horse breeding tradition has returned to its previous prominence in recent years.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.turkmenistanembassy.org/turkmen/history/horses.html|title=Turkmenistan Embassy Washington|website=www.turkmenistanembassy.org|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101115153811/http://www.turkmenistanembassy.org/turkmen/history/horses.html|archive-date=15 November 2010|access-date=17 May 2006}}</ref>

Many tribal customs still survive among modern Turkmen. Unique to Turkmen culture is ''kalim'' which is a [[Bridegroom|groom]]'s "[[dowry]]", that can be quite expensive and often results in the widely practiced{{citation needed|date=March 2016}} tradition of [[bride kidnapping|bridal kidnapping]].<ref name="Turkmen Society">{{cite web|url=http://www.iatp.edu.tm/baskurt/SocStructure.html|title=Turkmen Society|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070318221209/http://www.iatp.edu.tm/baskurt/SocStructure.html|archive-date=18 March 2007}}</ref> In something of a modern parallel, in 2001, President Saparmurat Niyazov had introduced a state enforced "''kalim''", which required all foreigners who wanted to marry a Turkmen woman to pay a sum of no less than $50,000.<ref name="telegraph.co.uk">{{cite web|first=Philip|last=Sherwell|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/turkmenistan/1334919/Price-of-loving-a-Turkmen-girl-is-now-50000.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/turkmenistan/1334919/Price-of-loving-a-Turkmen-girl-is-now-50000.html |archive-date=12 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=Price of loving a Turkmen girl is now $50,000|publisher=Daily Telegraph|date=22 July 2001}}{{cbignore}}</ref> The law was repealed in March 2005.<ref name="rferl.org">{{cite web|first=Gulnoza|last=Saidazimova|url=http://www.rferl.org/content/article/1059210.html|title=Turkmenistan: Marriage Gets Cheaper As Turkmenbashi Drops $50,000 Dollar Foreigners' Fee|publisher=Radio Free Europe|date=10 June 2005}}</ref>

Other customs include the consultation of tribal elders, whose advice is often eagerly sought and respected. Many Turkmen still live in extended families where various generations can be found under the same roof, especially in rural areas.<ref name="Turkmen Society" />

The music of the nomadic and rural Turkmen people reflects rich oral traditions, where epics such as Koroglu are usually sung by itinerant bards. These itinerant singers are called ''[[bakshy]]'' and sing either a cappella or with instruments such as the [[dutar]], a two-stringed [[lute]].

===Society today===
[[File:Tolkuchka Bazaar - Flickr - Kerri-Jo (32).jpg|thumb|Turkmens in [[Ashgabat, Turkmenistan]]]]
Since Turkmenistan's independence in 1991, a cultural revival has taken place with the return of a moderate form of [[Islam]] and celebration of [[Novruz]], the Persian New Year marking the onset of spring.

Turkmen can be divided into various social classes including the urban intelligentsia and workers whose role in society is different from that of the rural peasantry. Secularism and [[atheism]] remain prominent for many Turkmen intellectuals who favor moderate social changes and often view extreme religiosity and cultural revival with some measure of distrust.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd/cstdy:@field(DOCID+tm0026)|title=US Library of Congress Country Studies-Turkmenistan: Social Structure|access-date=18 March 2015}}</ref>

The five traditional carpet rosettes, or [[Gul (design)|gul]], called ''göl'' in Turkmen, that form motifs in the country's [[Coat of arms of Turkmenistan|state emblem]] and [[Flag of Turkmenistan|flag]], represent the five major [[Turkmen tribes]].

===Sport===

Sports have historically been an important part of Turkmen life. Such sports as [[horseback riding]] and [[Kurash|Goresh]] have been praised in Turkmen literature. During the [[Soviet Turkmenistan|Soviet era]], Turkmen athletes competed in numerous competitions, including [[Olympic Games]] as part of the [[Soviet Union at the Olympics|Soviet Union team]] and, in 1992, as part of the [[Unified Team at the Olympics|Unified Team]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Turkmenistan |date=28 April 2021 |publisher=International Olympic Committee |url=http://www.olympic.org/turkmenistan }}</ref> After Turkmenistan gained her independence, new ways of establishing physical and sports movements in the country began to emerge. To implement a new sports policy, new multi-purpose stadiums, physical education and health complexes, sports schools and facilities were built in all regions of the country. Turkmenistan also has a modern Olympic village which hosted [[2017 Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games]], and is unparalleled in Central Asia.

Turkmenistan supports the country's sports movements and encourages sports on a state level. While [[association football|football]] remains the most popular sport, such sports as Turkmen goresh, horseback riding and lately [[ice hockey]] are also very popular among Turkmens.<ref>{{cite web |title=The national ice hockey team of Turkmenistan finished the 2019 World Cup in Sofia in third place |url=https://turkmenportal.com/blog/18744/sbornaya-turkmenistana-po-hokkeyu-zavershila-chm2019-v-sofii-na-tretem-meste |website=Turkmenportal|date=30 June 2023 }}</ref>