We had to wonder when it rained on Turkmenistan's Independence Day parade, whether some official might be found to blame.
In the Soviet era, officials used to routinely seed clouds to drive rain away from military parades, but perhaps it's a lost art.
At a government meeting on November 5, President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov expressed disatisfaction with Turkmenistan's chief meteorologist Batyr Hallyyev and issued a strict reprimand, regnum.ru reported, citing the president's press service.
The Turkmen weatherman was berated for failing to perform his duties and -- in the usual formulation -- "permitting shortcomings" in the agency he was supposed to manage -- the National Committee for Hydrometeorology which is under the Cabinet of Ministers. He was warned that if he didn't shape up immediately, he would be fired.
It's not clear what Hallyyev's offenses were, or whether they were even related to Independence Day. Last Tuesday, the weather service predicted a cold snap, with rain and snow. But then it turned out to be warm and sunny without snow -- matching other forecasts made on the Internet.
Berdymukhamedov has scolded the weather agency in the past; Kakamyrad Yasyyev, then head of the agency, was reprimanded for an erroneous forecast in 2008.
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