If anyone missed Andy Kershaw’s BBC Radio three Christmas day programme the link can be found to play on the BBC radio player here. Andy Kershaw is a world-renowned specialist on world music. His Christmas day programme featured an on location documentary from Turkmenistan. The programme features an extra large seasonal helping of […]
Yesterday saw the 20th anniversary of Saparmurat Niyazov coming to power in Turkmenistan. On the 21st of December 1985 Saparmurat Niyazov was appointed First Secretary of the Turkmenistan Republican Communist Party. Mikhail Gorbachev, who was in the process of turning over the elites and leaders of Central Asia who had been in power for […]
A crime wave has reportedly hit Turkmenistan. According to IWPR, there has been a significant rise in muggings and burglaries over the last 35 days. Some are arguing that this is due to the thousands of prisoners amnestied by the president which was timed to coincide with the end of the Muslim holy month […]
In a rare concession to the decidedly un-Turkmen past-time of cinema-going, a Russian film jamboree began yesterday in the recently inaugurated Magtymguly Turkmen National Musical and Dramatic Theatre. The event was organised to mark Turkmen Independence Day and Russian Constitution Day, which both take place in the first half of December.
According to Turkmenistan.ru hundreds […]
The Turkmen Initiative for Human Rights has issued its latest newsletter, in which it provides more details on the bread shortage reported on this blog some weeks back. According to the report, which offers some interesting data on price fluctuations and the general availability of bread and grain, the geographical scope of the crisis […]
Atamurat Berdiyev has sensibly elected to request dismissal from his post as Deputy Prime Minister and Oil and Gas Minister during the recent Cabinet reshuffle.
As Turkmenistan.ru reports, Berdiyev cited his unwillingness to persist in his post on grounds of insufficient expertise, which suggests that if nothing else politicians have been forced to become more […]
A mystery illness seems to be affecting the residents of the Turkmen capital, Ashgabat. The mystery illness is causing severe respiratory problems with those who become infected. The official line is that it is just a normal run of the mill illness, however, doctors are claiming that it is due to chemicals used […]
The Turkmen President, Saparmurat Niyazov, has appointed a new oil and gas minister and ordered him to learn English within six months. Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty are reporting that Niyazov has appointed Gurbanmyrat Atayev as oil and gas minister. He will succeed Atamurad Berdyev who has become the new minister for the economy. […]
The names of the illustrious medical practitioners carrying out checks on President Saparmurat Niyazov, reportedly all from Munich and Augsburg, have been released. Some of them bear scrutiny via Google, though others have evidently traded away their credibility and exposure. Likewise, several of them are already quite familiar with their patient as they […]
To mark the 10th anniversary of Turkmenistan’s declaration of neutrality, Deutsche Welle has carried the report below, of which I have attempted a speedy translation. It covers broadly the genesis of this historic step and its implications for Turkmen domestic policy
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Ten years ago the country declared its readiness to undertake obligations on political, economic, […]
