Abdulgamid’s original post in Russian, 23.07.07. Translated by Merdjen

In December 2006, Neweurasia.net carried out an interesting experiment - we asked our authors to write a post on the following topic “How do I see my home country in 15 years?”. The Russian Turkmenistan blog hadn’t yet existed at that time, so we still don’t know what are the prognoses of our authors and readers for that project under working title “Turkmenistan-2021”.

But it’s never too late! Here is how Abdulgamid foresees the future of our homeland:

“One does not have to be Nostradamus to make almost a certain prediction of what is inevitable for Turkmenistan in 2021.

There will be MacDonald’s and its hamburgers will be as delicious and juicy as chebureks [piroshki] at the “Russian bazaar”.

Petrol will cost the same as in Copenhagen - 0,96 euro for a liter. However, number of cars on the street of Ashgabat will increase regardless of the price. Preference will mostly be given to the brands of local assembly such as Hundai Jeyran, Toyota Zem-Zem, Mercedes Batyr [Antelope, Giant Lizard, Hercules].

Yimpas supermarket will grow into the museum of cosmic prices named after First Turkmen Astronaut Ahmad Chalyk.

By then humankind will completely switch to solar energy, and Turkmenistan will become major supplier of energy resources in Central Asia. The Russian trust “SunProm” will purchase sun glints, thousand cubic meters for 100 USD, from us and resell them to Europe for 200.

Palm trees will be planted all over the city streets and fountains will murmur everywhere, while Turkmenistan’s ice hockey team will become world champion…”

Here is what Adam Kesher wrote about the future:

“2021. I am a free citizen of a free country, looking back at my homeland and seeing that nothing had changed. It is still a land of hopes. When I was a Soviet child, it was a country of virgin lands and a cosmodrome - and had everything in front of it. In the 1990s, it was a new state, where everyone was looking forward to future because the present could not have been worse. In the beginning of the 21 century, the aspirations split, mainly due to financial differences - those in the middle were waiting for democracy and money, poor were waiting for money and democracy, and oil-riches - for money, without democracy”.
Adam predicts that after the death of the first president, most of his team would be gone, and only his party would remain. Democratic changes would not happen though: the opposition would be blocked from participation in it (and gracefully abstain from investigation of the current regime’s crime).
“It was strongly decided to abandon mausoleums and cults and just hold on memorials, streets and squares of First President”, Adam writes. […]”That would again be a Land of Hopes. Though it would, of course, be easier to think so for me, a free citizen of a free European country, than for my countrymen back home”

Even though Adam imagined the year 2021 in Kazakhstan to look this way, maybe that prediction will be applicable to Turkmenistan too? After all how there are as many opinions as there are people and the more opinions the more interesting the picture becomes.

This is a hot call for posts to the blog authors Maciula, Ivan Hrenov, Nurly and Merdjen - to join this initiative and tell your forecast (if you want) for “Turkmenistan-2021”.

And an offer to the readers:
If you have your own perspective on imagining the future, here is a real chance to let your fantasies go wild on the pages of our blog and become famous (under nickname) and rich (spiritually)!”