The Difficult Life of Turkmen Conscripts
The oppositionist website called the Turkmenistan Chronicle has published a very interesting article, or rather a short note, about the problem of desertion among the Turkmen conscripts. The authors claim that this is becoming a mass-scale problem. Conscripts escape from military bases, sell their forms and sometimes also guns. Then they hide in their relatives’ homes.
This is why commanders refuse to give the recruits guns and forms even on the occasion of the swearing-in ceremony. Soldiers usually escape as soon as they receive a new form. Such cases are most frequent in military bases situated in the Akhal province (velayat).
Bullying by officers and senior servicemen, terrible sanitary conditions, poor food rations, sometimes even hunger, and exhausting work are the most common reasons of desertions.
Recruits are often forced to serve as road policemen (formerly called GAI), firemen or guards, they are also being used to clean hospitals and other public institution buildings. Soldiers are often made to work on farms, to help out with planting wheat and cotton or grazing sheep.
Another problem plaguing the army are conflicts between members of various Turkmen tribes. Unable to endure all this, many young men commit suicides or desert the army. Such cases are thoroughly concealed by the command.
By the way, it would be interesting to find out what is the punishment for desertion in Turkmenistan. Soldiers must fear it much less than they fear to remain in the army. Like in all post-Soviet countries, a man can buy himself out of the army by bribing the conscription board or with the help of connections.
on December 20th, 2007 at 7:55 pm
All lies again! Whatever is written here is someone’s make up. I don’t reject that those were once subject of discussion but now those things don’t exist. Soldiers run away with the uniforms and guns in their hands? Come on, stop these ridiculous topics.They do give you guns and uniforms. Which fool would ran away with gun in his hand? Please stop these baseless issues. You’re just making them up for the sake of filling the empty spaces in your website. Don’t you have any other job to do. You would earn much if you’ve begged on the road side. C U. This is what you do. Taste it now.
on December 20th, 2007 at 8:37 pm
Gurban,
Skazhi lutshe srazu chto rabotaesh v gozbezopasnosti i tolko togda kommentiruy. Chitaesh niemnozhko na primier russkiy internet? Esli net, togda pochitay pro soldat kotorie tolpami begut v formah i s avtomatami iz armii. Pochemu? Potomu chto nad nimi tam izdevayutsa. To zhe samoe delayut v turkmenskoy armii. Ya sobstvennymi glazami videl v Turkmenii kogda soldaty podhodiat k marshrutkam i mashinam i prosiat hleb. Nikogda ne videl? Togda poezhay na primier iz Krasnovodska v Bekdash, togda uvidish.
A pro samoubiystva v turkmenskoy armii ty slyshal? Ya so mnogimi riebiatami govoril ob etom.
Udachi tebie
on December 22nd, 2007 at 1:45 pm
“…but now those things don’t exist.” - that is the bloody brazen lie.
Sam Gurban uveren chto posle obucheniya za granitsei, on v turkmenskuyu armiyu ne popadet. Prodolzhaya semeynyi biznes, on budet rabotat v prokurature.