On 29 January the Russian daily Vremya Novostey published the article titled “USA offered Turkmenistan an audit”. The text was written by Arkady Dubnov, one of the best reporters when it comes to Turkmenistan. The article described the results of the recent visit of Admiral William Fallon, head of U.S. Central Command and senator […]

Recently, I have written about the only English language Turkmen blog. Today, I would like to continue the subject of the Internet. For some time now, I have been observing the News Central Asia (NCA) website. Its “About Us” section informs us that its authors intend to deal with the Greater Central Asia region, […]

The capital of Turkmenistan is changing rapidly. Multi-storey buildings built on money from gas export are springing in the centre of the city. Glass, marble and steel are gradually supplanting small brick houses with colourful gates and shutters surrounded by high walls. Entire old districts have disappeared in order to make space for the […]

Hardly anyone doubts that Turkmenistan is one of the most isolated countries in the world. In order to travel abroad, Turkmen citizens have to obtain not only the visa of the country they plan to visit, but also a so-called exit visa. This isolation applies also to information. Satellite TV remains the only independent […]

Last week, the Western, Russian and, obviously, also Turkmen media informed about the positive changes taking place in Turkmenistan. What are the changes? The president has abolished the ban on opera and circus performances introduced by his late predecessor, and endorsed the list of official state holidays which does not include… Turkmenbashi’s birthday. He […]

Translation of AbdulGamid’s post of 19.01.07 from Russian
Everything is relative. If we used to say that “life is not all honey”, now we’re going to say that “life is not all petrol”, meaning the cheapest petrol in the world - 400 manats (0.02 USD) per litre.
Petrol prices are going to rise six (!) times […]

The ferghana.ru website informs that the Neutralny Turkmenistan (Neutral Turkmenistan) daily of January 18 published an article regarding president Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov’s recent decree on home loans, that amends the previous law introduced by the late Saparmurat Niyazov. The author of the article reminds:
The Turkmen leader has signed a special decree just before the New Year […]

Two days ago I placed a few pictures on my blog and asked if anyone knew where they could have been taken, what they depicted and to what historical period they referred. Unfortunately, nobody answered correctly, so I am solving the quiz now.
The photos were taken in the town of Lerik in southern Azerbaijan, […]

The pictures that I am posting here have not been taken in Turkmenistan, but they are connected with the Turkmen history and - in a broader sense - with the history of Turkic nations. Does anyone know where they could have been taken, what is it that they depict and to what historical period […]

Two weeks have passed since the suspension of Turkmen gas supplies to Iran. The pipelines are still empty and both sides are stiffening their position. Ashgabat obstinately claims that the suspension is due to maintenance works (but who conducts such works during the harshest winter in decades?) and at the same time warns that […]