Stories about Turkmenistan from August, 2007
Central Asia: Amusement parks
You kind of always wanted to visit the ubiquitous amusement parks in Central Asia and the Caucasus, but just never dared to go inside, right? Joshua Kucera takes you on a photo tour.
Central Asia: Clan-tastic
Christine Quirk looks at how clans shape political behaviour and in how far they make it difficult to enfranchise groups who might have different viewpoints or are far down on the clan power structure.
Turkmenistan: Prisoner amnesty
Bonnie Boyd notes that by releasing 11 prisoners who were allegedly implicated in a failed plot to kill his predecessor, the new Turkmen president Berdymukhamedov continues to move in the direction of reform.
Central Asia: Which port to choose?
As a landlocked region, Central Asia is reliant on other countries’ maritime infrastructure to integrate with world markets. On Registan.net, Kayumars Turkistani evaluates two potential seaports, Gwadar in Pakistan and Chabahar in Iran.
Turkmenistan: Reaching out
Bonnie Boyd notes that Turkmenistan's isolation on the world stage seems to decrease under new president Berdymukhamedov. Meanwhile, Turkmen national Merdjen is having bad flashbacks of totalitarian rule in her current home Bishkek, where the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit is held at highest security levels.
Kyrgyzstan: SCO summit
The members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) will send their heads of state to Kyrgyzstan next week. While the Kyrgyz bloggers are amazed by the beautification of their capital ahead of the summit, Western bloggers ponder the significance of the SCO's growth.
Central Asia: Cultural intelligence
Nathan Hamm shares his thoughts on a New York Times article which argues that while knowledge of the nomadic social legacies of the Central Asian countries is important, an overemphasis on “cultural intelligence” can lead to misguided and stereotypical policy analysis of the region.
Central Asia: Carrying money
Joshua Kucera describes that with the highest denominations being worth less than a dollar, men have to wear fancy leather purses for carrying their money throughout Central Asia.
Turkmenistan: Kingmakers
Bonnie Boyd reports that the new Turkmen president Berdymukhamedov has put into prison the very secret police official who facilitated his rise to the helm of the Central Asian country.
Turkmenistan: Share your forecasts
Abdulgamid invites his readers to share their prognoses about what Turkmenistan will be like in 2021.
