Stories about Turkmenistan
A memoir of escaping Turkmenistan in search of education
Turkmen girls who overcome family pressure to prioritize family over education have to face pressure from the state if they want to study abroad.
The Pandora Papers unveil offshore companies linked to the family of Turkmenistan's President
In Turkmenistan, two brothers have used offshore companies to earn from state contracts of import-export. The problem is that they are relatives of the president.
More internet security for many, not for Central Asians
"Apple has clearly been forced to comply with legal regulations in Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan."
Turkmenistan fights coronavirus with (more) isolation and herbal remedies
Turkmen officials deny any cases of COVID-19 in the country. They aim to keep the virus away by closing borders, testing incoming travellers, and burning an aromatic desert grass.
Who inspires Turkmenistan's elites?
What can multilingualism tell us about how Turkmenistan's elite see their country's place in the world? And what might they tell the world with their newfound linguistic skills?
Why we must keep shining a light on Turkmenistan
Turkmenistan’s rulers are not eager to publicise the country’s hardships. Independent media is non-existent and social media severely restricted. If news travels at all, it travels covertly. That’s where I come in.
Four possible explanations for Turkmenistan's presidential hide-and-seek
Turkmenistan's publicity-loving president, Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov, has been unusually scarce lately, prompting rumours of political upheaval in the Central Asian republic.
What diapers taught me about Europe
"With unrestricted access to information, my critical consciousness was awakened, and I began to reconsider binaries like “developed” and “backward” and re-analyze politics both in Turkmenistan and West."
‘The Turkmenator': Turkmenistan's President Plays Up His Gun and Knife Skills on State TV
An overseas independent news outlet was quick to download the footage and re-edit it into a Hollywood-style action sequence, which went viral.
As an Economic Crisis Grips Turkmenistan, the President Sings and Bikes
"The country is in big trouble, people are hungry and cold, and there is no economy, no production..."
With Economy Unravelling, What Awaits the Turkmen Regime?
"This is the end for Turkmenistan. The crisis has reached the country. Now we’ll see the appearance of the Central Asian Venezuela."
Meet Kyrgyzstan, a Haven for Central Asian Reporters Amid Love and Strife
"I do not feel borders, my base is Kyrgyzstan, but I am reporting on Central Asia."
Central Asia in 2016: The More Things Change…?
"Why do they mess about? They should just appoint themselves immortals and pass a law banning death from visiting them."
Kyrgyzstan's President and the Little Personality Cult that Couldn't
"Atambayev, father of the nation? No, he's some kind of surrogate."
Viewed from Central Asia, US Democracy Is Looking More and More Like the Region's Own Version
Clinton the Second or Trump the Great? The choices look pretty familiar to observers from one of the world's most authoritarian regions.
Halloween: Ghoulish Fun or Grand Western Conspiracy?
Devil face-masks are no damned joke in certain corners of the former Soviet Union.
Boy Bands, Ballet and Battles over Masculinity in Central Asia
"They shouldn't come here. We are for national traditions, wherein a man is a man, and a woman is a woman."
What Central Asian Leaders Can Learn from Ban Ki-moon’s Last Speech as UN Secretary General
"My message is clear: serve your people. Don't subvert democracy. Don't pilfer your country’s resources. Don't imprison and torture your critics."
Lies, Damned Lies and the Health of Central Asian Presidents
The hype over Hillary Clinton's pneumonia was nothing. These guys spend their lives on the verge of death.
Eurasia’s Leaders Urged to Close Their “Cyber-Borders”
The obscure Organisation of Eurasian Cyber-Security says an open internet can spur 'colour revolutions' of the sort already witnessed in the ex-Soviet region.
No Smoking Please, We're Turkmen
"Bans, bans, and bans. People cannot do anything on their own these days."
