Thursday, February 16, 2012

Turkmenistan

Turkmen Leader Names New Oil And Gas Minister

President Niyazov has given his new oil and gas minister just six months to learn English (AFP)

16 December 2005 -- Turkmen President Saparmurat Niyazov has appointed a new oil and gas minister and ordered him to learn English within six months.

TEXT SIZE - +

December 16, 2005

Niyazov appointed Gurbanmyrat Atayev as oil and gas minister, succeeding Atamurad Berdyev, who is the new economy and finance minister. Atayev was previously deputy oil and gas minister.

In comments broadcast on national television, Niyazov told Atayev: "Learn English. In six months, you must have learned it."

Turkmenistan is the biggest gas producer in Central Asia and has set a production target this year of 70 billion cubic meters

(Reuters)

Central Asia In Focus

THE COMPLETE STORY: Click on the icon to view a dedicated webpage bringing together all of RFE/RL's coverage of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.

Attack Of The Cloned Websites...This Time In Uzbekistan

A website has been set up to mirror the site of RFE/RL's Uzbek Service, in what could be a phishing scheme to harvest user information. More

A vendor in the central Bosnian town of Zenica sells heart-shaped cushions with proclamations of love for 1 euro each.

Love It (Or Hate It), It's Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day, the Western holiday celebrating love, has become a global phenomenon over the past two decades. The fall of communism and the emergence of the Internet have helped February 14 become something of an unofficial international day of romance. However, not all the passions the holiday stirs are related to love. While some countries have openly embraced the holiday, others are attempting to ban it or replace it with local customs. More

Production and distribution of rap music is not officially banned, but it

Yo! Turkmen Rappers Flip The Script On Repression

For a growing number of Turkmen youth, rap music has become a way to express their daily struggles and inspire political change in one of the world's most oppressive countries. More