Turkmen President Pledges Free Utilities, Salt Until 2030

(RFE/RL) October 25, 2006 -- Turkmen President Saparmurat Niyazov today promised that his countrymen would continue receiving free gas, electricity, water, and salt until 2030.

Niyazov made the pledge at the opening of the 17th session of the 2,600-member Halk Maslahaty, or People's Council, Turkmenistan's supreme legislative body.


Turkmen citizens have been granted free access to utilities since 1992, but shortages are reported to be frequent.


(Interfax)

Human Rights In Turkmenistan

Human Rights In Turkmenistan
Tajigul Begmedova speaking at RFE/RL in Prague on July 21 (RFE/RL)

LIFE UNDER NIYAZOV: On July 21, RFE/RL's Prague broadcasting center hosted a presentation by TAJIGUL BEGMEDOVA, chairwoman of the Bulgaria-based Turkmenistan Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights (THF). Begmedova discussed the human rights situation in Turkmenistan under President Saparmural Niyazov, focusing on the arrests in June of THF activists and RFE/RL Turkmen Service correspondent Ogulsapar Muradova. Begmedova, who graduated from the Institute of Economy in Moscow in 1987, fled Turkmenistan in 2002 and lives in exile in Sofia.


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Listen to the complete presentation (36 minutes; presentation in Russian with consecutive translation into English):
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Media Coverage Of Leader Distracts From Real Problems

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Embattled Turkmen Writer Honored Abroad

RFE/RL Correspondent Recounts Arrest


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