Amnesty International said in an "urgent action" statement that Geldy Kyarizov, 63, the prominent former director of the state-run Turkmen Atlary (Turkmen Horses) Association, who was imprisoned for 5 1/2 years on abuse-of-office and other charges, remains in poor health due to a variety of conditions, including a heart condition, high blood pressure, chronic hepatitis, and severe arthritis.
Police in Russia’s volatile North Caucasus say they have killed a senior Islamist militant ahead of next month’s Winter Olympics in Sochi.
Secondary school students in Turkmenistan returned from their New Year’s break to find a surprise waiting for them: a new collection of required reading material written by, or about, the country’s current president, Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov.
Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov said his government is planning to end the unlimited supply of free natural gas to citizens.
Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov has held talks in Ashgabat with members of a visiting U.S. delegation, including Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Nisha Desai Biswal.
According to the Turkmen presidential decrees, the energy minister and his deputy, the chairman of the taxation services, the chief of Turkmengaz natural gas state company, and the heads of the central bank and several leading state banks have been replaced.
Turkmenistan's new multiparty parliament has reelected Akdzha Nurberdyeva as speaker at its first session.
An anti-smoking law, which aims to protect the public from the consequences of smoking, has come into force in Turkmenistan.
The head of an OSCE monitoring mission of Turkmenistan's parliamentary vote has said the country still has a "long way to go" to fulfill its commitments to democratic standards and human rights, but that "engagement is much more productive than isolation."
Votes are being counted following Turkmenistan's first multiparty parliamentary elections, with preliminary results expected soon.
Voters in Turkmenistan have cast ballots for parliament in the country's first multiparty election since independence in 1991.
The rights watchdog Amnesty International has criticized Turkmen authorities for their "total repression" ahead of parliamentary elections scheduled for December 15.
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![Irish Senator James Walsh, the head of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly's monitoring mission, expressed hope Turkmenistan would work to achieve a "truly...democratic [and] multiparty system."](https://gdb.rferl.org/DACD46CB-46B4-4C34-A544-72D96680CCE9_w100_r1.jpg)
![Irish Senator James Walsh, the head of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly's monitoring mission, expressed hope Turkmenistan would work to achieve a "truly...democratic [and] multiparty system."](https://gdb.rferl.org/DACD46CB-46B4-4C34-A544-72D96680CCE9_w66_r1.jpg)
