State media in Turkmenistan are reporting that 828 prisoners have been pardoned by President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov.
Turkmenistan President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov, who was just reelected with a reported 98 percent of the vote, has a reputation for rigging elections and building his cult of personality. And as he is fond of demonstrating on state TV, he is a man of many other talents. (Current Time TV)
It's the 21st century and with the Internet and television many people look at radio as a medium for disseminating knowledge that is slowly fading into history. But that would be getting ahead of ourselves, because for every person in the world today with access to the Internet that are probably two or three others who have never used the worldwide web and are not likely to do so in the near future.
Polls have closed in Turkmenistan, where the authoritarian president of the hermetic, gas-rich country was expected to extend his rule for seven more years.
Authoritarian President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov appears certain to extend his rule for seven more years in a presidential election in hermetic, gas-rich Turkmenistan on February 12.
Turkmenistan is holding a presidential election on February 12. Incumbent Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov is seeking to be elected president for the third time, and there is every reason to believe he will succeed. While the result seems guaranteed, the reasons for holding the election are not as immediately obvious. But there are reasons.
The few remaining independent journalists in Turkmenistan are facing an "unprecedented crackdown," a media watchdog said ahead of an election that seems certain to hand the authoritarian president a new term.
In the case of relations with, for example, China, Russia, and Mexico, there are already signals about the Trump administration's policy toward those countries. But what should the Central Asian states realistically expect from the new U.S. administration?
But if he looks like President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov, the person who's been hitting the campaign trail in the last week or so doesn’t much act like Berdymukhammedov.(The views expressed in this blog post do not necessarily reflect the views of RFE/RL.)
On January 30, Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov toured an area in Akhal Province and, with a big smile, gave what were said to be televisions to herders.
U.S.-based liberty-and-democracy watchdog Freedom House says threats to political rights and civil liberties are increasing as authoritarian governments gain strength and populist and nationalist forces rise in the West.
A recent spat between Turkmenistan and Tajikistan is probably the lamest dispute between two Central Asian countries I can remember, though I think I know the real cause of the problem. (The views expressed in this blog post do not necessarily reflect the views of RFE/RL.)
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