Turkmenistan
Official Turkmen television has got new competition, and you won’t believe who: Kanal Hayat (Channel Life), a satellite channel programming in Turkish about Christianity.
Photograph by Flickr user Night Owl City (CC-usage).
Good news! Turkmenistan’s government has finally given the green light to students enrolled at private foreign universities to continue their studies abroad, putting an end to six months of uncertainty. Since July, dozens of students have been barred from boarding foreign-bound planes.
Rachel Denber of Human Rights Watch confirmed reports that some students left the country for Bulgaria a few days ago. But is it the end of the story and time to relax? Not quite yet, Denber told me.
Last week, this rather inconspicuous announcement appeared on the Turkmenistan government’s official website:
The President of Turkmenistan issued the Resolution authorizing the Ashgabat Khyakimlik to conclude the contract with Polimeks Insaat ve Taahhut San.Tij.A.S. (Turkey) for dismantling of the Arch of Neutrality in Ashgabat, design and construction of the Neutrality Monument 95 metres high in the southern part of Bitarap Turkmenistan Avenue at the foothills Kopetdag Mountains with improvement of the adjacent territories and reconstruction of the section of Bitarap Turkmenistan Avenue from A. Niyazov Avenue to Archabil Avenue to the total sum of US$ 217.873,600 (excluding VAT) on terms of starting construction works in March 2010 and putting the facility into operation in October 2011.
Usually Turkmenistan attracts a hair’s worth of attention from international news agencies, but this story exploded like a bomb. I don’t know what to think of that — does international media miss its old punching bag, Turkmenbashi? — but I can hazard a guess about what Berdimuhammedov is thinking: fantastic!
Photograph by Flickr user Dave Fayram (CC-usage).
Editor’s note: Is typography destiny? neweurasia’s Annasoltan explores the ramifications of Turkmenistan’s project to Latinize its alphabet. This is the latest in neweurasia’s ongoing coverage of the battle for control of Central Asia’s alphabets. Also, make sure to check out Mirsulzshan’s post on the ICANN’s decision to “de-Latinize” URLs on the Web.
Fortune-tellers examine our palms to peer into our pasts and futures. In a similar way, one shall soon be able to determine the generation to which a Turkmen belongs by examining their writing style, specifically the letters they use.
In my last post I explored the geopolitics behind Niyazov’s decision to Latinize the Turkmen alphabet, and some of the wackiness that has resulted. In this post I will explore how Latinization has divided the nation according to writing styles, with the younger generations using the Latin script and the older ones still using the Cyrillic. Indeed, the changeover has been quick that some Turkmen never learned how to properly write in either alphabet.
Photograph by Flickr user ajburgess (CC-usage).
Editor’s note: Is typography destiny? neweurasia’s Annasoltan explores the ramifications of Turkmenistan’s project to Latinize its alphabet. This is the latest in neweurasia’s ongoing coverage of the battle for control of Central Asia’s alphabets. Also, make sure to check out Mirsulzshan’s post on the ICANN’s decision to “de-Latinize” URLs on the Web.
The shifting of the Turkmen alphabet from Cyrillic to Latin script in Turkmenistan, which began in 1993, was one of the most profound changes in the post-Soviet period. It not only changed the written form of the language but strengthened the position of the Turkmen language vis-à-vis Russian, establishing a bridge for Turkmens to learn Turkish, English, and other important languages that use the Latin alphabet. But how deep has the change gone in the Turkmen psyche?
In the last weeks of 2009 the Kazakh bloggers’ comments were concentrated around two topics - patriotism and democracy in the Republic of Kazakhstan. Read the full story »
Cover art for OMFO's 2006 album, "We are the Shepherds".
Editor’s note: To commemorate the coming new year, neweurasia is looking heavenward to gaze into Central Asia’s past, present, and future. Averroes takes a furlough into Turkmenistan to examine the legacy of Turkmenbashi’s dreams of putting Turkmen into space. What he finds may surprise you.
After creating the magnificent universe, and its innumerable systems and the blue planet in them, Allah, in his mercy, created man upon the Earth… [But] mankind, by exploring the universe, lost his belief in the universe and the heavens! The human being feels he is alone. This is because people, by becoming too deeply involved with material things, have lost their connections with the spiritual and heavenly realms. — Niyazov, Ruhnama
I won’t apologize for quoting Niyazov and you’ll see why in a little while. Way back in the Nineties, Turkmenistan’s first and most notorious president declared his ambition of putting Turkmen into space. What’s become of the dream? Well, believe it or not, Turkmenistan has actually accomplished the goal — sort of.
The TB bacteria. Image from Wikipedia (CC-usage).
Tuberculosis, especially the drug resistant kind, is a serious problem in Turkmenistan. Yet, the government is doing little to treat the disease. In fact, they seem to be doing just the opposite — doing everything they can to make it more of a problem.
In my last post I talked with Christoph Hippchen, the country manager for Turkmenistan of Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), who left the country last week. Today I explore the baffling behavior of Turkmen health policy.
"X" marks the spot: do not enter. Photograph courtesy of Wikipedia (CC-usage).
Last week Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) became the latest international humanitarian NGO to leave Turkmenistan after 10 years of working here. Frank Dörner, General Director at MSF in a press release from 17 December, said:
Medical needs in Turkmenistan are still high and there is a good reason for us to work here. However, our project proposals have been repeatedly rejected which does not leave us with a lot of choice but to close down. We had hoped to be able to assist the Turkmen population which is exposed to high rates of multi-drug resistant tuberculosis, but still has no access to care and effective treatment.
Their departure only adds to the absurdity of Turkmen healthcare.
The inauguration of the 7,000 km long major overland pipeline last week to carry gas from Central Asia to China and bypassing Russia marks a major geopolitical turning point. Turkmenistan is at the heart of a global poker game for Central Asian natural resources. Ashgabad now faces a difficult question: will the pipeline bring it new autonomy from Moscow or simply a new master in Beijing? Here’s what the experts think.
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