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.

The station added daily broadcasting in the Turkmen language to its programming as of January 18.  The program is called “Diri Sözler” (Living Words). The programs include talk shows, films, documentaries, question and answers, serials and music programs.  For the curious among you, tune in on the following frequency:

Hotbird 7A 13.0º East
11411 GHz Horizontal
27,500 Symbol/Sec

Regarding the broadcast, Saany, a spokeswoman for Kanal Hayat, said to me:

The foundations of our channel is based on the Holy Book with the aim of telling about the life of Jesus Christ and to share his love.  The channel claims to have substantial audience among faithful Christians.

Satellite transmissions in the Turkmen language exist but this is the first one that is devoted to a religion.  Some Turkmens have questioned the wisdom of broadcasting because about 90% of its population is Muslim and some have taken a defensive attitude. However, others think that it may invoke curiosity among the population and generate some audience precisely because in Turkmenistan many are tired of the repetitive official propaganda and are hungry for alternative opinions.

Araz Parvish, a scholar who translated the New Testament into the Turkmen language for the first time, said the following to me:

The programs may be opposed by some Islamists, but If  Turkmenistan’s orientation is indeed toward democratization then a variety of expressions and pluralism in the form of Islam, Christianity, Judaism and other beliefs will inevitably cross its borders. I believe that the programs would contribute to raising awareness, widening of the people’s horizons. The people’s eyes should not be kept shut and they should be free in what they believe.

By the way, Christians constitute about 5% of the population in Turkmenistan, a secular country. The only officially recognized  religious communities are the Sunni Muslim Board and the Russian Orthodox Church. However, the religious activity of people of all faiths in Turkmenistan has been highly restricted, including the American-style evangelical variety of Christianity represented by Kanal Hayat.

American-style Christian evangelism meets Turkmen culture. Image from the Kanal Hayat website.

Kanal Hayat also offers programs in Arabic and Azeri.  Interestingly, they intend to expand into Uzbek and other Central Asian languages in the future.

Editor’s notes: (1) neweurasia is committed to the principle of pluralism and is not seeking to promote any one religion or ideology over another. (2) Historically speaking, Turkmenistan has long been the home of religious innovation.  For example, check out Schwartz’s article on the Bahai Faith in Ashgabad.