Turkmenistan - The Times Of Central Asia

Viewing results 331 - 336 of 348

Turkmenistan Ushers in the Year of Pyragy

Turkmenistan celebrated the New Year with large-scale celebrations held on the capital's Alem Square near the country's main Christmas tree, Turkmenportal reports. Music, songs and dances took place, with the best children's groups and popular local pop singers performing on stage. The traditional New Year's Eve teleconference took place between Ashgabat and the administrative centers of the regions and the new city of Arkadag, during which the president and all citizens of Turkmenistan were congratulated by honorary elders, mothers and hyakims from around the country. The event ended with a live address from President Serdar Berdimuhamedov to the people of Turkmenistan.[/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image="13470" img_size="full" el_class="scond-image" parallax_scroll="no" woodmart_inline="no"][vc_column_text woodmart_inline="no" text_larger="no"]Earlier, the Mejlis (parliament) of Turkmenistan had declared 2024 the year of “Magtymguly Pyragy’s Fount of Mind,” in tribute to the great thinker and poet, Pyragy, who is considered the father of Turkmen literature. Preparations are underway for a large-scale celebration in 2024 of the 300th anniversary of the birth of Pyragy, a 60-meter-tall statue of whom stands at the foot of the Kopetdag mountains in Ashgabat. The cultural heritage of Pyragy has been recognized at a global level, including by the permanent council of the International Organization of Turkic Culture (TURKSOY). A collection of Pyragy’s manuscripts has been included in the International Memory of the World List, and the day of celebration of the 300th anniversary of the birth of Pyragy has been added to the UNESCO List of memorable dates to be celebrated in 2024-2025.

Turkmenistan Life & Culture Turkmenistan Life & Culture Turkmenistan Features

Turkmenistan and China to Expand Cooperation in Education

On December 28th, a meeting was held between the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan, Myahri Byashimova, and the Deputy Minister of Education of China, Sun Yao, who arrived in Ashgabat on a working visit, a Turkmen Government official website stated, stating that the parties noted that today, Turkmen-Chinese relations in terms of a comprehensive strategic partnership are dynamically developing in many directions. It was also stated that relations between Turkmenistan and China in the field of education tend to develop consistently and fruitfully, as evidenced by numerous exchanges of visits by university representatives, joint conferences, seminars, forums and exhibitions. The parties discussed opportunities to conduct regular short and long-term research and educational programs, courses, and lectures in such areas as medicine, agriculture, ecology, nanotechnology, and political science. Both sides expressed their confidence that the visit of the Chinese delegation will serve as an effective impetus for strengthening ties between higher educational institutions of Turkmenistan and China.

Central Asia Turkmenistan Life & Culture Turkmenistan Turkmenistan Local Politics Local Politics Turkmenistan Features Features

Raids Target Illegal Medicine Sales in Remote Turkmen Villages

Law enforcement agencies in the Mary Velayat district have initiated crackdowns on citizens engaging in the unauthorized sales of medicines,Radio Azatlyk has reported. While these actions target what authorities deem to be illegal, individuals conducting the trades in remote areas argue that they're simply filling a crucial gap in essential healthcare access. Sellers in remote villages assert that they offer commonly used medications like analgin and paracetamol, which, to their understanding, don't require a doctor's prescription. These traders claim to have procured these medicines from city pharmacies and to simply be reselling them at a slight markup in areas lacking facilities. "Our village lacks pharmacies. Ambulance services have substantial delays, sometimes failing to arrive. People turn to us for antipyretics when they're stricken with a fever at night. We offer a service that pharmacies don't provide. We aren't breaking any laws," emphasized one villager engaged in medicine sales. Another trader echoed this sentiment, stating, "We're simply providing a service to our community." Moreover, these merchants assert that they inform local district police officers about their activities, believing this communication suffices as adherence to the regulations. However, plainclothes police officers have been actively involved in operations targeting this unauthorized trade. During these raids, authorities confiscate medicines and detain the traders, issuing substantial fines. The scenario underscores a wider issue of inadequate medical facilities and pharmacy access in rural areas. Rural residents complain about delayed and inadequate ambulance services, exacerbating their struggle to access essential medical aid. Shortages of crucial medicines in both rural and urban pharmacies have been recurrent issues in Turkmenistan. Inconsistent availability of medications was reported earlier this year, highlighting a systemic challenge. Additionally, instances of medical professionals capitalizing on pharmaceutical shortages for extra profits surfaced in December of the previous year. Trading medicines in Turkmenistan requires the possession of a valid license, and according to local legislation, sales should be conducted exclusively by individuals with a secondary or higher pharmaceutical education. This tension between unauthorized sales and healthcare gaps in remote regions presents a complex challenge in need of resolution.

Opinion Head Uzbekistan Opinions Tajikistan Opinions Turkmenistan Opinions Opinions Kyrgyzstan Opinions Kazakhstan Opinions

Islamic Extremism in Central Asia: A Threat to Liberal Progress

Afghanistan earned its reputation as the “graveyard of empires” due to the significant toll exacted on foreign powers in their efforts to achieve military success in the country. This challenge was evident in the experiences of the British Empire, the Soviet Union, and, most recently, the United States. The persistent and decentralized nature of the country's tribal insurgency made achieving a definitive victory a formidable task. Furthermore, the adherence of groups harbored by the Taliban, such as Al Qaeda, to an extremist religious ideology spread terrorism globally, including in the 9/11 attacks as well as other deadly acts of violence in various parts of the world. While the United States arguably played a constructive role in modernizing Afghanistan, the establishment of democracy and Western values in the country proved to be an insurmountable challenge, even with over $100 billion in foreign aid. With heightened tensions between the Islamic and Western populations reignited in the Levant after the deadly Hamas attack on Israel on 7 October 2023, the threat of Afghanistan-based extremists redirecting their focus towards the West has intensified. Often overlooked is the fact that Salafists jihadists and other radical groups also pose a challenge to the emerging democracies in Central Asia as these Muslim-majority secular republics are seen as areas to spread their undemocratic and potentially violent influence. In this context, policies that may even inadvertently help promote illiberal religious movements threaten the region’s secular identity and the security of its peoples. We should assess Central Asia’s unique position on religious freedoms but also on jihadist threats For the large part, Western countries come from a privileged position of being able to resist the widespread influence from Islamic extremist movements at home thanks mainly to generations of democratic institution building as well as decent geographic distance to areas that would fall under pan-jihadist aspirations. Consider that there is no apparent threat of jihadists entirely displacing Western democratic institutions or imposing a pan-Islamist state encompassing parts of Western nations; most Western lands do not fall on areas some of these groups want to conquer to create an Islamic Caliphate. On the other hand, many other places, including Central Asia, still risk misconstruing the line between defending individual freedoms and combatting religious extremism. Here, the coexistence of extremist Islamic ideologies and democracy remains somewhat precarious. Islamic radicalism continues to pose a serious challenge to the emerging democracies of the region, where the secular republics are trying to keep a lid on certain hostile ideologies. Militant groups spilling over from Afghanistan and infiltrating post-Soviet countries want to spread jihad to the region and create an Islamic Khaganate stretching from Egypt to China. Pan-Islamist Salafists, such as Islamic State-Khorasan Province (ISKP) and Al Qaeda, have a clear goal to overthrow Central Asia’s secular regimes. Moreover, the determination of Salafists jihadists and other groups to spread their illiberal and violent struggle to Central Asia (including from neighboring Afghanistan) has become apparent through their growing presence in the region’s schools and other spheres of public...

Turkmenistan Justice Turkmenistan Turkmenistan Local Politics Local Politics Turkmenistan Features Features

OCCRP Reports on Corruption Linked to Berdimuhamedov family

The Center for Aesthetic Medicine in Ashgabat was sold at a huge discount to a company called Ashgabat International Aesthetic Medicine Center (AIATC), associated with the Berdimuhamedov family, the Center for Research on Corruption and Organized Crime (OCCRP) has reported together with the publications Turkmen.news and Gundogar. According to investigators, the Government of Turkmenistan built the center at a cost of U$51 million dollars; its official opening took place in October 2020. However, two days before the opening, the President of Turkmenistan at that time, Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov, signed a decree authorizing the privatization of the center without a tender. As a result, the center was sold for $ 6.5 million less than the state spent on its construction. Journalists believe that the real discount the buyers received may be much higher taking into account the unofficial exchange rate. (In 2020, the unofficial exchange rate was 23.6 manat per dollar, whilst the official rate was 3.5.). AIATC belongs to a group of seven legal entities, investigators learned from a data leak about members of the Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs of Turkmenistan. Two of these seven companies are related to the Berdymukhamedov family. Despite the fact that the Center for Aesthetic Medicine was bought by AIATC, it is managed by the Center for Beauty and Aesthetics, the director of which is Doctor Gulya Annanepesova, who is the head of both the selling and the buying enterprise. Annanepesova has allegedly accompanied Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov on official trips at least twice. In March 2017, they traveled to Qatar, and in November 2019 to Italy. Annanepesova is listed as a cosmetologist and a doctor in the lists of participants of the delegations. In 2016, Annanepesova was awarded a medal in honor of the 25th anniversary of Turkmenistan's independence. At that time, she worked at the state Center for Internal Medicine, and among her colleagues was one of the younger sisters of the president, who worked as a nurse. A year after the opening of the Center for Aesthetic Medicine, Berdimuhamedov awarded Annanepesova with a commemorative badge for services to the development of health care in Turkmenistan. She was listed in the list of awardees as the director of the Center for Beauty and Aesthetics. Annanepesova, according to the sources of the publications, is married to Maksat Geldiev, who worked in the Ministry of National Security and played an important role in the introduction of internet censorship in Turkmenistan. The Center for Aesthetic Medicine offers a wide range of cosmetology and wellness treatments, from weight loss programs to hairdressing services. The journalists drew attention to the fact that all these services do not coincide with the initiatives of the authorities, which prohibit, among other things, bright make-up and plastic surgery. The imposition of restrictions on women intensified shortly after Serdar Berdimuhamedov succeeded his father as president of the country in March 2022.

Turkmenistan Features

EU Calls on Turkmenistan to Protect Rights

The EU has called on Turkmenistan to protect women's rights, remove restrictions on the Internet and give the Red Cross access to prisons during the fifteenth round of the annual human rights dialogue between the European Union and Turkmenistan in Brussels. EU representatives took note of the recommendations of human rights defenders and raised a number of pressing issues during the meeting, calling on the Turkmen government to take effective measures to improve the situation. Before the meeting the human rights organizations, International Partnership for Human Rights (IPHR) and the Turkmen Initiative for Human Rights (TIPHR) handed over to EU representatives a report on the human rights situation in Turkmenistan with a number of recommendations, and called on the EU to use the dialogue to insist on concrete steps to address problems in Turkmenistan. In particular, Turkmenistan was recommended to take rapid and decisive steps to combat sexual and gender-based violence, including by criminalizing domestic violence, discrimination against women and girls, as well as representatives of religious minorities, persons with disabilities and LGBT representatives, and to decriminalize consensual homosexual relations. The members of the EU delegation expressed serious concerns about enforced disappearances and conditions in places of detention, including the torture and ill-treatment of prisoners. Turkmenistan should provide representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) with unhindered access to prisons, the EU stated. The sides also discussed the issue of the eradication of forced labor in the cotton industry. Noting the goal of the Government of Turkmenistan to digitalize the country, the EU stressed the importance of freedom of opinion and expression, and the right to information and independent media. The EU stressed the need to ensure Internet access for all citizens, and to remove blocking from websites and social networks. During the dialogue, EU representatives also raised a number of individual cases of human rights violations and provided a list of cases of concern. The meeting discussed, among other things, the macroeconomic situation of Turkmenistan and its intention to join the WTO, as well as the issues of gas export strategy and reduction of methane emissions.