Turkmenistan Life & Culture - The Times Of Central Asia

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Breastfeeding

Turkmenistan Promotes Breastfeeding After Reported Decline

Turkmenistan and the United Nations are encouraging Turkmen mothers to exclusively breastfeed their children in the first six months of life, following a decline in exclusive breastfeeding rates in the Central Asian country in recent years. UNICEF said its survey data showed that 84.7% of infants in Turkmenistan are breastfed within the first hour after birth. However, the proportion of babies who are exclusively breastfed over the first six months dropped from 56.5% in 2019 to 35.5% in 2024, the agency said on Monday. UNICEF is coordinating with health officials in Turkmenistan, as well as national media and social media influencers, on a campaign to promote breastfeeding that will conclude in August. The initiative provides information and expands counseling services for breastfeeding, which provides vital nutrients and strengthens immunity against many diseases. The campaign also aims to make workplaces more amenable to mothers who breastfeed their children. UNICEF said 2025 research identified “key barriers to continued breastfeeding, including limited access to counseling after discharge from maternity facilities, misinformation from online and informal sources, workplace pressures, and insufficient family support.” In 2018, the U.N. children’s agency reported that the rate of breastfeeding in Turkmenistan had increased from 11% to 59%. It said that breastfeeding had become an accepted practice in the country, a departure from approaches decades earlier when a mother and her newborn were separated immediately following delivery to let the mother rest. Newborns were fed a special solution on their first day and were breastfed only after 24 hours. In 2009, Turkmenistan passed a law to protect the right of mothers to breastfeed their children. The legislation was updated in 2016. The Progres Foundation, a non-profit organization based in the United States, says the situation for many mothers with young children in Turkmenistan is challenging, partly because of limited state support for fathers. The trust noted a report last year on legislation in Turkmenistan that provides paid breastfeeding breaks every three hours until a child is one and a half years old. However, the duration of those breaks is not specified. Also, while employers must provide nursing facilities, no minimum workplace size is defined in the breastfeeding law.

Photography

19th Century Photographs of Central Asia on Display in Turkmenistan

Turkmenistan’s Museum of Fine Arts is showcasing the work of Paul Nadar, a French photographer who documented daily life, ancient ruins and a Russian imperial railway during a three-month trip in Central Asia in the late 19th century. People in traditional dress are seen in some of the photos in the museum exhibition, offering a glimpse of local society at a time when much of Central Asia was unfamiliar to many in Western Europe. One image shows a solitary figure beside the railway in the Karakum Desert, an expanse that covers much of modern Turkmenistan. Others depict people on horseback. Simple dwellings and a railway bridge over water are shown. There are also photos of the ruins of a mosque, mausoleums, the citadel gate and other places in Merv, an oasis city on the Silk Road whose history stretches back several thousand years. Today, the remnants of Merv are in Turkmenistan and are on UNESCO’s world heritage list. Paul Nadar, son of a prominent photographer widely known by the pseudonym Nadar, traveled in the region in 1890, according to the exhibition titled “Journey Through Turkmen Lands.” “He was gathering materials for the First International Exhibition dedicated to the development of the Trans-Caspian Railway, which was scheduled to open in Tashkent,” reported Turkmenistan: Golden Age, a state media outlet. At that time, the publication said, the railway “symbolized modernization and the opening of Central Asia to Europe.” The railway primarily served Russian imperial interests. The Russian military built it in the late 19th century as it solidified control in Central Asia, roughly following old Silk Road trade routes. Today, those routes are the basis for east-west transport channels associated with the developing Middle Corridor network. Paul Nadar used Kodak and Nadar Express Détective instant cameras to take over 1,800 photographs during his trip in the Turkistan region of the Russian empire, in what are today Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, according to the Getty philanthropic institution, which has an album of photos from the trip. It said photos from Nadar’s journey were shown not only at the Tashkent exhibition in 1890, but also at several World’s Fairs during that decade. The images were available for purchase at Nadar’s studio in Paris, Getty said. The photo exhibition in Ashgabat, which includes only a portion of Nadar’s work in Central Asia, opened last week and runs until June 23. It was organized with the help of the French embassy and cultural center in Ashgabat.

Academy of Sciences

Turkmenistan’s President Serdar Berdimuhamedov Awarded Academic Titles

Turkmenistan’s President Serdar Berdimuhamedov has been awarded the title of professor in economic and political sciences and elected as an academician of the Academy of Sciences of Turkmenistan. The announcement was made by the state-run Golden Age. The award ceremony took place at the Academy of Sciences on the eve of Science Day, observed annually in Turkmenistan on June 12. According to the official statement, Berdimuhamedov received the professorship for his “outstanding contributions to scientific-production, innovation-industrial, socio-economic, and scientific-technical transformations,” as well as for promoting modern science and expanding international cooperation. The academy also said his election as an academician reflected his role in socio-economic development, the modernization of healthcare, support for science and education, the introduction of new technologies into the economy, and raising Turkmenistan’s international standing. The 44-year-old president has now followed a path similar to that of his father, Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov, the country’s former president, who is widely known by the title Arkadag, or “Protector.” Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov holds titles including Doctor of Medical Sciences, Doctor of Economics, professor, and academician of the Academy of Sciences. The elder Berdimuhamedov has authored more than 60 books covering topics ranging from medicine and philosophy to culture, spirituality, Akhal-Teke horses, Alabai dogs, and sports. Serdar Berdimuhamedov has so far published four books. President Berdimuhamedov graduated in 2001 from the Turkmen Agricultural University named after Saparmurat Niyazov, Turkmenistan’s first president, with a degree in engineering technology. Between 2008 and 2011, he served as counselor-envoy at Turkmenistan’s embassy in Russia while studying international relations at the Diplomatic Academy of Russia’s Foreign Ministry. In August 2014, he defended his PhD-equivalent dissertation at the Academy of Sciences of Turkmenistan, and in July 2015 received a Doctor of Technical Sciences degree.

Tourism

Turkmenistan Eases Restrictions for Foreign Tourists

Turkmenistan has begun gradually easing restrictions on foreign visitors and tourists, though local residents and human rights advocates say the changes have had little impact on the daily lives of the country’s citizens. Reports of a more accommodating approach toward foreign travelers have emerged from both tourists and representatives of the international tourism industry. Canadian traveler Elise Williams said that before visiting Turkmenistan in early 2026, her tour operator advised her not to stray far from her hotel and to avoid taking photographs independently in public places. Upon arrival, however, she found the situation less restrictive than expected. “I felt fairly free and was able to take many photographs in different locations,” Williams said. Tourism industry representatives have also noted signs of change. Dylan Harris, head of the British travel company Lupine Travel, said visas for Turkmenistan are now being issued more quickly and that his company has not experienced a single visa refusal over the past year. According to Harris, the application process has become significantly easier following the introduction of an electronic visa system. He believes the authorities are seeking to make the country more accessible to the outside world. Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, Turkmenistan developed a reputation as one of the most closed countries in the post-Soviet region. Foreign visitors frequently encountered visa denials, travel restrictions, and limitations on photography. A new phase of liberalization began in 2025 with the launch of the electronic visa system, which tourism operators say has reduced bureaucratic barriers and made travel planning more predictable. However, residents interviewed by independent media outlets argue that the recent changes primarily benefit foreigners rather than Turkmen citizens themselves. While international visitors may face fewer restrictions, locals say longstanding controls affecting domestic travel, access to information, and everyday freedoms remain largely unchanged. The contrast highlights the limited nature of Turkmenistan’s opening. While the government appears to be taking cautious steps to attract more foreign visitors, the country remains one of the most tightly controlled societies in the region. For now, the easing of tourist restrictions appears to be aimed more at improving Turkmenistan’s international accessibility than at broader domestic liberalization.

Healthcare

Turkmenistan Works With WHO on Healthcare Upgrades

Turkmenistan and the World Health Organization went through a delicate period during the pandemic, when the Turkmen government said there had been no COVID-19 cases in the country. The global health agency didn’t publicly challenge the claim, which was met with widespread international skepticism. While Turkmenistan retains many of the tight controls on information that were in place at the height of the pandemic, its relationship with the World Health Organization, or WHO, has evolved into one of closer cooperation aimed at bringing parts of the country´s health system into line with international practices. In the latest initiative, WHO experts and laboratory specialists in Turkmenistan held an emergency planning workshop in Ashgabat this month, according to the health agency. The May 19-23 event focused on topics including emergency planning and the safe transport of infectious substances. “By investing in expertise and preparedness, Turkmenistan continues to strengthen its preparedness for public health emergencies,” the World Health Organization said on Instagram. Since the COVID-19 crisis, WHO specialists have also visited Turkmenistan to help with its pandemic planning and preparedness, in just one element of a broader plan to modernize the health system of one of the most closed countries in the world. Even today, the impact of the pandemic in Turkmenistan is not fully known because of limited public information. At the time, authorities implemented measures such as obligatory masking, restrictions on travel, and the closure of borders. There were, however, reports of people in Turkmenistan suffering symptoms similar to those seen during the spread of COVID-19 elsewhere. Other countries in Central Asia, meanwhile, confirmed that they had outbreaks. Some analysts speculated that a delegation that visited Turkmenistan during the pandemic didn’t directly address the government’s zero-case claim because it wanted to avoid any public fallout and was focused on maintaining access to the country and its health officials. Dr. Karen Nahapetyan, laboratory specialist at the WHO regional office for Europe, guided the Ashgabat workshop this month, according to the turkmenportal.com website. Nahapetyan recently worked on the international response to the Andes hantavirus outbreak on the cruise ship MV Hondius that killed three people. While technical coordination between WHO and Turkmenistan is advancing, some foreign advisories warn of the limits of the country’s healthcare system. The British Foreign Office advises travelers that it’s usually best to avoid anything other than basic or emergency care in Turkmenistan, especially outside Ashgabat.

Art and Culture

Central Asia Steps Out of the Post-Soviet Shadow

Central Asia is rarely presented on its own terms. It is more often viewed through exterior lenses like Russian imperial memory, Chinese reach, Silk Road romance, or great-power rivalry. The result is a region made to look secondary to the forces around it, even as its five countries carry deep histories, distinct languages, and identities that cannot be reduced to a backdrop. That old frame is starting to crack. Central Asia is finding new ways to tell its own story. The shift goes beyond tourism or national branding. It is about who gets to define the region, which is still too often seen through the things done to it or extracted from it. Culture depicts the other side of that narrative, a place that has shaped history, not merely endured it, with traditions and ideas that have long carried influence far beyond its borders. [caption id="attachment_49147" align="aligncenter" width="2048"] Sky above Almaty: Qandy Qantar; image courtesy of Saule Suleimenova[/caption] Kazakhstan offers one visible example. The Almaty Museum of Arts opened on September 12, 2025, adding a major institution for modern and contemporary art. Its arrival builds on a broader shift in which private galleries, international platforms, and artists such as Aigerim Karibayeva and Saule Suleimenova are moving Kazakh art beyond folkloric shorthand toward identity, postcolonial memory, and urban life. The reopening of the Tselinny Center of Contemporary Culture, in a former Soviet-era cinema, adds a sharper symbolic layer. A building once tied to Soviet public culture has become a platform for modern Central Asian voices, reflecting a scene increasingly rethinking nomadism rather than simply reproducing it. [caption id="attachment_49148" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] Image: The Tselinny Center of Contemporary Culture[/caption] Uzbekistan has made culture central to its international reemergence. The inaugural Bukhara Biennial brought contemporary art into a city more often seen through its monuments, turning madrasas and caravanserais into exhibition spaces for Uzbek and world artists. The same push is visible in the Tashkent Centre for Contemporary Art, Uzbekistan’s presence at the Venice Architecture Biennale, and design projects such as When Apricots Blossom, which link heritage, craft, and the environmental disaster of the Aral Sea. Artists such as Oyjon Khayrullaeva show a younger generation reworking Islamic ornament, textiles, and public space into new visual languages. At the same time, the State Museum of Karakalpakstan in Nukus, with its Soviet-era censored works, gives the country’s art history deeper heft. In Tashkent, the Islamic Civilization Center is working on a different scale. Recognized by Guinness World Records in 2026 as the largest museum of Islamic civilization, it gives Uzbekistan a stronger role in shaping how that legacy is understood today. [caption id="attachment_49146" align="aligncenter" width="2048"] Image courtesy of Oyjon Khayrullaeva[/caption] Kyrgyzstan’s confidence rests on different ground. The sixth World Nomad Games are scheduled for August 31 to September 6, 2026, with events in Bishkek and around Issyk-Kul. That gives Kyrgyzstan a stage for living nomadic traditions, not a static museum display of them. Its contemporary art scene adds a more intimate layer, with artists such as...