Regional officials and employees of local state entities in Turkmenistan's western region of Balkan have been forced to buy watches with pictures of President Serdar Berdymukhammedov and his father and predecessor, Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov, on the face of the timepiece.
British Foreign Secretary David Cameron’s visit to the five countries of former Soviet Central Asia and Mongolia was certainly colorful. But with Russia and China watching, did the whistle-stop tour do enough to convince the region that London views deeper engagement as a “geopolitical imperative?”
The German Federal Prosecutor's Office said on April 24 it had charged seven men from Central Asia five from Tajikistan, one from Turkmenistan , and one from Kyrgyzstan with the creation of a domestic terrorist group and taking part in its activities.
Democratic governance in Central Europe and Central Asia declined for a 20th consecutive year, according to rights watchdog Freedom House, driven by Moscow's full-scale invasion of Ukraine and Azerbaijan's "military conquest" of Nagorno-Karabakh.
Over more than three decades of "Turkmenization," the Russian language has taken a back seat in Turkmenistan. But it is still a popular choice as a second language for the political elite and their children, as well as for television viewers.