05.01.

2020 2 Stor es That Expla n Turkmen stan’s Absurd ty – The D plomat

CROSSROADS ASIA

2 Stories That Explain

Turkmenistan’s Absurdity
The phrase “fiddling while Rome
burns” may be an appropriate
aphorism for Ashgabat.

By Catherine Putz
August 11, 2016

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Credit: Screenshot

What’s happening in Turkmenistan? A relatively simple question, it

is decidedly difficult to answer. A pair of stories posted recently by
the Chronicles of Turkmenistan help explain the absurd reality of
present-day Turkmenistan.

The Chronicles of Turkmenistan is an information portal supported

by the Turkmen Initiative for Human Rights (TIHR), a Vienna-based
exile group, which tries to fill in the vacant information space
regarding the country.

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On August 1, the Chronicles posted a story about Turkmenistan’s

President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov. The story, citing state-run

“
media, detailed the president’s musical pursuits:

According to reports from the state-run information agency

Turkmenistan, on Friday 29 July, President
Berdymukhammedov together with his two grandsons wrote
the lyrics to the new song “Kalbymda sen.” According to the
media outlet, the President came up with the idea of this
musical piece when he was young.

”
Moreover, the President is also working to complete a piece
of music which still has no lyrics.

The real gem is the video, showing Berdimuhamedov (in what can
be best described as a Hawaiian shirt) and his two grandsons
tinkering with various muscle instruments, DJing and dancing.
While I have not been able to track down the original story, a visit to
the Turkmen State News Agency revealed a similar fluff piece
posted as news: “President Gurbanguly Berdymuhamedov took a
bicycle ride.”

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On August 2, the Chronicles posted a story on Turkmen workers

stocking up on foodstuffs. The meat of the article is that employees
in various sectors–particularly public sector employees–have not
been paid in months or have been subjected to forced unpaid leave:

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 “
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Teaching staff of Turkmenabad schools (formerly Chardjou)

have not received annual leave pay and salaries for June and
July. The staff members of the municipal military enlistment
office have not been paid since May. A similar situation is
being observed in the majority of organizations and agencies
in Lebap velayat.

”
Gas workers in this province have not received salaries or
have been forced to take unpaid leave.

Meanwhile, food prices have risen in the face of economic

uncertainty and the end of free currency conversions: “Despite a
considerable price hike those who can afford it are stocking up with
non-perishable foods such as sugar, vegetable oil, flour etc.”

These two stories, held next to each other, are nothing short of
sledgehammer-style satire, Ashgabat’s absurdities laid bare. The
president plays in a pristine white room with a baby grand piano
and an array of keyboards and DJ-gear–while the country’s citizens
scramble at the grocery store to stock up on flour. Leaders around
the world are ridiculed by their opponents for their frivolities, but
reporting on U.S. President Barack Obama’s golfing doesn’t come
with a possible prison sentence.

It’s problematic to just cite an exile-run media operation, but there

are few other options. Such stories deserve solid investigation–
dividing facts from rumors with regard to public employees not
being paid, changes in previous free public services, near constant
shuffling of ministers, and more–but independent journalists in
Turkmenistan are under very real threat. State-run media is little
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more than a mouthpiece to fluff the president’s persona and poking

round in Turkmenistan is a dangerous game.

To the world, Ashgabat likes to present a face of pristine marble,

world-record eccentricities, and stability. But the cracks are
showing: the country’s border with Afghanistan worries many
analysts; reports of unpaid workers and end of previous free
services gives the lie to state claims of economic stability; the overall
opacity in the country’s massive energy projects ensures that the
outside world has little notion as to their actual feasibility, progress,
or potential for profit–not to mention ministry shuffles and changes
likened to “moving deck chairs around as the Titanic sinks“; and all
the while, the emperor fiddles.

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AUTHORS

STAFF AUTHOR

Catherine Putz

Catherine Putz is managing editor of The Diplomat. She

tweets @LadyPutz.

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Crossroads Asia Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov Turkmenistan Turkmenistan economy

Turkmenistan politics

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