Turkmenistan

Despite significant deposits of oil and the world’s fourth-largest reserves of natural gas, the people of Turkmenistan remain engulfed in a life of poverty. This is largely due to the twenty-one year rule of authoritarian president Saparmurat Niyazov (recently deceased as of December 2006). The declared president for life ruled the nation with an iron fist. The country today remains a closed off society from the rest of the world. Turkmenistan’s economy has failed to develop as a result of the country’s isolationist' policies which hinders international investment in the country. Niyazov retained stiff control over the state, including the economy. Arbitrary interference by the government into the business sector remains a regular occurrence in Turkmenistan. Foreign investors feel unprotected as a result of unclear laws and ambiguous property rights. The economy of Turkmenistan continues to dwindle as foreign investors stay away.

The country also suffers from a lack of access to sufficient export routes as a result of Russia’s monopolistic control over Turkmenistan’s oil and gas pipelines. Consequently, the nation has been unable to fully realize the possible financial rewards from its resources as it continues to lack access to a broader international market. However, as a result of higher prices in the world market for oil and gas, Turkmenistan has actually witnessed an increase in its level of exports in recent years. Yet, because of the authoritarian rule of Saparmurat Niyazov, the citizens of Turkmenistan have yet to receive any substantial benefits from their country’s resources that could help to improve their living standards. The government has used the revenues from its oil and gas sectors in irrational expenditures including the construction of a lake and a zoo that included penguins, in the middle of the desert. Additionally, Niyazov used the revenues from the country’s energy resources to construct grand edifices and statues in his honor leaving the basic needs of the people, such as electricity and clean drinking water, to go unattended. Niyazov rule is characterized as one of keeping his people in grinding poverty.

The State Department estimates the unemployment rate in Turkmenistan could be as high as 70%. The average monthly income is estimated of just above $50. The country has refused to adopt market-orientated reforms and continues to accumulate foreign debt. The state health and social systems continues to crumble. The life expectancy rate is the lowest in the region. In addition, Turkmenistan has the highest infant mortality rate in Central Asia. The state controlled educational system suffers as academic freedom is limited, textbooks in Turkmenistan’s schools are few, and funding is insufficient. Because economic statistics for the country are kept secret by the government it is hard to know the exact poverty conditions of the country. The recent death of the ruler is a cause for hope that economic and political reforms will soon be implemented in order to rebuild the country and to raise the living standards of its people.

Turkmenistan is a one-party authoritarian state. Political opposition isn’t allowed. Individual freedoms such as women’s rights, freedom of religion, and freedom of speech have been restricted and even denied. Mistreatment of prisoners resulting often times in torture is an all too common occurrence in Turkmenistan. Law problems are frequent including denials of due process of law and rights to have a fair trial. Workers are often forced to work in hazardous conditions and child labor laws are often at times not enforced. Furthermore, numerous eccentric bans by President Niyazov further limited the freedom of individual citizens within the nation of Turkmenistan.

Political freedom is non-existent. Speaking out against the government is considered to be treason and carries a punishment of life in prison. Prisons are unsafe, overcrowded, and unsanitary. Diseases, such as tuberculosis, run rampant among prisoners. Several political prisoners have been denied access to such international institutions as the Red Cross and several other medical organizations. Furthermore, nutrition is very poor within Turkmenistan’s prisons.

Freedom of the press is virtually non-existent in Turkmenistan. Television and radio is owned and operated by the government. The state runs four channels and two radio stations. In 2005, Reporters without Borders’ named Turkmenistan as having the second worst conditions for freedom of the press in the world. North Korea was named as having the worst conditions. As well as controlling the media outlets, President Niyazov also personally selected the journalists within the media sectors. Turkmenistan is considered one of the ten most censored countries in the world.

Though guaranteed by the Constitution of Turkmenistan, freedom of religion is limited and virtually nonexistent. The state has repressed most religious groups resulting in their practices being taken to the underground. Furthermore, all religious groups were forced by the president to read and follow the spiritual book he had written entitled, the Ruhnama. Members of minority groups often report being harassed and physically abused by law enforcement officers. Groups are often threatened to abandon their belief systems or have to pay fines. Religious education is severely restricted in Turkmenistan.

Women’s rights are an issue in Turkmenistan. Domestic violence is against the law in the country yet is often not enforced. Reports assert violence against women is a common occurrence in the nation. Women tend not to report such violations as they are often unaware of their rights as individuals or are too afraid to make such reports for fear of further harassment. Domestic violence is rarely talked about in the media or among citizens in Turkmenistan. Furthermore, prostitution has become common in the nation and the laws against it are rarely enforced.

Further hindering human rights in the country are President Niyazov’s eccentric bans. Niyazov, who gave himself the name of Turkmenbashi (father of the ethnic Turkmen) prohibited individuals from performing in activities such as ballet and the opera. Facial hair was also banned. Some suspect it was as a result of the president’s inability to grow his own facial hair. Video games, the circus, and listening to car radios were also banned. Furthermore, it was reported Turkmenbashi closed the libraries outside of the capital of Turkmenistan as he believed the citizens were illiterate and not needed. The Chicago Tribune reported the ruler closed all national parks in 2005.

During the reign of Niyazov, Turkmenistan saw numerous cuts and effectively a dismantling of the health care system in the country. User fees were introduced for the use of health care services making much of the medical services financially inaccessible to the majority of the citizens within the country.

According to the Integrated Regional Information Networks (IRIN), President Niyazov closed all hospitals outside of the capital city of Ashgabat in 2005 resulting in thousands of health care workers being laid off. The authoritarian leader banned reporting on all infectious diseases. Furthermore, the ruler closed most of the higher education institutions in the country making it almost impossible for individuals to be educated in medicine or trained in other sectors within the healthcare system. After the closing of the hospitals, the BBC released a report asserting increase outbreaks of TB and HIV. Due to the secretive measures taken by the government, levels of outbreaks of diseases in the country have not been recorded and are currently unknown to international organizations.

Water contamination and salinization of the soil are two of the major environmental problems facing the country of Turkmenistan today. Chemical contaminants resulting from farming activities currently threaten the water supply in Turkmenistan. In Dahhowuz Province, ecological damage due to the desiccation of the Aral Sea has caused bacteria levels in the area to exceed ten times the sanitary level. As a result, about 70% of the population in the province has experienced illnesses, most commonly hepatitis. Furthermore, the problem of contamination of the water supply is further hampered as a result of the lack of adequate sewage treatment centers in the country.

The Ministry of Natural Resources Use and Natural Protection serves to protect the environment, flora and fauna, and forestry, within the nation of Turkmenistan. The country is currently experiencing a depletion of animals on reserves as a result of businessmen out on what is known as hard-currency hunts.

Desertification is occurring at a rapid rate in the country. Biological productivity has declined. Each year around 8,000 and up 10,000km^2 of new desert area is formed. Salinization causes the most irreparable form of desertification. Year longed cattle pasturing has also caused further desertification in the country. Inappropriate use of chemicals has additionally exacerbated the desertification process.

The male adult literacy rate in Turkmenistan is 99% and the female literacy rate is 98%. However, the educational system in Turkmenistan is currently suffering as the government controls all aspects of the curriculum in schools. Citizens in the country believe the state’s educational system was hijacked by President Niyazov after the state gained independence from Soviet Rule. Niyazov has established a cult of personality in Turkmenistan. He renamed the days of the week and months of the year after himself and his family. The dictator’s book entitled the Ruhanma is required reading in Turkmenistan. The Ruhanma is a work that is part autobiography part spiritual guidebook. Essentially, it is a piece of historical fiction. The Ruhanma is required knowledge for exams in schools, entrance into any governmental positions, and in order to obtain a driver’s license. Parents believe their children are being brainwashed and that there is very little they could do about it.

The educational crisis in Turkmenistan is devastating. All Russian books have been banned in the country and the British Council has been unsuccessfully trying to get the country to allow textbooks on language study skills to be allowed to be published and distributed within the country of Turkmenistan. The lack of resources put in English is seen as a further isolationist move by the government. Books are few and Niyazov’s Ruhanma serves as the chief textbook in schools for all ages and levels. Pictures of the ruler and the oath of loyalty to the president are found in every single classroom in the country in order to reinforce Niyazov’s cult of personality. Loyalty to the president is emphasized as inquisition in subjects of social sciences and the arts are suppressed.

Education has further deteriorated as compulsory education was changed to only nine years. Higher educational learning has been cut down from four years to only two years. Bribes often determine which students get accepted to the universities. The closure of research institutions such as The Academy of Science, among others has further exacerbated the problem. 12,000 teachers were let go in 2001 and subsequently the president ordered the closure of the nation’s libraries. Niyazov declared the libraries were not needed as villagers, he asserted, didn’t read. An uneducated public due to the destruction of books and the elimination of academic freedom provides fertile ground for religious fundamentalism.

Crude Accountability - Crude Accountability works with local activists and citizen groups in the Caspian Sea basin to protect the region's natural environmental and to ensure environmental justice for communities impacted by natural resource development. To empower residents, protect the unique, threatened ecosystems of the Caspian region, and hold accountable those exploiting the region's natural resources, Crude Accountability provides information and technical assistance to citizens and organizations working to preserve the environment. Crude Accountability offers practical and analytical solutions to the pressing environmental problems facing the Caspian region (Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Russia and Turkmenistan) by working in partnership with local organizations and by conducting and utilizing research on the region.

NGO “Discovery Global” - We are aspiring the Economic and Infrastructure Development. We provide Broadband internet access via Satellite covering Central Asia, assisting for growing up the business by E-Commerce and Telecommunication. We offer the maximum service range as two way broadband internet access via Satellite as well as one way using Quality VSAT services available based on SkyStar, Viasat LinkStar and iDirect technology at anytime and anywhere in Afghanistan, China, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Middle East, Central Asia, Asia Pacific. That project is self financed and supported by Eutelsat.

Turkmenistan Youth and Civic Values Foundation - Turkmenistan Youth and Civic Values Foundation is a 501 (c) 3 non-profit dedicated to developing and encouraging civic values, international experience and education, and community engagement in the peoples of Turkmenistan. We are incorporated in Washington D.C. and offer specific grants in three broad areas: Education, Community Development, and Intercultural Exchange.

United Nations in Turkmenistan - The United Nations in Turkmenistan is represented by UNDP, UNFPA, UNHCR, UNICEF, UNODCCP, IOM and WHO. In addition the World Bank and the IMF have liaison offices in the country. The mission of the UN in Turkmenistan is to support the country in its development and transition efforts, through providing policy advice on Health, education, and economic concerns of a wide range. There is also considerable emphasis on environmental issues.

Furthermore, the UN also co-operates with Turkmenistan in solving problems of refugee inflows, and problems of drug trafficking, caused by instability in neighboring countries.

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