Central Asia: Turkmenistan (video)

Nurettin Yilmaz, Mar 27, 2019; Amber Larson, Dhr. Seven (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Central Asia: Turkmenistan highlights 2018

We know so little about this part of the world.

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(Wiki) Türkmenistan, formerly Turkmenia, is a country in Central Asia, bordered by Kazakhstan on the northwest, Uzbekistan on the north and east, Afghanistan on the southeast, Iran on the south and southwest, and the Caspian Sea on the west.

Ashgabat is the capital and the country's largest city. The population of the country is only 5.6 million, the lowest of the Central Asian republics.

Turkmenistan has been at the crossroads of civilizations for centuries. In medieval times, Merv was one of the great cities of the Islamic world and an important stop on the Silk Road, a caravan route used for trade with China until the mid-15th century.

Annexed by the Russian Empire in 1881, Turkmenistan later figured prominently in the anti-Bolshevik movement in Central Asia.

In 1925, Turkmenistan became a constituent republic of the Soviet Union (USSR), the Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic (Turkmen SSR); it became independent on the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991.

Turkmenistan possesses the world's sixth largest reserves of natural gas. Most of the country is covered by the Karakum (Black Sand) Desert. From 1993 to 2017, citizens received government-provided electricity, water, and natural gas free of charge.

The sovereign state of Turkmenistan was ruled by President-for-Life Saparmurat Niyazov (also known as Turkmenbashi) until his death in 2006. Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow was elected president in 2007.

According to Human Rights Watch, "Turkmenistan remains one of the world’s most repressive countries. The country is virtually closed to independent scrutiny, media and religious freedoms are subject to draconian restrictions, and human rights defenders and other activists face the constant threat of government reprisal."

After suspending the death penalty, the use of capital punishment was formally abolished in the 2008 constitution. See the Berzin Archives and ranajitpal.com.