A veteran observer of elections in troubled countries around the world describes the undeniable parallels. President Saparmurat Niyazov, who created a vast cult of personality during two decades of iron-fisted rule over arid, energy-rich Turkmenistan, has died, officials said Thursday. Over the weekend, regional news outlets and social media were caught up in an information storm following reports that the president of Turkmenistan, Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov, had died. The Norwegian Helsinki Committee (NHC) sends and appeal to the Norwegian government, as well as the rest of the international community, askinng them to insist that the dictatorial rule of Turkmenistan must take an end in order to open for democracy, rule of law and respect for fundamental human rights. Reid Standish. Despite its rich gas reserves, Turkmenistan is no stranger to economic turmoil. “The most pressing issue for Turkmens at the moment is the problem with food. Medvedev and Berdymukhammedov sit inside a Russian-made limousine at the Caspian Economic Forum. While this may have helped slow the spread of the virus, Farruh Yusupov, the head of the Turkmen news service of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), told Foreign Policy that it was inconceivable that the authorities had successfully managed to wall the country off from the pandemic. Сумесная заява праваабарончых арганізацый аб недапушчальнасці ціску і затрыманняў беларускіх праваабаронцаў пры выкананні імі сваіх прафесійных абавязкаў. Berdymukhammedov had officially been on vacation for nearly a week when Aslan Rubayev, the director of the Center for Monitoring Eurasian Problems, told the Russian radio station and Internet news site Govoritmoskva.ru on July 20 that Berdymukhammedov had died of acute renal failure. This claim circulated online and through messenger groups until it was picked up by smaller, and eventually larger, Russian media outlets. More information:Ivar Dale: Central, The Norwegian Helsinki Committee´s Asia Regional Representative.E-mail: [email protected], Phone: +996 312 663 657 (office) +996 502 510 140 (mobile), Bjørn Engesland, The Norwegian Helsinki Committee´s Secretary General. Weekend at Berdi’s Argument: Turkmenistan’s president Saparmurat Niyazov died this morning. “There is a growing gap with how people live and what they see on the TV screen, and it’s feeding a strong sense of hopelessness that can only grow.”. It is often not possible to independently verify their claims. The Turkmen Embassy in Moscow eventually took the rare step of denying the reports on Sunday night, calling them an “absolute lie.”. Turkmenistan’s president Saparmurat Niyazov died this morning. • In Mexico, the governor of Puebla state said a dish made from turkey and mole—a specialty of his region—could do the trick in keeping the virus at bay. The World’s Worst Country for Journalists Turkmenistan’s president Saparmurat Niyazov died from a cardiac arrest this morning, at the age of 66. International media, focusing on the bizarre personality cult Niyazov created around himself, paid less attention to the fact that he also created one of the most repressive regimes in the world. After Rubayev's comments were widely quoted by other Russian media outlets, he withdrew his remarks and said they were unfounded. Economically, Saparmurat Niyazov’s 15-year rule leaves the country steeped in poverty, with ill-functioning health care, educational and social systems. Turkmenistan’s leaders meanwhile have doubled down on their strong suit: secrecy and repression. At least Donald Trump isn’t acting like this … yet. But as with so much else in the country, it’s hard to tell. True, Turkmenistan’s national airline was quick to cancel flights coming from China and then other Asian countries before gradually closing its borders entirely. The episode illustrates how difficult it is to get accurate information out of the country of 5.7 million people, which many analysts say is second only to North Korea in terms of its leadership cult and deliberate isolation. In early March, all inbound international flights were redirected from the capital to the city of Turkmenabat. A report published in July by the Foreign Policy Centre, a London-based think tank (unconnected to this website), said the country was on the “edge of catastrophe” and that it was experiencing hyperinflation and food shortages, which have “led to the regime’s repression becoming ever tighter.”. But by 2015 Berdimuhamedov was creating his own cult of personality, erecting a new golden statue of himself riding a horse and cultivating an image as an athletic strongman. That won’t last. I don’t know if it’s going to lead to regime change, which we should not exclude entirely, but this will change it significantly,” said Myatiev of Turkmen.news. The president is the chief executive of the union government and is also the commander in chief of the Armed Forces of Turkmenistan. (21-DEC-06), Turkmenistan’s president Saparmurat Niyazov died this morning. Advocate with and for Human Rights Houses. Turkmenistan’s Secretive Strongman Remains i... A police state already cut off from the world, Turkmenistan rarely makes the news, and when it does, it’s usually to ridicule the president’s, True, Turkmenistan’s national airline was quick to, flights coming from China and then other Asian countries before gradually closing its borders entirely. As the world races to find a vaccine, he’s not the only official to turn to unlikely home remedies. Report: | Mobile: +47 957 53 350, For more information: Norwegian Helsinki Committee. “You can’t trust anyone, unless you want to trust the government.”. The expert says he was informed by businessmen working in Ashgabat, the Russian media outlet Govorit Moskva reported. On Monday, the U.S. Embassy in Ashgabat. On Sunday, that rumor mill turned to Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov, the 62-year-old autocratic president of Turkmenistan, with unconfirmed reports of his death from renal failure flooding social media, news sites, and online messengers. “The government of Turkmenistan is notorious for providing no data whatsoever or providing data on key issues which is phantasmagorical,” said Rachel Denber, the deputy director of the Europe and Central Asia division at Human Rights Watch. Persecution of individuals voicing concerns was rampant, forcing those not sentenced to the overcrowded and torturous prisons into exile. “I really fear that the government is going to take extreme measures to prevent social unrest,” Denber said. Turkmenistan’s Secretive Strongman Remains in Denial About the Pandemic “This is a natural development for a country with a complete lack of credible information.”. Programs routinely feature Berdimuhamedov visiting factories and schools, as well as strange videos of the president singing songs with his grandson, lifting weights, and shooting at targets to the enthusiastic applause of a group of officials. In March, Russia announced that it had sent 800 testing kits capable of doing 80,000 tests to almost a dozen countries in the region, including Turkmenistan. In order to counteract the country’s dwindling foreign currency reserves, the government reportedly suspended the operation of locally issued Visa cards in 2018 and placed new restrictions on money transfer apps. Beyond rumors of the president’s health, Turkmenistan is believed to be in the midst of a growing economic crisis. A police state already cut off from the world, Turkmenistan rarely makes the news, and when it does, it’s usually to ridicule the president’s bizarre antics: falling off a horse, unveiling a 69-foot gold-leaf statue of himself riding a horse, or writing rap songs about horses. Authoritarian states have been downplaying numbers. Elections Resemble Those of Fragile Democracies. State media and the president rarely discuss the virus by name. As reports emerge of people being taken away by plainclothes police officers for uttering the word “coronavirus” in public, Turkmenistan appears to have invested more efforts in fighting information about the pandemic than the virus itself. “There will be lots of death. He was 66. | Reid Standish is an Alfa fellow and Foreign Policy’s special correspondent covering Russia and Eurasia. Berdimuhamedov has made no appearances so far, with the embassy claiming he’s dealing with his mother’s illness. Turkmenistan is one of the few countries to have no reported cases of the coronavirus. “This rumor apparently emerged from abroad, but the country itself is full of rumors and disinformation about price hikes and the price of oil and gas,” Bihr said. With the world on fire from Thailand to Nigeria, there wasn’t much talk of international affairs in the final debate of the 2020 campaign—and when there was, both candidates defended flawed approaches to North Korea. Niyazov infamously renamed the months of the year after himself and his mother and raised a gold-plated statue of his likeness that rotated to face the sun. State-sponsored media in Turkmenistan has been working diligently to refute rumors that President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov is dead or incapacitated.

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