Turkmenistan: The Hypocrisy of Food Shortages and Presidential Excess

In the world and mindset of a confirmed, unabashed dictator normal rules have long since gone out of the window, assuming of course that they ever applied in the first place. Only in a country whose throat is being kept under the boot of its protector, and predestined guide, can food shortages directly contributing to…

Heavy with irony and the abdication of moral responsibility, Germany and the EU seek further footholds in Turkmenistan

From what initially appeared to be more a one-way than a quid pro quo arrangement, evidence now suggests a far greater interest from Germany in Turkmenistan's affairs than why a reported $23 billion of the Central Asian republic's money is held in German bank accounts. When money talks even the angels listen, and one wonders…

How will the despotic leaders of Turkmenistan and North Korea react to chastening Asian Cup defeats?

It is not hard to imagine the reaction of Turkmenistan's and North Korea's presidents following the recent round of chastening defeats suffered by both nations at the Asian Cup, the geographical equivalent of football's European Championships. Despite an absence in either country of authentic soccer pedigree both sets of players will genuinely fear of the…

Turkmenistan: Will the European Union take to the floor to dance with the devil?

Not content with treating his own citizens with contempt Turkmenistan president Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedow now appears to have the European Union (EU) on a string, if reports of an upgrade from its current liaison office to a permanent mission in the nation's capital Ashgabat are to be believed. Quite what the EU want with and in…

Turkmenistan: Berdymukhamedow fails to live up to self-styled benefactor of the nation image

I don't smoke or drink alcohol, although that isn't to say I haven't at one time or another or fail to understand the rationale behind why people do so to varying degrees. Nor, however, do I condone the excuses so often hidden behind, and used to justify, in particular with alcohol, levels of behaviour that…

Ignorance is no defence for celebrities taking money from oppressive regimes

I have said it before: what was Jack Nicklaus thinking? History is littered with autocratic regimes seeking legitimacy through celebrity endorsements, often exploiting the ignorance of those who have pitched up in good faith but only later find a wave of condemnation highlighting at best a hitherto unawareness of the firestorm such appearances create; at…

The root of modern day megalomania stems from a simpler, less materialistic age

There are obvious comparisons to be made between Adolf Hitler's unrealized vision of building Germania, the architectural prize the Fuehrer wished to bestow upon himself and the nation once victory in the Second World War had been secured, and the megalomania displayed by Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedow that has seen the fruits of his skewed priorities represented…

Turkmenistan: When seeing is not believing in a land of (totalitarian) pretence

The continued bizarre, contrary modus operandi of Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedow again highlights the former dentist's despotic hold over the former Soviet republic. Self-styled as a deity predestined to shepherd the nation to greatness through his many initiatives that often amount to little more than yet another Potemkin-esque, white elephant construction project, Berdymukhamedow's absolute grip…

The UK: Bilateral trade and economic cooperation placed ahead of Turkmenistan’s many Human Rights violations

A meeting held in Ashgabat between Turkmenistan's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs, Rashid Meredov, and the UK Parliamentary Under Secretary for the Department of Digital, Media, Culture, and Sport, Lord Ashton of Hyde, amount to a tacit endorsement by London of President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedow's totalitarian regime, one squarely accused of countless human…

Turkmenistan: Can Berdymukhamedow get what he came for from US visit?

It is as of yet unclear if recent US policy prohibiting the acquisition of Turkmenistan cotton has taken effect, or if it amounts to little more than lip service without actual implementation. Nevertheless, for the central Asian republic such publicity regarding its vital cash crop can only be bad, highlighting in the strongest terms the…

Turkmenistan: Caspian Sea agreement will benefit few of its beleaguered citizens

Urban Dictionary define the term "bananas" as ...something crazy, ridiculous. It is therefore highly appropriate that a country such as Turkmenistan, one with an unstable, North Korea-lite despot at the controls is in the process of growing its first ever crop of the yellow fruit. Whether the former Soviet republic can be described as a…

Turkmenistan: President Berdymukhamedow Raps while his Countrymen Sing for their Suppers

Fiddling while Rome burns has always been the preserve of emperor Nero, although the idiom that in effect describes a focus on the trivial while issues of greater importance are left unattended has been adopted on countless occasions by those, in modern parlance, who seek to control the controllables, rather than address the more pertinent…

Trump Administration Deserves Credit for Banning Turkmenistan’s Cotton Goods

Far from the headlines generated by President Trump's controversial policy of separating illegal immigrants from their children, is a most welcome decision filed by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection service in May to in effect place a moratorium on all cotton goods deriving from the Central Asian former Soviet republic of Turkmenistan. Long held…

Turkmenistan: Exhibition Horse Race Speaks Volumes of Country’s Plight

"Mr. Burns, are you Ready?" "Yes." "Are you set?" "Yes." "Go, Mr. Burns." (3 seconds later the other participants react to the starting gun). The above exchange between tyrannical owner Mr. Burns and his willing subaltern Waylon Smithers during the build up to the Father Son Sack Race held at the Springfield Power Plant's annual…