Eurasianet

As the president celebrates, the economic crisis deepened by a coronavirus outbreak he has refused to acknowledge has left his people in a state of Dickensian misery.

Electricity exports; crowd control outside food shops; and despite denials, COVID strikes. This and more in our weekly Turkmenistan briefing.

A new documentary on a Soviet soccer star also tells the story of Central Asia’s ethnic Korean community, which was deported en masse to the region by Stalin.

5,000 people are taking part in the trials.

Digital import substitution, currency restrictions, and a cemetery looted for scrap: This and more in our weekly Turkmenistan briefing.

Trials for a domestically developed QazCovid-in vaccine are not expected to be completed until March.

Only the best medicine for the leader. For everyone else, bread shortages.

Ecological conservation is a matter of pride in Turkmenistan. But a disconnect between rhetoric and reality is a hallmark of the Berdymukhamedov era.

The book dispels a widely held misperception in the West that Putin is an omnipotent puppet-master, pulling all the strings in Russian disinformation operations. The reality is not so exotic.

The Dialogue of Civilizations Research Institute is also targeting India.

The die-off has caused a shortage of meat and eggs in markets.

The dictatorial regime is mostly deaf to people’s complaints, but it sometimes caves.

The president’s fury has only served to expose once more the implausibility of official data.

Officials say Uzbekistan plans to produce its own vaccine when tests are done.

Reliving ancient glory, exaggerating modern accomplishments, and introducing ATMs that demand to see birth certificates: This and more in our weekly Turkmenistan briefing.