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.

5,000 people are taking part in the trials.

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.

The government will help outlets that publish its propaganda.

Numbers of coronavirus cases has seen a sharp surge recently.

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

The healthcare sector has been embroiled in corruption scandals for years.

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.

Parents are pleading for relief from their kids learning from home, however.

For all the bombastic propaganda, there is no papering over the fact that Turkmenistan is still clearly struggling with a COVID-19 problem.