Eurasianet

In our weekly briefing: Restrictions easing, COVID denialism persists, foreign suitors come visiting in hope of business, and the latest annual horse jamboree.

Turkmenistan's new president is continuing his father's traditions: Building white elephants, censoring the internet, and booting people out of their homes.

A cratering economy, the world’s slowest internet, and the army takes charge of food production. This and more in our weekly Turkmenistan briefing.

The World Health Organization continues to indulge Turkmenistan’s lies about the coronavirus. Our weekly briefing.

Our weekly Turkmenistan briefing: Berdymukhamedov goes traveling and lectures the WHO, while YouTube bows to Turkmen censors and takes down Eurasianet’s channel.

While clumsy on COVID-19, Turkmenistan is being more sure-footed, or consistent at least, on the Afghanistan front. Plus, unsustainable agriculture. Our weekly briefing.

Abu Dhabi invests in green energy, China gets another drilling contract, and Ashgabat cuts funding to universities. This and more in our weekly Turkmenistan briefing.

While the president and his son indulge their favorite pets, food for people is increasingly scarce. Our weekly Turkmenistan briefing.

Although Turkmenistan is rarely mentioned as a prospective member of the Moscow-led EAEU trading bloc, that notion is quite obviously on the Kremlin’s mind. Our weekly briefing.

Banned news channels, banned cartoons, and a food crisis on the horizon. Our weekly Turkmenistan briefing.

Cover-ups are the norm. Result: more corruption, higher costs of living and a still-uncontrolled pandemic.

What ordinary Turkmens have long understood is that in times of trouble, they are by and large on their own.

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.

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