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.

To each their own annus horribilis.

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

The mood in Baku is triumphal but it’s heavy and vengeful rather than joyous.

In the early days of the pandemic, Georgia enjoyed one of the most enviable rates in the world. Things began to fall apart in late summer.

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.

A facile and naïve plan being discussed in Washington risks backfiring on Iran’s minority Christians.

This week in our Turkmenistan bulletin: Ashgabat and Moscow suddenly ratify an aged security agreement. Plus budgets, boasts and bribes.

Some are speaking out against the conflict despite fears the government’s strong support for Azerbaijan could fuel nationalist reprisals.

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.

After rewarding himself with a more pliant constitution, the president held a massive military parade. This and more in our weekly Turkmenistan briefing.

With their borders still largely closed, Georgians hit the beach and let their guard down. The epidemiological result was inevitable.

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