Ashgabat may hope expending energy to attain international respectability will improve its chances of tapping global financial institutions for investment.
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.
The public is livid that the government has been so hapless in prepping for the heating season. The response from officials has been to dissemble or threaten those who try to report on the situation.
